Other items in this column include
*Jewish American Heritage Month
*Holocaust education
*Political bytes
*Recommended reading
SAN DIEGO — StandWithUs, the international organization that battles anti-Semitism on college, high school, and middle school campuses, is engaged in a drive to prevent wording of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) anti-Israel movement from being restored to a proposed, ethnic studies model curriculum (ESMC) for schools throughout California.
Last year, an ESMC was proposed that made bare mention of anti-Semitism, ignored Jewish contributions to America, and included anti-Israel rhetoric. It was sharply condemned by legislators, the State Board of Education, and Gov. Gavin Newsom, leading to a decision to remove the offensive material and rewrite the curriculum — a process that is ongoing.
However, according to StandWithUs, “after California state officials promised to fix problems in the ESMC, some groups created a false alarm, claiming that the very existence of an ethnic studies curriculum is being threatened. This non-existent threat is being used to mislead well-meaning people and fuel an organized, state-wide campaign to preserve the deeply flawed first draft. Most recently, a number of local school boards across California have been manipulated into endorsing the first draft of the ESMC. The goal is to pressure the state NOT to make necessary changes to the curriculum in the coming months.”
In response, StandWithUs is seeking volunteers in a campaign to prevent the “deeply flawed first draft” from being adopted.
The organization said volunteers are needed to:
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Educate your friends and family about this issue, and recruit additional volunteers.
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Sign and share a petition
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Contact members of your local school board and other local education officials via email or through personal relationships
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Attend school board meetings via Zoom and make a public comment to the board
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Reach out to your representatives in the California State Legislature
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Submit comments about the curriculum to the California Department of Ethnic Studies.
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Jewish American Heritage Month
Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET) profiled Nobel Prize winning microbiologist Selman Waksman on Friday, noting his development of streptomycin, an antibiotic used in the treatment of Tuberculosis.
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Holocaust education
*The San Diego-based Butterfly Project has created 50 new biography cards through a process of interviewing Holocaust survivors about their murdered child relatives and then researching their lives through various archives. Program manager Beth Licha, states “Throughout the process, I have learned the stories of ‘our’ families and have developed new and meaningful connections with people from around the world. Although researching the details needed for their biographies has been emotionally taxing for all involved, there is great comfort in knowing that those young lives will be remembered though the thousands of students who will read their biographies and paint butterflies in their honor. As well, it’s gratifying to family members to know that the biographies will act as truly impactful examples for students to learn about the real dangers of bullying, bigotry, prejudice and discrimintation, hopefully inspiring those students to become Upstanders for justice. So many of the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust had no surviving relatives or friends to tell their story, so it is very powerful to know that each child Holocaust victim for whom we create a TBP biography card will now stand as a lasting ambassador to represent the thousands of other child Holocaust victims for whom we have no biographies.”
*Survivor Gabriella Karin will be the featured speaker at 5 p.m., Tuesday, June 9, in a webinar sponsored by the Holocaust Living History Workshop of UC San Diego’s Jewish Studies Program. According to an announcement from the university program, “Karin was separated from her parents and placed in a Slovakian convent for three years. Although physically safe, she did not emerge unscathed. Suppressed memories of her past came flooding back once she began to fashion sculptures related to the Holocaust later in life. Her journey offers important insight into trauma and how creativity can be used as a tool to process memories of oppression, persecution, and loss. Karin is a docent at the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust and participates in the Righteous Conversations Project which unites survivors and students through art.” Registration for this webinar is via this link.
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Political bytes
*Assemblyman Todd Gloria, a candidate in the Nov. 3 election for mayor of San Diego against City Councilwoman Barbara Bry, a fellow Democrat, has scheduled a virtual concert from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, June 7 as a fundraiser for his campaign. The concert, featuring The Resizters , will be preceded by a brief discussion between Gloria and state Senate President pro tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), who has endorsed him. Minimum donation for the concert is $10.
*San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez, battling in the 53rd Congressional District against fellow Democrat Sara Jacobs, messages: “Labor unions, environmental groups, the California Democratic Party, local elected leaders, even leading Democrats like Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are unifying behind our campaign. The truth is, we’re never going to compete in the money chase with our self-funding opponent and her super PAC. I still have a good feeling that our grassroots momentum can overcome her millions, but that’s impossible unless we must meet our own internal goals.”
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Recommended reading
Sam Litvin writes in the Times of Israel that Shavuot has important lessons for all of humanity, not just for Jews, because in giving the Ten Commandments, God taught that His rules of conduct are enduring, not ephemeral.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com