Jewish Speaker Uninvited by UC Berkeley Class Over Support for Israel - The Messenger
Jewish Speaker Uninvited by UC Berkeley Class Over Support for Israel - The Messenger
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A member of Oakland's City Council had an invite to speak at the University of California, Berkeley rescinded after students reviewed his social media accounts and found posts that they considered supportive of Israel.
The Jewish News of Northern California reports that Oakland councilman Dan Kalb was supposed to address undergraduate students at the elite public university enrolled in a course called " Environmental Problem Solving" on Nov. 21.
But weeks before, Kalb — a state Senate candidate who has served on the council 10 years — claims Kurt Spreyer, the course's instructor and an adjunct professor at the school, reached out and shared a sternly worded letter written and signed by more than 30 of his students.
In the letter, the students alleged he was sharing "pro-Israeli propaganda" through social media, and that he was no longer welcome to speak.
Kalb, 64, has decades of experience working for the Sierra Club on environmental policy and has advocated for clean energy while actively working to combat climate change. He's spoken to the class in years past.
The letter, shared with Jewish News of Northern California, expressed a "growing concern" about Kalb's impending visit, noting his association with groups including the California Legislative Jewish Caucus and the Jewish Community Relations Council.
"Questions arise regarding the validity, legitimacy, and authenticity of your views," reads the letter.
"As an Oakland City Council member with a platform advocating for environmental and social justice, affordable housing, and universal access to health care, among other things, it is utterly disappointing and hypocritical for someone of your esteem to be in support of the apartheid state of Israel and the current and ongoing ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people."
The letter condemned Israel for taking actions that have "forever chang[ed] the ecology of a once flourishing community and landscape."
Kalb, the letter asserts, is playing an "active role in retweeting and spreading pro-Israeli propaganda, which often equates pro-Palestinian voices as 'anti-Semitic.'"
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Kalb told the site the subject of Israel never came up during his previous visits to the class.
Spreyer did not respond to emails seeking comment.
A spokesperson for UC Berkely did, explaining in an email to The Messenger "what happened in this class is not consistent with the university's values, particularly because the class discussion had nothing to do with the war between Israeli and Hamas."
The email continues: "Instructors are not supposed to rescind invitations for classroom speakers based on student disagreement with the speaker's views. The university's provost, who first learned about this on December 12th, has written to Councilmember Kalb to express our dismay about what happened and to assure him that the leadership of the Rausser College of Natural Resources has reviewed the matter with the instructor to ensure nothing like this will happen again."
Additionally, "the provost will also be sending a message to every dean and department chair to remind them of Berkeley's support for an open exchange of ideas, and our rejection of political litmus tests when it comes to who can speak in our classes. The college leadership also intends to use what happened as an opportunity to engage the community in a discussion about the importance of diversity of perspective and the dangers of censorship of any sort."
It was not immediately clear what Kalb specifically posted about Israel that got him disinvited from a speaking event on climate change.
A review of Kalb's X/Twitter feed shows a post wishing his followers a Happy Hanukkah and a retweet in support of bringing the Hamas hostages home.
Kalb said Spreyer, his neighbor, is a good man who did "not support their request. He pushed back on them. He was very supportive of me and told the class, 'He's coming to talk about climate change, not about the Middle East.'"
However, the students were "adamant," Kalb said he was told.
"If someone wants to go speak about climate change — they are an expert on climate change — what the hell does Israel or Zionism have to do with that?," asked Kalb.
"Why not put a yellow star on our sleeve? How about we do that too?"
The rescinded invite comes amid criticism of administrators at other elite universities like Harvard University, MIT, and University of Pennsylvania over their feeble response to antisemitism on their campuses.
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