Jews, Muslims to have common dining room at UCSD

By Donald H. Harrison

LA JOLLA, California –They may not agree on much politically, especially about Israel and the Palestinians, but members of the Muslim Student Association and the Union of Jewish Students at UCSD are planning to regularly eat together in 2016 in a common dining hall that will offer both kosher and halal foods.  The university will further accommodate the two religious groups by providing a space for prayer.

Bids are now being solicited  by the campus administration for the reconfiguration of OceanView Terrace, which is the dining hall at Thurgood Marshall College on the UC San Diego campus, according to a news release jointly issued by the two student religious organizations.

To accommodate the Muslims there will be an “entirely halal menu” and for the Jewish students, there will be “a separate kosher preparation and serving station,” according to Zev Hurwitz of the Union of Jewish Students.  Using the UCSD meal plan, known as “Dining Dollars,” students will be able to sign up for meals of either description.

Jonah Saidian, president of the Union of Jewish Students, called the religious diet-sensitive dining room “a big step for the university and we’re thankful to have such a strong partner in the campus administration for working with both faith groups to improve the lives of observant students at UCSD.”

“A lot of work has been put in to this initiative and it’s wonderful to see the progress that has come from it,” MSA President Sammay Azhand said. “None of this would have been possible without the collaboration and dedication put forth by our two organizations.

The two groups and the administration held planning meetings for over a year to develop what is being described as the “first campus in the University of California system with a joint kosher and halal dining hall’ and where all food served “will adhere to the strict dietary guidelines for both faiths.”

Last spring, the Associated Students at UC San Diego voted unanimously in favor of a resolution backing the two groups’ proposal.   Additionally, when Ocean View Terrace reopens in 2016, the new facility will cater to religious students by including shared space for students of all faiths to conduct prayer services.

Hurwitz, a former editor of the UCSD Guardian, told San Diego Jewish World: “We’re hopeful that this new dining hall will foster strong relationships between members of both faith groups on campus. By providing meals sufficient to both faiths’ dietary laws in one dining hall, we expect both communities to make full use of the new facility which we hope, in turn, will allow new friendships and levels of understanding between Jewish and Muslim students.”

However, he added, “this advocacy campaign has not been intended to resolve any on-going political divides between Jewish and Muslim students. I personally hope that the success on this project will allow members of both communities to see one another not as outsiders, but as peers.

“It’s premature to suggest that a “resolution” of the ongoing debate about international affairs is an end-goal of this advocacy project.”

Hurwitz referred us to an article he wrote on March 3 for New Voices, which is described, somewhat poetically, as a vehicle of “news and views for campus Jews.”

In that piece, Hurwitz wrote:

Last May, I walked in front of the Israel “Apartheid” Wall at my campus during Justice in Palestine Week, wearing my yarmulke, and a member of Students for Justice in Palestine called me a name. The name that the SJP member called was certainly not something I anticipated being called at that time or place.

“Hi Zev!”

In what world is an SJP affiliate going to be friendly to an openly Zionist, visibly Jewish student wearing an Israeli flag T-Shirt during the most contentious week of the year for pro-Israel students in front of the largest icon for the BDS movement on campus?

This only occurs in a crazy world where Jewish and Muslim students can recognize one another for being what we truly are at the core: Peers.

As I’ve hinted at in previous posts, since late 2013, my campus Union of Jewish Students has been working with the University of California San Diego’s Muslim Student Association on a joint advocacy project to increase the offerings of Kosher and Halal foods in our campus dining halls. After months of collaboration, we’re ready to announce that UCSD will be opening an all-halal dining hall in 2016, with a separate station for kosher food preparation and serving.
Moving forward, the years of contentious BDS fights and pattern of Jewish-Muslim issues that my campus has endured for years will need to end by necessity of survival. Only one of the campus’ seven dining halls will cater exclusively to the needs of Jewish and Muslim students. The facility will also have shared prayer space and meeting rooms for all faith groups to hold religious and social gatherings. Jews and Muslims will need to cooperate to maximize the benefits from the first kosher/halal space in the state.

Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. You may send your comment to donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com, or post it, per below.

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