Rise in antisemitism is unexplainable

Opinion: Nothing has prepared me for the antisemitism I see on college campuses now.

Echo opinion published in the Los Angeles Times:

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I am a 70-year-old Jewish man, but never in my life have I seen or felt the antisemitism of the last few weeks. I have heard antisemitic things from time to time through my life. I remember as a child being called a “dirty Jew,” and my friends and I being called “Christ killers” as we walked to Hebrew school. 

I recall a college girlfriend’s parents telling her that she should not go out with me because “Jews are different.” I had an incident in a class I was teaching about the ethics of negotiations, where a student matter of factly said, “the other side will try to Jew you down,” without the slightest sense of how that was a slur.

But none of this prepared me for the last few weeks. On Friday, someone in my school posted on Instagram a picture of me with the caption, “Erwin Chemerinsky has taken an indefinite sabbatical from Berkeley Law to join the I.D.F.” Two weeks ago, at a town hall, a student told me that what would make her feel safe in the law school would be “to get rid of the Zionists.” I have heard several times that I have been called “part of a Zionist conspiracy,” which echoes of antisemitic tropes that have been expressed for centuries.

I was stunned when students across the country, including mine, immediately celebrated the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, in Israel. Students for Justice in Palestine called the terror attack a “historic win” for the “Palestinian resistance.”  

A Columbia professor called the Hamas massacre “awesome” and a “stunning victory.” A Yale professor tweeted, “It’s been such an extraordinary day!” while calling Israel a “murderous, genocidal settler state.” A Chicago art professor posted a note reading, “Israelis are pigs. Savages. Very very bad people. Irredeemable excrement…. May they all rot in hell.” A UC Davis professor tweeted, “Zionist journalists … have houses w addresses, kids in school,” adding “they can fear their bosses, but they should fear us more.” There are, sadly, countless other examples.

How can anyone celebrate the killing of 260 people attending a music festival, or the brutal massacre of more than 100 people in a kibbutz, or the pulling of people from their houses to take as hostages? If this happened to people who were not Jews would there be such celebrations?

I have heard few campus administrators speak out publicly about the antisemitism that has become prevalent this month. They want to seem neutral or not be perceived as Islamophobic. I understand. I, too, refrained from speaking out against those who defended Hamas’ terrorist attack.

But when do we stop being silent and when do we say the antisemitism must be condemned and it is not acceptable on our campuses? I believe this must be that time.

To be clear, I — and I hope all of us — mourn the loss of life in Israel and in Gaza. There is surely room in our hearts to feel compassion for all who are in danger and all who have lost loved ones. But it is simply wrong to confuse condemning antisemitism with ignoring the plight of the Palestinians.

Of course, criticism of the Israeli government is not antisemitism, any more than criticizing the policies of the United States government is anti-American. I strongly oppose the policies of the Netanyahu government, favor full rights for Palestinians, and believe that there must be a two-state solution. But if you listen to what is being said on college campuses now, some of the loudest voices are not advocating for a change in Israeli policies, but are calling for an end to Israel. Students regularly chant, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “We don’t want no two states, we want all of 48,” referring to going back to 1948 before Israel existed.

An oft-repeated mantra among some is that Israel is a settler colonialist country and should be forced to give the land back to the Palestinians. I have no idea how it would be determined who is rightly entitled to what land, but I do know that calling for the total elimination of Israel is antisemitic.

There has been enough silence and enough tolerance of antisemitism on college campuses. I call on my fellow university administrators to speak out and denounce the celebrations of Hamas and the blatant antisemitism that is being voiced.

Students have the right to say very offensive and even hateful things, but school administrators — deans, presidents and chancellors — have free speech rights too. They must exercise them and take a stand even if it will offend some and subject them to criticism.

It is a very difficult time on campuses across the country. Many of our students and faculty members have family and friends in Israel or in Gaza. Many care deeply about the suffering we are seeing, and yet there is no bridge between those who seek the elimination of Israel and those who believe it is essential to have a Jewish state. I hope there will be a time when campus officials can find ways to bring their communities together. But it is not realistic now. This makes it all the more important that they show moral leadership and speak out against the antisemitism that is rampant now, as they would condemn all other forms of racism and hate on campus.

Erwin Chemerinsky is a contributing writer to Opinion and the dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law. His latest book is “Worse Than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism.”

Donald Trump has been involved in a litany of crimes and FINALLY an indictment

Opinion echo published in The Boston Globe by Erwin Chemerinsky:

The indictment of a former president of the United States is unprecedented. But Donald Trump is unprecedented. There is much to be worried about in setting a precedent for the criminal prosecution of a former president. But it would be much worse to conclude that anyone, including the president, is above the law.

The indictment by a New York grand jury follows many years of investigation. In fact, the matter went to the US Supreme Court in 2020, which emphatically ruled that a president has no immunity from a state grand jury investigation.

The indictment accuses Trump of violating New York state laws in connection with a 2016 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her staying silent about her affair with Trump. Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen has stated that he paid Daniels $130,000 at Trump’s direction. Cohen has said that he was reimbursed the money during Trump’s first year in office, with Trump signing checks in between official government business.
The indictment accuses Trump of overseeing the false recording of the reimbursements in his company’s internal records. The records falsely stated that the payments to Cohen were for “legal expenses.” The indictment alleges that this also violated New York’s campaign finance laws.

That means that the grand jury concluded that there is sufficient evidence that Trump committed a crime and should stand trial for it. Of course, he could choose to plead guilty instead. But otherwise, he will be tried and a jury will decide whether he broke the law.

No former president has ever been indicted. There is reason for concern that this opens the door and will inspire Republicans to look for a way to indict President Biden and future Democratic presidents after they leave office. Other countries have seen exactly this pattern, where new officeholders criminally prosecute their predecessors.

Already, Republican leaders have decried this indictment as political. House majority leader Kevin McCarthy sent a tweet describing this as “an outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance against President Trump.” Representative Elise Stefanik of New York said that Democrats have reached “a dangerous new low. Knowing they cannot beat President Trump at the ballot box, the Radical Left will now follow the lead of Socialist dictators and reportedly arrest President Trump.”

But despite these attacks and the worry of what precedent this might set, New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg did exactly the right thing in pursuing the indictment of Trump. The core of the rule of law is that no person is above the law. If Trump committed a crime, he should be indicted and prosecuted for it. The alternative, which is far more frightening, is to say that once a person has been elected president there is a lifetime “get out of jail free” card that provides full immunity from all criminal charges.

There are only two relevant questions in evaluating the Trump indictment: Did the grand jury have sufficient reason to believe that Trump authorized the payment of $130,000 to Daniels in exchange for her remaining silent about their sexual relationship, as she and Cohen allege? And if so, is there sufficient reason to believe that this violates New York law, including in the fraudulent way it was recorded and not reported under campaign finance laws? If the answer to both questions is yes, and from all that is known it appears so, then the district attorney and the grand jury were completely justified in the indictment.

Some may feel that this is too minor a crime to warrant prosecution. Certainly compared to other Trump offenses, including inciting the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and grossly mishandling classified documents, this seems less significant. But more trivial crimes than this are prosecuted every day without outrage. The first case I argued in the Supreme Court involved a man who was sentenced to 50 years to life for stealing $153 worth of videotapes.

I disagree with those who dismiss as minor Trump’s alleged crime in paying off Daniels and fraudulently concealing it. Trump was using his corporation’s wealth to keep the American people from learning unseemly information about him in the context of a close presidential election. His disregard of the law should be held accountable.

Indeed, what makes Trump different from other presidents is his disregard of the law in so many ways. He is under criminal investigation for other matters and may be indicted for them. Thus, indicting Trump is essential to send a message to all: No one, not even a former president, is above the law.

Erwin Chemerinsky is a professor of law and dean of the Berkeley School of Law at the University of California.