By Ron Hassner
University of California, Berkeley
BERKELEY, California — Towards the end of my 13th day in the office, I received an unexpected phone call from Chancellor Christ. Several minutes later, I received another phone call from Provost Hermalin. They called to accept all the requests I had made in my letter to them two weeks earlier, without exception, and to answer any questions I might have about how my requests would be implemented.
After consulting with student leaders and colleagues, and sleeping on it for one more night, I have started packing my bags so that I can go back home to my family. I made three requests in my March 7 letter to Christ and Hermalin. First, I asked that “all students, even the ones wearing Stars of David, should be free to pass through [Sather Gate] unobstructed. The right of protestors to express their views must be defended. It does not extend to blocking or threatening fellow students.”
To that end, the school has now posted observers from the Division of Student Affairs to monitor bullying at the gate. These are not the passive yellow-vested security personnel who have stood around Sproul in prior weeks. The Student Affairs representatives are there to actively document bullying, abuse, blocking, or intrusion on personal space. They are wearing blue lanyards around their neck with a blue badge that says “Observer”. They will be at the gate whenever protestors are there (which happens less and less these days).
The protestors who are haranguing students at the gate are hiding behind masks because they are afraid that campus will hold them accountable for their actions. The goal of the observers is to do just that. If you experience any incident of harassment, please approach Student Affairs staff and draw their attention to the incident. If necessary, they will call the police.
My second request was that Chancellor Christ reaffirm her proud stance to “uphold this university’s venerable free speech tradition” by inviting back any speaker whose talk has been interrupted or canceled. The chancellor did so gladly and confidently. The speaker who was attacked by a violent mob three weeks ago spoke to an even larger crowd this Monday. After students invited him to return to Berkeley, the university invested heavily in protecting his person, the venue for the talk, the audience attending, and the talk itself. This came at significant cost and effort, but the university will not hesitate doing so, again and again, whenever necessary, for any future speaker, be they Palestinian or Israeli, Jew or Muslim, Republican or Democrat, etc.
Only those who lack good arguments fear speech. Mobs cannot be permitted to muzzle ideas by threats and heckling, let alone by violence against students and university property, as happened three weeks ago.
The third reason for my sleep-in was the absence of mandatory Islamophobia and antisemitism training on campus. Chancellor Christ has committed to funding and instituting such training. It is my belief that campus leaders would have fulfilled all these requests of their own accord even in the absence of my sleep-in. Everyone at our university knows that antisemitism, sometimes cowering behind a thin mask of “anti-Zionism,” is a real concern, on this and on all U.S. campuses. Our leadership is as annoyed by the nuisance of the blockade at Sather Gate as are all students by now (especially students with disabilities).
At best, our sleep-in reinforced the university’s determination to act and accelerated the process somewhat. I say “our” sleep-in, because this protest would have been easy to ignore had it not been for the combined effort of the entire campus Jewish community. Some 80-100 guests came to my office every day to eat, drink, chat, meet friends, and discuss antisemitism and free speech. Students, parents, alumni, community members, rabbis, administrators, and colleagues dropped by with food and encouragement. Jewish and non-Jewish students, pro-Israel and even some anti-Israel students spent hours around my coffee table, late into the night, to talk about their identity and their politics. Many hundreds sent messages of encouragement and gifts for students from around the U.S. and the world. The light in my window gets no credit for that accomplishment. You do.
In good Berkeley tradition, our effort also shines a light for other California campuses. On Tuesday, 33 of my colleagues across California spent the night in their offices in solidarity with Berkeley students and in protest of antisemitism. They posted images of their sleep-ins on social media. Many of these sleep-ins took place on campuses where Jewish faculty had been reluctant to stand up for their rights and their safety. You showed them how to rally, celebrate their Judaism, and hold their heads high. The sleep-in movement against antisemitism is now spreading eastward across the U.S.
What happens next here? First of all, tomorrow Chabad has invited all students who are still on campus for a celebratory Shabbat. If you’d like to join me, I’ll be walking to Chabad from my office, leaving 720 Social Sciences at 7:30PM. It will be nice to walk together, if you like.
Second: My mattress, blanket and pillows stay at the office. Should the climate on campus deteriorate, and antisemitism escalate again, I will not hesitate to lock myself back up. I will look to you, the students, to tell me whether I need to resume my protest.
Third: My office remains a home for all students, regardless of identity and politics. In addition to office hours, I will open my doors every Thursday at 6PM to eat and drink with all who come seeking good company and good debate. I will do so as long as students wish.
I’ll end with some fantastic news, worthy of celebration. For the last two years, faculty and staff of the Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel studies have worked tirelessly to create an opportunity for students to signal their competency in Israel Studies. Yesterday, campus announced that all colleges on this campus will offer a minor in Israel Studies, starting this fall! I view this as one of our biggest and most lasting accomplishments in making Berkeley a destination for students interested in Israel, and in changing the campus experience for students once they arrive here.
The minor reflects the rich and multidisciplinary nature of the academic field of Israel Studies, drawing on the social sciences and humanities as well as law, business, science and technology. It will offer students an opportunity, not available on many campuses, to integrate rigorous engagement with Israel explicitly into their core studies, and recognize and signal the importance of that work with a Berkeley degree.
Attacks and intimidation of students on U.S. campuses are designed to drive some students away. The new minor in Israel Studies will do the opposite. It will attract students from all backgrounds to our campus precisely because we are the greatest campus in the country for studying the complexities of Judaism and Israel in an inclusive and rigorous manner.
Yashar Koach!
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Ron Hassner is a professor of political science at UC Berkeley. His “non-confrontational, non-violent and legal” sleep-in at his office was announced on March 7 “until we take necessary steps to prevent violence between students.”