Controversial events scheduled at UC Irvine next week with such provocative titles as "Holocaust in the Holy Land" and "Israel: The Fourth Reich" are sparking outrage among Jewish students who are asking administrators to denounce aspects of the event.
Jewish students and community leaders say the program is the latest in a string of offensive incidents at the university. The U.S. Office for Civil Rights is investigating anti-Semitism at UCI, the first probe of its kind at a college.
"Instead of the university being a place for dialogue and discussion of important issues, it's being turned into a platform for hate speech and bigotry," said Rabbi Yonah Bookstein, a spiritual advisor at colleges in Long Beach and Orange County.
"This is intentionally inciting and hateful toward the Jewish people of the campus."
A complaint filed by the Zionist Organization of America in New York on behalf of Jewish students at UCI prompted the ongoing investigation, said Kenneth L. Marcus, former head of the office and director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
"There are things that are happening on campuses all over the country, but Irvine seems particularly severe to me," said attorney Susan Tuchman, director of the Zionist Organization's Center for Law and Justice.
Federal officials say they have seen an escalation in anti-Semitism at universities across the country since 2000, prompting the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to issue a report on the topic last month. The report, unrelated to UCI, urges university leaders to set a moral example by condemning hate speech.
The latest UCI controversy is centered on the Muslim Student Union's "Holocaust in the Holy Land" program scheduled throughout next week.
Kareem Elsayed, 20, a member of the group, defended the program titles. The dictionary definition of "holocaust" does not include Jews, he said.
"I do understand why they're upset, but of course I disagree," Elsayed said. "We have been doing this kind of programming for years. No matter how you slice it, they are not pleased with the fact that we're criticizing the apartheid state of Israel. We change the name each year. Each year, there's a commotion."
The Southern California Council on American-Islamic Relations also defended the students' right, calling the terms debatable, potentially offensive words that stop short of attacking a religion.
