San Diego Jewish Community Condemns AFT 1931 Resolution on Israel and Palestine

SAN DIEGO (Press Release) – Jewish Federation of San Diego County strongly condemns the San Diego Community College American Federation of Teachers Guild Local 1931’s “Statement Regarding the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” and we do so with the full support of our valued community partners listed below. We are dismayed to find that the union representing community college and continuing education faculty and other employees in the San Diego Community College District and the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District voted in support of this misguided and simplistic statement that has caused sadness, fear, and anger as a result of its false claims and incendiary language. This statement creates an unsafe atmosphere for Jewish and Israeli students, faculty and staff, and other members of the San Diego and Grossmont Community College Communities. Consider how an anxious Jewish student might feel walking into the classroom of a professor who supported this statement. Consider the situation a Jewish junior member of faculty now finds themselves in with a department chair who supported the statement.

In our current climate, in which anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiments are, unfortunately, ever more intertwined, simply asserting these words “are not anti-Semitic” does not eliminate the harm and the risk incurred by publishing this irresponsible statement. And that risk is all too real; it was only a little over two years ago when a gunman opened fire in a Poway synagogue just up the road, killing and injuring innocent San Diegans, simply because they were Jews.

Hyperbolic and one-sided rhetoric like that found in this statement contains serious mischaracterizations designed solely for political ends. This resolution does not serve a positive purpose, nor does it serve the goals of an educational institution committed to objective historical review and analysis and the honest exchange of ideas.

We affirm the State of Israel’s right to exist and condemn the rhetoric that demonizes Israel as an illegal state and feeds the current and dramatic rise of anti-Semitism in the US and around the world. We affirm the right of the Jewish people to determine their own destinies.

We firmly stand against terrorist groups like Hamas that call for the extermination of Israel and the Jewish people. Violence in the middle east is heartbreaking, and we all want to see it end in a way that respects life and dignity for all. We strongly support a healthier, more productive and intellectually honest dialogue about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict throughout the San Diego and Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College Districts and our region.

We at Federation, along with our trusted community partners, will continue to work tirelessly to build allyship and develop strong relationships so that messages like this diminish in favor of more inclusive representation and understanding within our educational system.

Heidi Gantwerk
Interim President and CEO
Jewish Federation of San Diego County

Jack Maizel
Board Chair
Jewish Federation of San Diego County

AND

ADL of San Diego
Tammy Gillies, Regional Director

 

Aish-Ahavat Yisrael San Diego
Rabbi Mimoun Miller

Beth Eliyahu
Rabbi Daniel Srugo

Camp Mountain Chai
Buddy Voit, Executive Director
David Bark, Board President

Chabad of San Diego
Rabbi Yonah Fradkin

Congregation Adat Yeshurun
Rabbi Daniel Reich

Congregation Beth Am
Rabbi Matthew Earne
Rabbi David Kornberg

Congregation Beth Israel
Rabbi Michael Berk, Senior Emeritus
Rabbi/Cantor Arlene Bernstein
Rabbi Jeremy Gimbel
Rabbi Jason Nevarez

Congregation Beth El
Rabbi Avi Libman
Rabbi Ron Shulman

Congregation Dor Hadash
Rabbi Yael Ridberg

Hillel of San Diego
Karen Parry, Executive Director

Jewish Collective of San Diego
Rabbi Gabi Arad

Jewish Community Foundation
Beth Sirull, President and CEO

Jewish Family Service
Michael Hopkins, CEO

Jewish Federation of San Diego
Rabbi Ralph Dalin

Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center
Betzy Lynch, CEO

Ken Jewish Community
Executive Committee

Ner Tamid
Rabbi Sammi Seid

Ohr Shalom
Rabbi Scott Meltzer

San Diego Jewish Academy
Zvi Weiss, Head of School

San Diego Outreach Synagogue
Rabbi/Cantor Cheri Weiss

Seacrest Retirement Village
Pam Ferris, President and CEO

Temple Adat Shalom
Rabbi David Castiglione

Temple Emanu-El
Rabbi Marty Lawson, Emeritus
Rabbi Devorah Marcus

Temple Solel
Rabbi Alexis Berk

Rabbi David Frank, Emeritus

Rabbi Richard Agler

Rabbi Lenore Bohm

Rabbi Laurie Coskey, Ed.D.

Rabbi Wayne Dosick

Rabbi Susan Freeman

Rabbi Phil Graubart

Rabbi Leah Herz

Rabbi Ally Jocobson

Rabbi Ben Leinow

Rabbi Jonathan Stein

Rabbi Simcha Weiser

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Preceding provided by the Jewish Federation of San Diego County