Pro-Israel group chides U.C. Santa Cruz
StandWithUs, an L.A.-based pro-Israel organization, has sent an angry letter to the chancellor of U.C. Santa Cruz complaining of the loudly anti-Israel rhetoric espoused on campus last month during a conference on Zionism.
According to faculty and community members who attended, the conference speakers promoted anti-Israel, anti-Jewish prejudice by distorting facts and history to de-legitimize the Jewish state, equate Israeli and Nazi policies, minimize the Holocaust, and urge divestment from Israel.
The conference was organized by anthropology professor Lisa Rofel and co-sponsored by the Institute for Humanities Research, College 9/10, and several academic departments.
“The University of California has a responsibility not only to the students and faculty but to all Californians to refrain from promoting an ideology or personal agendas,” stated StandWithUs member Gil Stein, a Santa Cruz attorney and UCSC alum who attended the conference.
“The conference fostered prejudice and a hostile campus environment for an American minority group: Jews. The U.S. Civil Rights Commission, dedicated to combating bigotry on campuses, recently concluded that ‘anti-Semitic bigotry is no less morally deplorable when camouflaged as anti-Israelism or anti-Zionism.’”
Former Israeli ambassador to talk Turkey
Uri Bar-Ner, Israel’s former ambassador to Turkey, will be in town Wednesday, May 2.
He will speak at the San Francisco-Israel Youth Ambassador Exchange gathering at 555 Franklin St., S.F., at 5:30 p.m.
For more information visit www.aifl.org or call (510) 559-3137.
Orthodox human rights activist in Berkeley
Tziva Greenfield, an Orthodox woman who is a human rights activist and an advocate for the separation of church and state, will explain how she has bridged her religious background with her liberal views at “Bridges Across Israel” on Tuesday, May 1 at the JCC of the East Bay.
Greenfield, a member of Israel’s Meretz party, is the founder of the Minfe Institute for Democracy and Cultural Identity, was a founder of the Religious Women for the Sanctity of Life movement, is a member of the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories and ran as a candidate for the Knesset.
The event begins 7:30 p.m. at JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley. Admission is $5. Call (510) 839-2900 ext. 253 for more information.
If clothes could talk
Ida Gelbert will perform a staged reading of her play, “The Coat.” Its premise is that, although Holocaust victims have been silenced, their remaining personal effects can communicate their story.
The debut performance take places at Congregation Kol Shofar, 215 Blackfield Road, Tiburon, at 7:30 p.m. May 3. Tickets are $25. Call (415) 388-1818 ext. 10 for more information.
Israel supporters to march
Roughly 1,000 participants are expected to march along Sacramento’s streets for the “Salute to Israel” on Sunday, May 6.
The march marks the 59th anniversary of the founding of Israel, and will highlight the nation’s pluralistic and democratic values. In addition to a march on the Capitol Building, the day will also feature Israeli food, dance and live music from Moshav.
Participation in the event, which kicks off at noon on the corner of L and 14th streets, is free.
For more information, see www.jewishsac.org
E. Bay JFCS offers older men’s support group
Jewish Family & Children’s Services of the East Bay will launch a new support group, offering older men a confidential environment to discuss family, health and life issues.
The group meets 10:30 a.m. to noon every other Wednesday from May 16 through July 25 at the Suse Moyal Center for Older Adult Services, 828 San Pablo Ave., Suite 104, Albany.
Moderator Todd Keitz has been facilitating men’s groups for almost 30 years.
The cost is $35 per session or $265 for all six sessions. Pre-registration is required, with a deadline of May 2. For more information, call Keitz at (510) 839-0249.
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California