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USC’s student government vice president resigned last month after anti-Semitic and anti-Israel abuse and harassment. The university must take a stand and put an end to Jew-hatred on campus.
Rose Ritch stepped down as vice president of the undergraduate student government last month “after being harassed and pressured for months by fellow students” because she “openly identif[ies] as a Jew who supports Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state,” the University of Southern California (USC) senior wrote in a Newsweek article in August.
Fellow students accused Ritch of being a “racist” and “unsuitable as a student government leader,” and they targeted her with an “aggressive social media campaign to ‘impeach [her] Zionist a**.'”
While USC President Carol Folt “stated that there is no place for anti-Semitism” in the wake of this shameful episode, she only took this step after Ritch resigned.
“Resignation was the only sustainable choice I could make to protect both my physical safety and mental health,” Ritch wrote in Newsweek, adding that the university only “recognized the need to publicly protect Jewish students from the sort of anti-Semitic harassment [she] endured” after she stepped down.
“The sad reality is this was not the first time I encountered this on my campus,” Ritch lamented. “[W]hat is perhaps more disturbing is how normal my story is on college campuses. Across the country, Zionist students are being asked to disavow their identities or beliefs in order to simply enter many spaces on campus.”
In response to the situation at USC, over 100 people from different ethnic and religious groups protested on Monday at USC as part of an “#EndJewHatred” demonstration.
“Protesters demanded that Rick Caruso, chair of the USC board of trustees, act to end anti-Semitism on campus,” United with Israel reported.
“I am so proud of everybody who stood up today at the anti-Jewish hatred rally. This is so unique,” said Brooke Goldstein, founder and executive director of The Lawfare Project, which provides legal support to the #EndJewHatred movement.
The time has come for USC itself to take a stand and protect its Jewish students from harassment.
Demand USC stop anti-Semitic and anti-Israel abuse on campus!
Send a respectful message to one of the recipients below, or use the following template:
“Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing in response to USC’s failure to protect student leader Rose Ritch from anti-Semitic and anti-Israel abuse and harassment. I demand that USC protect its Jewish students by adopting a zero tolerance policy for anti-Semitic activity that complies with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, under which denying Israel’s right to exist or negating the Jewish right to self-determination qualifies as a form of anti-Semitism.”
1. Send a message to USC President Carol L. Folt at: president@usc.edu
2. Send a message to Chair of the USC Board of Trustees at: botchair@usc.edu
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