ALEZA GOLDSMITH
Bulletin Staff
News that one of their own may face criminal and disciplinary charges for her words during a San Francisco State University pro-Israel rally last month has sent the Russian-speaking Jewish community into an uproar.
Rabbi Shimon Margolin, the community's only Russian-speaking rabbi, said he has been barraged with calls and e-mails from emigres who are "appalled and outraged" by the charges against Tatiana Menaker, an SFSU student who emigrated from Leningrad to San Francisco. Many believe a non-supportive U.S. Jewish community has scapegoated her.
But Rabbi Doug Kahn, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, said that charge is simply untrue. He said his agency has "treated this situation in exactly the same way we would have if this were any other member of the Jewish community in the same set of circumstances, without distinction."
SFSU police forwarded Menaker's case to the San Francisco district attorney in late May, citing her for alleged hate speech aimed at pro-Palestinian counter-demonstrators during a controversial May 7 rally on the campus, including the retort: "Go f--k your camel!" Ligeia Polidora, director of public relations at SFSU, said Menaker also used other "hateful words" but would not elaborate.
Two pro-Palestinian students at SFSU also face counts, including a charge of vandalism against one of them, who stomped on an Israeli flag.
Afterward, Hillel offered a written apology to the pro-Palestinian student groups involved in the rally to counteract any negative impressions left by Menaker's alleged remarks. A similar apology has not been issued by pro-Palestinian organizations.
While not a member of Hillel, Menaker said she is disgusted that an apology was made, without her knowledge, on her behalf. "This is not the actions of proud Jews," she said. "This is the action of people who don't have any pride, who will try to get peace at any cost."
Several Jewish community leaders have said they don't think the district attorney will press charges against Menaker. Meanwhile, the Bulletin has learned that a group of representatives from the Jewish and Arab communities has met three times to discuss the charges against Menaker and the two pro-Palestinian students.
While the criminal charges are out of the university's hands, SFSU President Robert A. Corrigan said those representatives' recommendations on disciplinary action are "something we could consider" if they might lead to "better relations between" pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students on campus.
While Margolin, who serves as a bridge between the emigre community and the Jewish establishment, said the Russians "will be happy if the charges are dropped, this issue of Tatiana has really brought attention to Russian Jews that they feel, as a whole, underrepresented" in the local Jewish community.
"We want to be empowered now and learn what we can do in the future to protect our kids and get our concerns on the issues out there."
A small group of ex-Soviet Jews, including Margolin and Menaker, met last Thursday to discuss those concerns.
Margolin also said Hillel's apology and the lack of communication between the two Jewish communities since then has left the impression with emigres "that the American community has disowned Tatiana. There is a lack of a clear picture from the American Jewish community on how they are helping her."
Most Russian Jews, he explained, did not learn of Menaker's case until reading about it in the Jewish Bulletin two weeks ago. Since then, several emigres have contacted him, wanting to support Menaker in any future legal fight. He said they view her as a hero.
"Russian Jews, living under oppression, learned the hard way how to stick together," explained Margolin. "When you face anti-Semitism every day of your life you learn how to be supportive of one another."
But Kahn said the JCRC made "a major" effort by providing Menaker with the name of "outstanding legal counsel" willing to represent her on a pro bono basis.
Menaker, who said she was provided with several such offers for legal counsel from the Russian Jewish community, chose one of those attorneys, rather than the one recommended by Kahn.
Kahn also said the JCRC has been working with Margolin on a number of efforts to engage ex-Soviet Jews, including the visit of Natan Sharansky, a member of Ariel Sharon's cabinet and a leader of the Israeli Russian community. "He knows the absolute commitment of the Jewish community to work with the Russian-speaking community."
Kahn said he would draft a letter to the Russian community, which will "convey how we've begun to cooperate and desire to cooperate in the future." Margolin has said that such a letter should effectively "calm down the situation."