UCSD Hasn’t Learned From ‘Compton Cookout’

Dear Editor,

I am writing to express my disappointment in the university’s leadership for its failure to respond to a recent act of hatred on this campus.

Last Monday night, a UCSD student who identified herself as a member of the Muslim Student Association stood up in a public forum and announced her support for Hamas and Hezbollah, two terrorist organizations whose genocidal charters state their goals to destroy the State of Israel and the Jewish people as a whole.

Indeed, it was brought to this student’s attention at the time that the head of Hezbollah has repeatedly said he hopes the Jews will gather in Israel so that he doesn’t have to hunt them down globally. Still, she didn’t hesitate to show her support.

To put this in perspective in light of recent campus events, it would be the equivalent of a student standing up in support of the KKK and hoping that all blacks would gather in Alabama so they could all be lynched at once.

I am not asking that the university limit her First Amendment rights; I am only asking that it be recognized that actions promoting hate have no place in our campus environment.

La Jolla has a history of anti-Semitism, where — prior to the establishment of this university — Jews were not allowed to buy homes or establish businesses here. It was upon the insistence of Roger Revelle — who said that a leading university had to include Jews — that Jews were finally allowed into La Jolla.

As a Jewish student, I am deeply hurt and saddened by recent campus events, and I am questioning whether or not I belong to this community anymore. I am calling upon the university to recall the legacy of Revelle, and to recognize that a serious academic institution can neither be a platform for anti-Semitism nor for racism to flow freely. In the past few months, this university has experienced multiple instances of hatred and racism, yet it seems that we have learned nothing.

When the Black Student Union cried out in pain, our campus community came together — not to discuss the legitimacy of their feelings, but to ask what we could do to help. Why are my cries and the cries of my community going unanswered? Why are we suffering in this pain alone? And, more importantly, why is the rest of this campus standing idly by?

—Myra Meskin

Member, Tritons for Israel

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