A lot of things about the holy hell that Israel is raining down on the people of Gaza can be true at the same time, as the ongoing controversy over Israel and Gaza at my alma mater, the University of Virginia, demonstrates.
One, the university needs to discipline students who have been engaged in the overt and downright ugly antisemitism we’ve seen displayed toward Jewish students on Grounds in the name of supposed pro-peace activists saying whatever they want to say in the name of being critical about the far-right Israeli government’s atrocities in Gaza.
There is absolutely no place for what we’ve seen from these faux-peace advocates, and it’s embarrassing that UVA President Jim Ryan and the UVA Board of Visitors have not only been silent in the face of this dangerous nonsense hate speech, but have actively trying to suppress any criticism of their inexcusable inaction.
Two, at the same time, those denouncing the results of a nonbinding student referendum that came out in favor of asking UVA to divest its holdings in Israeli business and industry need to find something else to get upset about.
A Glenn Youngkin appointee to the Board of Visitors, Douglas Wetmore, a UVA alum, laughably called the student vote “one of the most shameful things to happen in the history of the university.”
Hyperbole much? would be one response to that bit of tone-deafness, speaking as Wetmore is at a university built by slave labor that systematically excluded women for more than 150 years.
It’s perfectly reasonable for students to suggest that the university use its billions in endowment money to push for meaningful policy change.
It was a similar push by students across the U.S. in the 1980s that helped lead to the downfall of the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Which is to say, you can be anti-Benjamin Netanyahu, and against his policies that are leading to mass starvation for millions of Gazans, just as you could be anti-F.W. de Klerk, and against the apartheid policies that reduced black South Africans to second-class citizenship in their own country, and not be anti-people of Israel, or anti-people of South Africa.
And, yes, the kids in the pro-Gaza peace movements on college campuses, including at UVA, can do a much better job in that respect.
Jewish students at UVA, who have nothing to do with the Israeli war effort, “have reported being slapped, spit on, threatened, called ‘kike’ and ‘filthy Jew,’” according to a report this week in the Daily Progress.
If any of the perpetrators in these incidents is a UVA student, they should soon be told that they’re an ex-UVA student.
There are no easy answers on the bigger matter at hand.
Hamas, the ruling power in Gaza, continues to hold hostages from its Oct. 7 attacks on nearby communities in Southern Israel, and its leaders continue to advocate for the end to the Israeli nation-state; as the Netanyahu hard-liners, citing Israel’s right to defend itself and for the safe return of its citizens who are held hostage, push the limits, and well beyond, of international law with the bombing campaign.
Hamas is not just an existential threat to Israel; its reign of terror in Gaza, dating back to 2006, has kept Gazans down in every standard of sociodemographic measure.
But even then, at least most Gazans, before the Israeli bombing campaign, post-Oct. 7, had roofs over their heads, food to eat, dinner tables to eat their food on.
The U.S. government has, disappointingly, stayed almost entirely out of the fray, which is why it is that we see kids on college campuses, at UVA and across the country, getting involved the way they have, trying to sway political leaders from inaction into doing something.
One thing we can all agree on – the U.S. government needs to do something,
Actually, there’s one more thing we should all be able to agree on – the wave of antisemitism that has arisen since Oct. 7 is beyond even being embarrassing.
It’s also just plain sad that this is the way we respond, and that so many think it’s OK to respond that way.
And also that, in the case of what’s been going on at UVA, its leadership sits idly by, doing nothing to protect Jewish students who have nothing to do with what is being done half a world away from being victimized on Grounds.
UVA issues response
Update: Saturday, 6:59 p.m. We received a detailed response to the column reporting on the ongoing controversy at UVA regarding reports of antisemitism being directed at Jewish students from UVA spokesperson Bethanie Glover.
“We noticed in particular the last paragraph noting that the University has done little in response to reports of antisemitism on Grounds. We would like this clarified, as the entire University Board and administration are committed to combating antisemitism and other forms of bias and discrimination,” Glover wrote in an email.
“As we have received reports of conduct that may violate our policies or Virginia law, we have investigated aggressively and extended supportive resources to the affected individuals. We urge anyone with information about cases of alleged bias, discrimination, harassment, or other misconduct to contact the University as soon as possible.”
Glover also noted in her response that, at the request of Robert Hardie, the rector of UVA’s Board of Visitors, the BOV “received a briefing from University Police and other officials about those investigations and other ways the University is caring for members of our community, including an update on the work of our Task Force on Religious Diversity and Belonging.”
Her email then shared a quote from Hardie:
“The University Board of Visitors and the administration are united in our opposition to antisemitism and all forms of discrimination,” Hardie said. “We care deeply for our students and are committed to supporting all members of our community as we continue to work through a deeply difficult time that is affecting our community and countless others around the world. I reject the baseless attacks on the University, especially regarding a Board briefing I requested. The briefing included sensitive safety and student information, as well as details related to steps the University has taken to protect our community. That briefing needed to be shared in a confidential setting.”
That quote from Hardie is relevant to criticism from the author of the Daily Progress article linked above that quoted a critic of Hardie and UVA President Jim Ryan raising issue with having the safety discussion done in a closed session, thus, outside of public purview.
I hadn’t addressed that specific criticism, instead focusing more generally on being critical both of student groups that have directed antisemitic vitriol at Jewish UVA students, and what seems to me to be inaction on the part of university leaders, even in spite of what Glover, speaking on behalf of the university, has to say on that.
Glover shared links to a statement from Ryan on the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, a UVA News story on on the University’s Task Force on Religious Diversity and Belonging, a page on the UVA website detailing programming on the Israel-Gaza war that UVA has had since Oct. 7, and a video message from Ryan in which he tells the university community that antisemitism, Islamophobia, and any other forms of bias and discrimination have no place on Grounds.
“These and numerous other discussions, events and support resources that have been offered to our community since Oct. 7 establish that the University is committed to learning and understanding the experiences of students and other community members with close ties to the conflict, and to ensuring that every member of the community belongs at UVA, regardless of their faith,” Glover said.
I noted in a response to Glover that her communication seems to me “like a lot of PR fluff, but I understand the constraints within which large institutions like UVA have to operate.”
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Chris Graham
