“I think it is a bit naive to say this isn’t political in nature.”
So true! And, this is not just at UCLA at all. It’s a movement.
To clarify my comment and echo DonnaL, I do not personally believe there is a “Jewish” race… but part of that is because there is only one race and the whole race concept is a bunch of hooey. However, to deny that many people see Jewish as a race turns a blind eye to history and current events.
I can’t tell you how many times in my life I’ve heard that I have a Jew nose or look like a Jew. My sister gets it more than I do because she has olive skin, dark eyes, dark hair, and a prominent nose. We’re both ~1/4 Ashkenazi Jew through our dad.
But I don’t know how one could claim to be anti-Israel, but not practicing anti-Semitism.
One can be scathingly critical of current Israeli government policies and politicians (like various articles and opinions in places like Haaretz, a mainstream left leaning Israeli newspaper) but not be anti-Jewish.
The thing about politics is that things are never what they appear to be. It could be a case of Roth and buddies against Beyda, but then again it could be Roth and Beyda (or someone else), in a backroom deal, promoting their own agenda. The article doesn’t disclose much, but things appear to be wrapped up a little too neatly, which could mean the end result was planned.
Or, for that matter, anti-Israel.
The distinction to me is as follows - one can criticize certain aspects of Israel while not being anti-Israel. But someone who is anti-Israel doesn’t want Israel to exist and IMO that is someone who doesn’t like Jews…
But I suspect if this thread continues along this lines it will get closed. CC has stressed we are not to discuss politics and we could be heading down that slippery slope and I’d hate to see this thread closed for that reason.
I’ve been following this story very closely as I have children who are very involved in Hillel, AIPAC and other jewish organizations on the college and high school level and I find what happened to Ms. Beyda to be abhorrent and very sad. That said, I do not feel those students who voted against her should be expelled or even suspended. I listened to much of the tape of the actual meeting and while it was often of poor quality and hard to understand, I didn’t get hear any really overtly anti-semitic comments, I heard ignorant and misguided ones. Expel those kids and they become one of those people who believe Jews control the world. Better to keep them on to continue to work with jewish students like Beyda and the board president, make them do some research on anti semitism and perhaps a paper, and maybe they will open their eyes and eventually, honestly, understand how hurtful their comments were and how wrong. I would feel differently if I heard some blatant anti semitic stereotypical statements, but kids of that age regurgitate so much of what they have learned from family and friends and exposing them to others who are different can really make a big difference.
“It could be a case of Roth and buddies against Beyda, but then again it could be Roth and Beyda (or someone else), in a backroom deal, promoting their own agenda.”
Aren’t you the one who brought up that Roth could be a Jewish name (though as others accurately noted, it could equally not be)? Are you suggesting that “Jewish Roth” and “Jewish Beyda” had a secret back room deal, promoting “their” own agenda? Isn’t that a little too black helicopter-y for a student board position?
Some Jewish college classmates and some Jewish sects would be considered antisemitic under Busdriver11’s statement.
The classmates range from those harshly critical of the current Israeli administration to a few who feel Israel is functioning as a European/American colonial outpost in the Middle East. The latter especially are wholeheartedly in support of divestment whereas the former tend to be mixed.
There’s also Jewish groups like the one discussed below:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/Anti-Zionism.html
Sometimes when the NYT picks up a story, it starts a sort of media-cascade. So few news outlets to their own reporting these day… 
but when something interesting shows up from one of the big-dogs in the news world, everyone kind of piggy backs on it and starts to talk about it. Hoping that happens here… but not seeing it so far. A little less coverage of Harrison Ford’s aerial exploits and more coverage of stories like this would make me happy.
But @intparent celebrities are falling from the sky!!! HUGE ISSUE. 8-|
SamRam is talking like one of those people who believes that any two Jews in the room equals conspiracy. Of course, the problem with applying that dubious theory here is that Roth isn’t Jewish; she’s a Swiss Gentile woman.
The LA Times runs the story: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-allegations-of-anti-israel-sentiments-rock-uc-campuses–20150307-story.html
The comments to the LA Times story and one related to it are absolutely frightening. I had no idea.
I’ve read Haaretz on occasion. The editors there certainly do not like every action taken by the government in Israel. Two religious Jewish co-workers of mine, including an immigrant from Israel, are decidedly not happy with the present Israeli government. It would be nonsense to brand them as anti-Jewish.
Groupthink is always nonsense, but it’s an epidemic lately. Pick your group.Sigh.
If they came are members of organizations active in an Israel-related question that comes before the court, they ought to. Scalia should have recused himself from Bush v. Gore because he had close family members employed by Bush’s team actively involved in setting up his future administration. Elena Kagan recuses herself from cases active in her prior job. Thurgood Marshall recused himself from cases involving the NAACP for which he had been counsel.
Not necessarily. You will probably find it shocking, but I would, at this point, not oppose disbanding the state of Israel as it is currently constituted and would happily invite its entire population to come to the US to live. I think it would be better for us all in the long run. I am not an anti-semite and I don’t dislike Jews.
@DonnaL. Tour tirade is illogical, considering that I’ve been consistent with the argument that the issue has nothing to do with religion. If there is a conspiracy, it’s born of the need to gain power and influence not to promote religion, and if there is a conspiracy, as I previously stated, it could be among any of the players. Please keep me out of your religious conspiracies, I don’t believe in such things.
“The distinction to me is as follows - one can criticize certain aspects of Israel while not being anti-Israel. But someone who is anti-Israel doesn’t want Israel to exist and IMO that is someone who doesn’t like Jews…”
I completely agree with that definition. Pretty hard to say you have no problems with Jewish people if you want Israel to be obliterated.
“But I suspect if this thread continues along this lines it will get closed. CC has stressed we are not to discuss politics and we could be heading down that slippery slope and I’d hate to see this thread closed for that reason”
Are you suggesting that there are two different arguable sides on this forum, that could become political? Arguing on the side of genocide is not politics, it’s vitriolic hatred.
I would point out, as I did above, that it is perfectly possible to think that the existence of Israel as a Jewish state is–or may be-- untenable without wanting any harm to come to a single Jew. Quite the contrary. Of course, if one’s method is to destroy the population, that’s another matter. That’s genocide.
BTW, I would be more convinced that what was going on at UCLA wasn’t garden-variety anti-semitism if the blonde had been able to ask a simple and straightforward question regarding how the applicant would plan to reconcile her ACTIVISM on an issue with her role as a court member, rather than going on and on about her simply being Jewish.