The opposing students should be removed from the student council for failing to maintain an unbiased view. I'm glad the faculty adviser did step up in the end.

UCLA took the video down, but there's still excerpts of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpULMwxQnz4

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The students who initially opposed the Jewish student's appointment were Fabienne Roth, Manjot Singh, Negeen Sadeghi-Movahed and Sofia Moreno Haq. While it would be unfair to make too many assumptions based on the apparent ethnicity of those students, I don't think it would be unfair to say that a Sikh, Persian, and Muslim might not be as sensitive to anti-Semitism as they should.

ok, what about the swiss girl?

My response will do nothing to elevate this discussion, and I'll apologize for giving in to the impulse to post my gut response and must qualify that I don't entirely believe what I'm posting, but it certainly does feel like Europeans often chortle with glee whenever they can find a way to frame Jews as aggressors. It diminishes their own guilt.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I was disturbed when I read this in the paper today.

I think one can criticize Israel without being anti-Semitic. But there's no doubt this is in-your-face anti-Semitism, and it's wrong.

And although I am not Jewish and do not some Israeli policies, you can be fanatically and even blindly pro-Israel and still fit for student government. Would they exclude a Costa Rican who was fanatically pro-Costa Rica or a Palestinian who was fanatically pro-Palestine or a Russian who idolized Putin? Ridiculous.

Anonymous wrote:The council members that posed this egregious questioning: 1 Swiss, 2 muslims, 1 sikh.

In other words, 1 Christian, 2 Muslims, 1 Sikh.

Anonymous wrote:The students who initially opposed the Jewish student's appointment were Fabienne Roth, Manjot Singh, Negeen Sadeghi-Movahed and Sofia Moreno Haq. While it would be unfair to make too many assumptions based on the apparent ethnicity of those students, I don't think it would be unfair to say that a Sikh, Persian, and Muslim might not be as sensitive to anti-Semitism as they should.

ok, what about the swiss girl?

The students who initially opposed the Jewish student's appointment were Fabienne Roth, Manjot Singh, Negeen Sadeghi-Movahed and Sofia Moreno Haq. While it would be unfair to make too many assumptions based on the apparent ethnicity of those students, I don't think it would be unfair to say that a Sikh, Persian, and Muslim might not be as sensitive to anti-Semitism as they should.

The council members that posed this egregious questioning: 1 Swiss, 2 muslims, 1 sikh.

http://dailybruin.com/2015/02/18/submission-usac-members-should-apologize-for-discriminatory-act/

All council members swiftly agreed Rachel was amply qualified for the position, but half of the council had strong reservations stemming from Rachel’s Jewish identity. “My issue is, I’m going to be upfront about it, I think she’s pretty great. She’s smart, she like knows her stuff, she’s like probably going to be a really great lawyer. But I’m like not going to pretend this isn’t about conflict of interest. … It’s not her fault … but she’s part of a community that’s very invested in USAC. … Even if she’s the right person for the job,” claimed Roth. Sadeghi-Movahed added, “For some reason, I’m not 100 percent comfortable. I don’t know why. I’ll go through her application again. I’ve been going through it constantly, but I definitely can see that she’s qualified for sure.” Throughout this discussion, Rachel anxiously paced outside, where, she later informed me, she could hear “conflict of interest” being yelled and concluded that it could only be about her being Jewish. Undoubtedly, the Israeli-Palestinan conflict is one of the most contentious issues on our campus. However, Israel was not mentioned during the discussion of Rachel’s appointment, only her affiliation with Jewish organizations, making the extensive deliberation a definitive act of discrimination.

Totally appalling. Fortunately, the grown up in the room, the faculty adviser, stopped them and explained how wrong their thinking was. The council then voted unanimously for the appointment of the Jewish student. That makes me think this might be a horrible example of identity politics gone wrong, rather than a case of actual animus.

Anonymous wrote:Is Fabienne Roth Jewish?

No she's not jewish. She's an international student from Switzerland. Pretty sure if she was jewish the paper would have said something, considering the council president was jewish and he was highlighted as opposing the line of questioning.

Anonymous wrote:Is Fabienne Roth Jewish?

11:54 again. I wondered this too, based on the surname. The Times doesn't say.

Is Fabienne Roth Jewish?

Yes, I was disturbed when I read this in the paper today.

I think one can criticize Israel without being anti-Semitic. But there's no doubt this is in-your-face anti-Semitism, and it's wrong.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/06/us/debate-on-a-jewish-student-at-ucla.html?_r=0

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/03/06/given-that-you-are-a-jewish-student-and-very-active-in-the-jewish-community-how-do-you-see-yourself-being-able-to-maintain-an-unbiased-view/

I am shocked that this was even uttered on camera on a liberal campus. And that people still think speech like this is okay. What are we teaching our students in college?

"Sadeghi-Movahed added: “For some reason, I’m not 100 percent comfortable. I don’t know why. I’ll go through her application again. I’ve been going through it constantly, but I definitely can see that she’s qualified for sure.” Sadeghi-Movahed apologized on Facebook February 12


Just sub in any other identity for what was said:

Given that you are a Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community,” Fabienne Roth, a member of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, began, looking at Ms. Beyda at the other end of the room, “how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?”

"Given you're a black student and very active in the black community, how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?"

"Given you're a gay student and very active in the gay community, how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?"

"Given you're a woman and very active in the feminist community, how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unabised view?"