SAN FRANCISCO ― A University of California committee agreed Wednesday to single out anti-Semitism as a form of intolerance that campus leaders should challenge but rejected a more far-reaching denouncement of arguments against Israel’s right to exist.
A year in the making, the formal position opposing anti-Semitic behavior comes amid a wave of impassioned campus activism that has sparked tensions between Palestinian rights supporters and strong allies of Israel.
The committee of the university’s governing Board of Regents voted unanimously to send what is being called a “Statement of Principles Against Intolerance” to the full board for consideration on Thursday.
“Anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination have no place in the university,” it reads.
The 10-paragraph declaration seeks to spell out the difference between the vigorous intellectual debates the university says it exists to promote and the “acts of hatred and other intolerant behavior” campus leaders have a duty to combat.
One section, for example, states that candidates for leadership positions should not be discredited based on bias or stereotyping. The principle was an apparent reference to a UCLA student seeking a seat on the student government’s judicial council being asked whether she would be able to remain impartial given her Jewish heritage.
“Intellectual and creative expression that is intended to shock has a place in our community,” the document reads. “Nevertheless, mutual respect and civility within debate and dialogue advance the mission of the university.”
