Readers React: How should UC handle anti-Semitism and other biases on campus?

To the editor: Kudos to the University of California system for convening a panel to take on the “difficult task of crafting an anti-bias policy without violating free speech.” (“UC panel hears competing claims about anti-bias rules and free speech,” Oct. 26)

A university is an educational institution for learning subjects by attending lectures, doing research and discussing philosophies; it is also a place for learning tolerance. It is not a platform for expressing and spreading age-old hatreds under the guise of free speech.

The perpetrators of the latter need help in order to free themselves of hatred. They are wasting precious university time by desecrating Jewish fraternity buildings with swastikas, by assaulting Jewish students and by scrawling racist graffiti.

The people who commit such acts need to be assigned to university counselors for help and an education in tolerance before they are allowed back in the classroom.

Rhya Turovsky, Pasadena

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To the editor: The UC system must not accept allegations by extremist pro-Israel advocates. There is no anti-Semitism on the campuses that restricts practicing Jews from attending Sabbath services or any other rituals practiced by observant Jews.

Public criticism of the government of Israel is about abuse and discrimination against Palestinians and about settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The criticism is also against harsh and unjust laws against Israeli Palestinians.

The UC system should not effectively ban public debate on this issue or any others. I still believe this country is built on 1st Amendment rights, which include freedom of speech and assembly.

Lillian Laskin, Los Angeles

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