Jewish Group
Related: About this forumSubmission: USAC members should apologize for discriminatory act
Last week, I attended a council meeting to support my roommate, sorority sister and best friend, Rachel Beyda, as she went through the last step of being confirmed by the council as an appointed justice to the Judicial Board of the Undergraduate Students Association Council. I greatly admire Rachels academic success and the passion and determination she has demonstrated toward her goal of becoming a lawyer. I have seen her accrue immense leadership skills and experience in the legal field, both at UCLA, as the current law clerk for the Judicial Board and beyond. Therefore, as I ascended the stairs to Kerckhoff 417, I incorrectly assumed the confirmation of Rachels appointment would be quick and simple.
Rachel had been unanimously approved by the Appointments Review Committee consisting of three council members before she flawlessly introduced herself to the council. However, the first question directed at her by General Representative 3 Fabienne Roth was an attack on Rachels ability to be a justice based on her involvement in the Jewish community. At President Avinoam Barals insistence, the question was phrased slightly more considerately by Transfer Student Representative Negeen Sadeghi-Movahed, but this first question set the tone. Rachel finished the interview, making two important points: first, anyone qualified for the position would be a critical thinker who is knowledgeable about campus issues and therefore, has his or her own opinions and second, she has no significant political affiliations. Furthermore, she demonstrated an understanding of what actually having a conflict of interest means and acknowledged that a justice should remove herself from the decision-making process under those circumstances. Rachel was asked to leave the room for council discussion. What followed was a disgusting 40 minutes of what can only be described as unequivocal anti-Semitism during which some of our council members resorted to some of the oldest accusations against Jews, including divided loyalties and dishonesty.
All council members swiftly agreed Rachel was amply qualified for the position, but half of the council had strong reservations stemming from Rachels Jewish identity. My issue is, Im going to be upfront about it, I think shes pretty great. Shes smart, she like knows her stuff, shes like probably going to be a really great lawyer. But Im like not going to pretend this isnt about conflict of interest.
Its not her fault
but shes part of a community thats very invested in USAC.
Even if shes the right person for the job, claimed Roth. Sadeghi-Movahed added, For some reason, Im not 100 percent comfortable. I dont know why. Ill go through her application again. Ive been going through it constantly, but I definitely can see that shes 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 Rachels appointment, only her affiliation with Jewish organizations, making the extensive deliberation a definitive act of discrimination.
http://dailybruin.com/2015/02/18/submission-usac-members-should-apologize-for-discriminatory-act/
Behind the Aegis
(53,968 posts)Now that is some upfront, in your face, anti-Semitism, but sadly, not as uncommon as some like to pretend.