Jewish leaders fault UC on anti-Semitism

BERKELEY, Calif., July 7 (UPI) -- A coalition of Jewish organizations has accused the University of California of a tepid response to anti-Semitic acts.

In a June 28 letter to Mark Yudof, the university president, the coalition said many Jewish students report "an environment of harassment and intimidation." The groups involved include the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Conservative and Orthodox leadership committees.

The university has formed a UC Advisory Council on Campus Climate, Culture and Inclusion designed to deal with reports of actions aimed at various ethnic groups, including Swastika graffiti at the Davis campus and a "Compton Cookout" held off campus in San Diego that made fun of Black History Month. But the coalition in its letter said there should be steps taken specifically to deal with anti-Semitism.

The letter also cited speakers invited to campus who denounce Israel. The Muslim Students Union was suspended for a year at the Irvine campus for disrupting a speech by an Israeli diplomat.

Yudof, who is Jewish, said he would do everything he can to "protect Jewish and all other students from threats or all other actions of intimidation."