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By Roee Ruttenberg

Walking down Bruin Walk recently, I was appalled by the Muslim Students Association’s blatantly racist and anti-Semitic presentation, self-titled “Zionism equals racism.” The display was an insult to anyone with an ounce of integrity and commitment to the real spirit of learning. Such a group merits no platform for spouting its views, considering its academically unfounded claims and divisively hateful rhetoric.

The MSA presented an extreme opinion, and one that is patently outdated. Make no mistake – every individual or group is entitled to its own thoughts.

But when the university lends its name to such fringe ideas, validating them as legitimate opposition perspectives, the campus becomes a bulletin board for the ludicrous instead of an arena of academia. Not much separates the remarks on Bruin Walk from slogans on bathroom stalls; each is divisive in origin and preposterous in presentation.

It should be noted that most students at UCLA do not genuinely understand the beauty behind Zionism, the ideology that represents a beaten people’s optimistic aspiration for a Jewish homeland. Only in 1948, after the world witnessed the shameless and unimaginable possibilities of inhumanity, did the Jewish people return to a home of their own.

The MSA’s claim that the Jewish homeland – the modern-day state of Israel – ignores its non-Jewish citizens and is therefore racist, is absurd. Clearly the ideal is that all of Israel’s citizens would be treated equally, as promised in the country’s Declaration of Independence. But to suggest that the state is inherently racist simply because it is Jewish in makeup is not only ludicrous but anti-Semitic. Israeli-Arab men and women own land, vote in elections, hold seats in the parliament and enjoy several other liberties guaranteed by the government.

Rather than acknowledging the progress of Arabs in Israeli society, MSA radically dismisses the entire institution of a Jewish state as “racist” and calls for its eradication. Even the United Nations, which coined the phrase “Zionism equals racism” in the 1970s, repealed its declaration after realizing the fallacy in issuing such a blanket statement. Yet the MSA persists, determined not to repair but to destroy.

In order to propagate its fundamentalist agenda, the MSA relies on isolated, out-of-context quotations, an act perceived in academia as equivalent to forgery. My fear is that most students are unaware of the MSA’s inaccurate dissemination of material.

Jews are aware of this, as are many in UCLA’s Arab community who do not associate with the MSA, in part because of its extremism. But another Bruin strolling through campus may see no reason to question such rhetorical refuse. In my eyes, these students present the greatest danger. While such material is passed off as educational, they may accept even the most horrific scenarios.

It is thus incumbent on every institution of higher learning to defend these vulnerable students in their quest for education. Just as the University of California Press has standards for its publications, so too should the university’s student groups meet a certain standard before being provided a microphone to amplify unsubstantiated positions. Had the MSA been required to adhere to these same academic standards, the recent campus demonstration would have never taken place.

Along with the academic community, I would have welcomed a discussion on current peace process negotiations in which both sides would present viable, well-founded arguments.

Although similar programs such as the prominent East Coast Seeds for Peace are readily available on other campuses, the MSA chooses not to participate in such a forum. Instead, the group chooses to be divisive in its actions and hateful in its words, promoting violence and destruction rather than compromise and peace-making. I recognize the legitimacy in the plight of the Palestinians. Yet the MSA’s unfounded claims are a far cry from a respectable call for justice, and an insult to the real, ongoing efforts of Palestinians.

How, then, has the MSA been able to advance its anti-Jewish agenda on a prestigious campus such as UCLA? Fifty years ago, after it became taboo to proclaim, “I hate Jews,” anti-Semites had to resort to other terms to express their distaste. Attacking Zionism – a basic tenet associated with the Jewish people – became a politically correct means to go about doing so.

It should come as no surprise that on other California campuses, MSA chapters have distributed passages from “The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion,” a book dismissed in all academic fields as offensive and racist in content, and an absolute counterfeit.

The book bears no relevance to the ongoing Middle East situation. Rather, it fuels hatred of Jews among anti-Semitic organizations in America, such as the Ku Klux Klan.

The MSA’s current agenda should be recognized as identical to that of any other racist group, and it should be dismissed in a similar manner. It warrants no more of a voice than other hate groups and would be filtered out if UCLA’s standards were upheld.

As subjective as these standards may seem, they are an inherent part of the academic environment. To illustrate, assume that an English professor, in an effort to discuss anti-Semitism in literature, assigned to his students excerpts from “The Protocols.” Of course, he would be justified in assigning the text.

But in such a hypothetical situation, he would also be obligated to discuss the volume in its proper context. If he assigned the work as an acceptable, non-fiction account, his credibility would have to be questioned. In such a case, the university is exercising its criteria for academic standards.

Why, then, is the same not true outside the classroom? Are student groups absolved of the ethical obligations that guide the rest of academia? Absolutely not. These same principles must thrive even among the loudest of campus groups. Anything less is an utter disgrace.

The MSA created a mockery of UCLA’s academic integrity. And perhaps more students would raise an eyebrow if they realized exactly what message the university was providing a platform for. The MSA’s agenda goes beyond the exercise of civil liberties and it is high time that the group is called on it. Note that the same publisher that prints “The Protocols” – Noontide Press – also print a plethora of other racially provocative works. They are never prefaced with disclaimers, but rather praised as ultimate truths.

Some directly attack Zionism, such as “The Zionist Terror Network: Background and Operations of the Jewish Defense League and other Criminal Zionist Groups.” Others target other minority groups, such as “My Awakening: A Path to Racial Understanding” by David Duke, “Adolf Hitler: The Unknown Artist” by Billy Price, “AIDS: The Unnecessary Epidemic” by Stanley Monteith, and the infamous “Turner Diaries” by William “Andrew MacDonald” Pierce, the book that arguably inspired the Oklahoma City bombing.

Would the UCLA community welcome these agendas on our campus? MSA’s recent display should be treated no differently considering its noxious and intolerant content.

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