Associated Students pass resolution “in solidarity” with Jewish students after criticism

Associated Students of Santa Monica College Secretary Nathan Silberberg argues that anti-semitism and anti-Zionism are one in the same during a contentious meeting of the student body on Monday, April 27, 2020, in Los Angeles, Calif. SMC classes and meetings have gone completely virtual due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. (Michael Goldsmith / The Corsair)

The board members of Associated Students (AS) unanimously approved and sponsored the “Expressing Solidarity for Jewish Students at Santa Monica College” resolution at their Zoom-hosted board meeting on Monday. This approval comes after a week’s worth of impassioned criticism and support of the resolution from Santa Monica College (SMC) students and members of the public.

AS Secretary Nathan Silberberg authored the resolution, with intentions to “make sure [AS] combat[s] anti-semitism and… call out anti-semitism whenever it occurs.” The resolution cites the rise of anti-semitism both globally and on college campuses, and specifically calls for AS to publically denounce anti-semitic incidents on campus and advocate for anti-discrimination training for SMC faculty.

“The background behind this resolution has been the experience of a lot of Jewish students, as well as myself, for the past few years at SMC… [of] incidences of anti-semitism and racism… I’ve been attacked personally, I’ve received death threats,” said Silberberg.

The approved resolution has undergone significant revisions from its first draft, which the AS discussed during a board meeting a week prior. The first draft of the resolution received heavy criticism by both AS directors and members of the public for its initial inclusion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of anti-semitism.

The first draft of the resolution sparked an long-winded conversation of the connection between anti-Zionism and anti-semitism under the IHRA’s definition. Zionism is a “political movement” whose “original aim [was] the creation of a country for Jewish people” in the state of Israel, according to the Cambridge Dictionary. SMC professor Daniele Bolelli, who teaches History of Religion, spoke to The Corsair on the historical context of this conversation.

“The big difference is that whereas anti-semitism is based on hatred of Jewish ethnic identity and/or Jewish religion, Zionism is a political position,” Bolelli told The Corsair. “Whereas cracking down on speech against an ethnicity is legitimate, cracking down on a speech against a particular political stance is much more problematic.”

As an anti-Zionist identifying club on campus, members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) were worried that the passing of the resolution with the IHRA’s definition would infringe on their rights to free speech. 

“Some see [Zionism] as... basically silencing and erasing the atrocities that have gone on in Israel and Palestine… which [were] the ethnic-cleansing and erasure of Palestinians, their right to their land there,” Divina Davidds, a board member of SJP, told The Corsair. “If this resolution were to be passed with no revisions…  I would see it as a complete shutdown of our rights as a club and as students to voice our concerns with things going on on campus.”

Supporters of the resolution spoke up during public comments of the board meeting, many of them stressing their personal connection to the resolution’s protections of SMC’s Jewish community.

“Zionism is a movement for Jewish self-determination,” said Chloe Levian, a member of Students Supporting Israel (SSI), during her public comment. “The vast majority of Jewish students agree that denying Israel’s right to exist is anti-semitism.”

Multiple individuals put slogans as their profile picture during an Associated Students of Santa Monica College town hall meeting on Wednesday, April 29, 2020. The contentious town hall was centered around whether criticism of "Zionism" would be tolerated at SMC. Justin Feldman, who argued that anti-Zionism was inherently anti-semitic, later changed his picture to a QR code that others could scan, in order to get more information regarding his opinion on the matter. (Michael Goldsmith / The Corsair)

As the board further discussed the first draft of the resolution, in which several directors shared the same concerns as the public, AS Director of Sustainability Adriel Ghadoushi became emotional as he showed very strong support of the resolution.

“I feel like I can’t speak about my Israeli heritage in any of my classes for fear of retribution… from threats on campus, threats online, people sending me stuff to my house,” Ghadoushi said. “I’m really ashamed to be a part of this board that is talking about dismissing all of these valid claims of Jewish students. I don’t know why we’re ignoring these perfectly valid claims because we’re afraid of what other people will think.”

Discussion of the resolution continued into the AS town hall on Wednesday, in which there were 76 participants of the Zoom-hosted meeting, and public comments continued on for two hours.

“If you are an anti-Zionist, you are not simply criticising anti-Israeli policy, you are opposing the existence of the only Jewish refuge, Jewish freedom and identity, Jewish self-determination, and normalization of Jewish people as equal human beings with the same rights as any other people,” said Justin Feldman at the town hall. Feldman spoke early in the meeting, suggesting there are no shades of grey on such an issue, that it is black and white.  

“Anti-Zionism is an attack not only on Jewish civil rights, but an attack on Jewish identity itself. It’s cultural imperialism, anti-Zionism is psychological warfare. Jews don’t just experience oppression when Nazis draw swastikas on synagogues and they kill the Jews...to tell Jews they are bloodthirsty foreigners in our indigenous land is anti-Zionist, and thus anti-semitic,” continued Feldman. The town hall concluded with the resolution still under debate and revision.

The inclusion of the IHRA’s definition has since been removed. The most updated section of the resolution is the second “Resolved,” in which AS is to condemn anti-semitic harassment or discrimination. Silberberg said that with the revision, “whether it be on the Israeli side or the Palestinian side, this would protect both sides.”

“I think this resolution is a necessary stepping stone,” said Ghadoushi. “I believe this conversation is very far from over; this is just the beginning of it.”