Note: This letter is now reported on in the press:
Jewish Journal (https://jewishjournal.com/news/365107/nearly-300-ucla-faculty-members-call-on-university-to-condemn-hamas-terror-attack-anti-israel-rallies-on-campus/)
Hill (https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4305783-ucla-faculty-call-condemn-protests-crossing-the-line/).
Jewish News Syndicate (https://www.jns.org/ucla-faculty-urge-strong-administrative-response-against-antisemitism/)
Los Angeles Times (https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-11-15/israel-hamas-war-roils-uc-over-free-speech-vs-unacceptable-behavior)
The letter remains open for additional signatures. If you are a UCLA faculty, you can sign the letter here: https://forms.gle/nTUTE6VtEMXqYk8B7
UCLA Faculty Against Terror
We (signed below) are UCLA faculty who are deeply concerned about the recent terror attack by the Hamas terror organization, the celebrations of the attack in rallies on the UCLA campus and the UCLA response. We are concerned about the impact of these on the sense of community at UCLA, as well as on the safety of our community of students, staff, and faculty on campus.
On the morning of October 7, Hamas terrorists launched an attack on Israeli civilians, entering Israel from Gaza. The terror attacks were cruel and horrific beyond anything that has been seen since the days of the Holocaust. As a result of the massacre performed by Hamas, a quarter of the bodies of Israeli civilians still, three weeks after the terror attack, cannot be identified; babies were beheaded; entire families were tortured and then executed; women were abused and their mistreated naked bodies were paraded; entire villages were completely wiped out, and the Hamas terrorists massacred and slaughtered 260 innocent youth from many nationalities at a music festival. The terrorists took more than 220 hostages back to Gaza, mostly children, women and elderly. The victims of the terror attack include citizens of Israel, the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Nepal, Thailand, the Philippines, Russia, China, Turkey, Germany and many other countries, several of whose nationals are also being held hostage in Gaza. Many in the Jewish world already refer to October 7th terror attacks as a second Holocaust.
While we all have our different political views on the Israeli-Palestinian situation, the October 7 slaughter should be condemned irrespective of political views. UCLA leadership must make the strongest possible statements condemning the barbaric Hamas attacks. There is no room for moral equivalence. There is no room for “both-sideism.” There is no room for ambiguity.
In addition, while we all cherish the First Amendment and its guarantees of freedom of speech and assembly, UCLA must ensure that any hate speeches and celebrations of the Hamas massacre by students and faculty on our campus are prevented from crossing the line from protected speech to unlawful incitement. We were horrified to see Pro-Palestinian rallies on campus in which the massacres by Hamas were celebrated, including explicit calls for violence (including chanting “Intifada” or event advertisements featuring images of weapons/violence). Such celebrations create an atmosphere of fear; one cannot imagine that UCLA will allow for celebrations of the killing of George Floyd, or for celebrations of the Armenian genocide, or the celebrations of the 9/11 attacks. It is inconceivable why such celebrations are not denounced by the UCLA leadership, regardless of political views. The atmosphere on campus results in Jewish students, staff, and faculty who are afraid to be on campus, show solidarity with Israel, or practice their freedom of religion in public.
We therefore urge the UCLA leadership to take the following actions:
Denounce in the strongest possible terms any celebrations of Hamas terror attacks and killings. The Administration must take firm steps (including a public statement) to denounce any campus rallies crossing the line from speech to incitement, such as those rallies where speakers call for violence and spilling blood.
Join President Biden and the European Union in characterizing Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Hold student groups and UCLA community members accountable who directly participate in such incitement (e.g. distributing event invitations that encourage incitement) by enforcing existing UCLA policies prohibiting such behavior.
Enforce UCLA’s EDI program to fight antisemitism in all its insidious manifestations, including anti-Israelism by designating a special envoy to coordinate this fight.
We thank you in advance for your consideration of these requests. We write to you in anticipation of ready collaboration and a reasonable discussion of our concerns. With broad support from concerned colleagues, we will advocate for the liberal values that this University is supposed to champion, for the protection of students against antisemitic abuse.
We thank you for your consideration, for your work to create a more inclusive community, and we look forward to speaking soon.
*Total Signatories: 363
Judea Pearl, Computer Science
Gil Hoftman, MD, PhD, Psychiatry
Jason Hirsch, Anesthesiology
Diane Mizrachi, UCLA Library
Nir Hoftman, Anesthesiology
Alexander Bystritsky, MD, PhD, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
Gabe Vorobiof, Medicine & Cardiology
Matthew Lieberman, Psychology
Tomas Ganz, Medicine
Leila Beckwith, Pediatrics
Michael Strober, PhD, Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences
Jonathan Goldin, Radiology
Deborah Termeie, Dentistry
Eilon Gabel, Anethesiology
Sharon Benamou, Library
Natale Naim MD, School of Medicine
Iris Firstenberg, Psychology
Kamran Shamsa, MD, FACC, Medicine
Michael Mazar, MD, Medicine
Eli Yablonovitch, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Brett Trueman, Anderson School of Management
Shlomo Benartzi, Anderson
Mark J. Garmaise, Anderson
Jeffrey Gornbein, Medicine
Amir Alexander, History
Joseph Manson, Anthropology
Elaine Tobin, Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology
Rachel Green, Law
Patricia A. Ganz, MD, Medicine and Health Policy & Management
Jerome I. Rotter, Professor
Steve Zipperstein, Public Policy
Michelle Zeidler, Medicine
Keren Ziv, Anesthesiology
Brent Ershoff, Anesthesiology
Caroline Miller, UCLA Library
Einat Mazor, Anesthesiology
Ann Raldow, Radiation Oncology
Alyssa Ziman, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Mark Grinbloatt, Management
Laurent Bentolila, California NanoSystems Institute
Inna Faliks, Music
Cheryl H. Hoffman, Radiology
Itzhak Fried, Neurosurgery
Shimon Weiss, Chem & Biochem
Eran Halperin, Computer Science
Ryan Aronin, Medicine
Amanda Kosack, Pediatrics
Rena Repetti, Psychology/Research Professor
Eleazar Eskin, Computational Medicine
Solomon Hamburg, Medicine/Hematology-Oncology
Mark Steven Sklansky, Pediatrics
Jonathan Dahan MD, Anesthesiology
David Savar, MD, FACS, Jules Stein Eye Institute
Sara Navab, UCLA Department of Anesthesiology
David Strugatsky, CNSI
Michael Ross, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Yona Sabar, Near Eastern Languages
Richard Kaner, Chemistry & Biochemistry
Ron Avi Astor, Social Welfare
Rafail Ostrovsky, Computer Science and Mathematics
Jerome Siegel, Psychiatry
Charles Knobler, Chemistry aand Biochemistry
Beth Karlan, OB/GYN
Gary Schiller, M.D., Medicine
David Halle, Sociology
Steven R. Simon, MD, Medicine
Avital Harari, Surgery
Vivien Burt, M.D., Ph.D., Psychiatry
David Auerbach, Orthopedics
Tamar Hofnung, Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies
Grace Blumberg, School of Law
Leeka Kheifets, School of Public Health
Bernard J. Katz, MD, Family Medicine
Hannah Wexler, Medicine
Eric Gans, French / ELTS
Kira Stein, M.D., David Geffen School of Medicine
Naomi Eisenberger, Psychology
Mark S Litwin, David Geffen School of Medicine
Michael Goldstein, Public Health
Arnold Felsenfeld MD, Medicine
Alan Goldhammer, Letters and Science
Joshua Trachtenberg, Neurobiology
Leonard Kleinrock, Computer Science
David S. Lefkowitz, Music Department
Kate Wolitzky-Taylor, Psychiatry
Raphael Rose, PhD, Psychiatry
Dario Ringach, Neurobiology and Psychology
Michael Sopher, Anesthesiology
Meehna Goldsmith, English
Harvey K. Rosenbaum, Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, DGSOM
Trevor Schraufnagel, Psychiatry, Psychology
Lauri Mattenson, Writing Programs
Keith Stolzenbach, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Margaret Kivelson, EPSS
Mark Karlan, Business School
Michael Cameron, Psychiatry
Jamie Feusner, MD, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
Arie Belldegrun, Urology
Sara Melzer, ELTS
Maximillian Novak, English
Zev Wainberg, Medicine
Gregory A. Miller, Psychology & Psychiatry
Robert Kirsner, Germanic Languages
Neal Stulberg, Music
Joseph Rudnick, Physics & Astronomy
Mark Kligman, Departments of Ethnomusicology and Musicology
Terry Wohlberg, MA, LMFT, Psychiatry
Stuart Gabriel , Anderson School of Management
Eli Gafni, Computer Science
Daniel Neuhauser , Chemistry and Biochemistry
Louis Bouchard, Chemistry & Biochemistry
Mikhail Chernov , Anderson
Ivo Welch, Anderson
Romain Wacziarg, Anderson
Marvin Lieberman, Anderson School of Management
David Bensimon, Department of Chemistry&Biochemistry
Peter M. Felker, Chemistry & Biochemistry
Michael Ghil, Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
William Gelbart, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Daniel J.B. Mitchell, Anderson and Luskin
David Zingmond, Department of Medicine
Jeannine Rahimian, MD, OBGYN
Lawrence Dardick, MD, Family Medicine
Peter Baldwin, History
Mary Keyes, Anesthesiology
Pierre-Olivier Weill, Department of Economics
Maskit Maymon, Geffen Academy at UCLA
Eric Sussman, Anderson School
Matthew Malkan, Physics & Astronomy
Neil Wenger MD, Medicine
Emma Kaushansky, Bowyer Clinic
Michael Douek, Radiology
Paul S. Weiss, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Bioengineering, Materials Science & Engineering, CNSI
Aaron Tornell, Economics
Frank Laski, MCDB
Margot Quinlan, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Robert Suh, Radiological Sciences
Richard Finn, Medicine
Daniel J. Bussel, Law
Craig Fox, Anderson School of Management
jerome Rabow,, Sociology
Jordan Gross, Radiology
Brian Lazarus, School of Law
Jorge Cherbosque Ph.D, Staff and Faculty Counseling Center
Lance Bocarsly, UCLA School of Law
Richard Steinberg, UCLA School of Law
Leslie Johns, Political Science
Kenneth Graham, Law
Josh Green, Law
Gregor Schubert, Anderson School of Management
Magali Delmas, Institute of the Environment & Sustainability/ Anderson School
Judith Gordon , Law
Jessica O'Connell, Surgery
Judith Brill, Anesthesiology
Jason L. Speyer, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Delila Foulad MD, Dermatology
Joshua Yadegar , Dentistry
Arash Naeim, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Mark Greenberg, Law & Philosophy
Eddie Delshad, DDS, Dentistry
Zvi Bern, Physics and Astronomy
Judith Leone Friedman, PsyD, Psychiatry
Siavash Kurdistani, Biological Chemistry
Francis Longstaff, Anderson School
Robert Emerson, Sociology
Alice Chang Hoftman, Pediatrics
David Lopez, Sociology
Michael Steinberg, MD , Department of Radiation Oncology
Seth Putterman, Physics
Daniel Low, Radiation Oncology
Neda Azizi , Neuroscience
Karen Widess, Law
Greg Rubinson, Writing Programs
Alice Shapley, Physics and Astronomy
Smadar Naoz, Physics and Astronomy
Curt Hessler, Law
Ziva D. Cooper, Psychiatry, Anesthesiology
Bonnie Taub, Public Health
Jake Lusis, MIMG, Medicine, Human Genetics
Richard Gottlieb, Law
Yoram Cohen, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Arthur Stein, Political Science
Izhak Rubin, UCLA Electrical and Computer Engineering
David Sayah, Medicine
Janelle DeWitt, Philosophy
Tyler Burge, Philosophy
Maxime Cannesson, Anesthesiology
Henry Friedman, Management
Sherri Roush, Philosophy
Peyman Golshani, Department of Neurology
Jonathan Braun, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Noah Zaitlen , Neurology
Orna Kenan, History
Anat Benshlomo, Medicine
Neil Netanel, Law
Alexander Ljubimov, PhD, Medicine
Larry Zipursky, Biological Chemistry
Tiffany Ho, Psychology
Jesse Rissman, Psychology
Howard Adelman, Psychology
Keith Holyoak, Psychology
Craig Enders, Psychology
Bruce L Baker, Professor Emeritus Psychology
Jaimie Arona Krems, Psychology
Ladan Shams, Psychology
Adam Mamelak, Medicine
Martin M Monti, Psychology
Constance Hammen, Psychology
Michael S Fanselow, Psychology
Brunilda Balliu, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Barbara Knowlton, Psychology
Fred Rosenfelt, Oncology
Idan Blank, Psychology
Sharona Yashar, Medicine
Jan Goldsmith, Library
Ariel Burstein, Economics
Sally A. Frautschy, PhD, Neurology and Medicine
Andres Terech, Anderson
Daniel H. Geschwind, Neurology, Psychatry and Human Genetics
Jonathan Flint, Psychiatry
Saul Friedlander, Germanic Languages and History
David S. Eisenberg, Biological Chemistry, Chemistry & Biochemistry
Alan Castel, Psychology
Edythe London, Psychiatry
Andy Dean, Psychiatry
April Denise Thames, Psychiatry
Lisa Gerrard, Writing Programs
Mark Mandelkern, Radiological Sciences
Barney Hartman-Glaser, Anderson Graduate School of Management
Bernard Herskovic, Anderson School of Management
Carolyn Parkinson, Psychology
Tyler Muir, Management
Sriram Sankararaman, Computer Science, Computational Medicine, Human Genetics
Dara Ghahremani, Psychiatry
David Nimmer, UCLA School of Law
Albion M Urdank, History
Ehud Peleg, Management
Richard Roll, Anderson
Steven Shoptaw PhD, Family Medicine
Bogdan Pasaniuc, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
David Cohen, Social Welfare
Pamina M Gorbach, Epidemiology
Rebecca Marschall, UCLA Clark Library
Miki Goral, UCLA Library
Norman Abrams, Law School
Shira Shafir, Community Health Sciences/Epidemiology
Jeffrey Chiang, Neurosurgery
Igor Spigelman, Dentistry
Emil Reisler, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Emil Reisler, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Derjung Mimi Tarn, Family Medicine
Jonathan Said, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Professor
Vivien Burt, Psychiatry
Andrea McGonigle, Pathology and Lab Medicine
Elior Rahmani, Computational Medicine
Donna Ames, Psychiatry
Hal Hershfield, Anderson
Cathy Cahill, Psychiatry
Carla Hayn, Anderson
Susan Bookheimer, Psychiatry
Bobby Saedi, Physics
Igor Boyarsky, Alumnus
George Chernis, Medicine
Alon Avidan, Neurology
Miri Koral, European Languages and Transcultural Studies
Jerry Nickelsburg, Anderson Global Economics
Mike Carey, Biological Chemistry
Kirk E. Lohmueller, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Anne Rimoin, Epidemiology
Zhen Mei, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Raghu Meka, Computer Science
Lea Azour, MD, Radiology
Judith E. Brill MD, Anesthesiology
Eli Bendavid, Radiology
Sarah Blenner, Community Health Sciences
Dana Rose Garfin, Community Health Sciences
Laura Erskine, Health Policy and Management
Michele Guindani, Biostatistics
Kalyanam Shivkumar MD PhD, Medicine (Cardiology), Radiology & Bioengineering
Deborah Krakow, OB/GYN
Sasha Strauss, Anderson
Ian Holloway, Social Welfare
Jody Herman, School of Law
Hope Levin, M.D., UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services
David P. Eisenman, Department of Medicine and School of Public Health
Daniel Eshtiaghpour , Gastroenterologist
James I Ausman, MD,PhD Neurosurgery , Neurosurgery
Laura Abrams, Social Welfare
Steven Dubowsky, Mechical and Aerospace Engineering
Benjamin Waterman, Medicine
Lirona Katzir, MD, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Gary Feigenbaum, Medicine
Lawrence D Platt MD, OB Gyn
Cecilia Wieslander, OB/GYN
Susanne Lohmann, Political Science
David Taylor MD, Psychiatry
William S. Comanor, Health Policy and Management
Eric Ferkel, MD , Orthopedic Surgery, SCOI
Tamir Gonen, Biological Chemistry & Physiology
Nancy Wayne, Physiology
Janet Pregler, UCLA Department of Medicine
Christopher Tang, Anderson School of Management
Elina Veytsman, PhD, Psychiatry
Abby Kavner, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Elizabeth Laugeson, Psychiatry
Sandra Mano, Writing Programs
Gennady Musher, Psychiatry
Ilene Goldberg , UCLA School of Law
Prineha Narang, Physical Sciences
Inna Keselman, Neurology
Brett A Dolezal, School of Medicine
Molly Fox, Anthropology
Lee Ohanian, Economics
Gary Krausz, UCLA Extension
Lawrence D Platt MD, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Eva Segura , MBI
Tyler Pierson, Pediatrics
Michael Storper, Urban Planning
Oleg Gleizer, Mathematics
Steven R. Simon, MD, MPH, Medicine
Ronen Reshef, Neurology
David Plotkin, Ph.D., Psychiatry
Maarten van Delden, Spanish and Portuguese
Wendy Richman, Music
Jacob Esagoff , Dentistry
Moshe Buchinsky, Economics
Jamie Lloyd-Smith, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Esther Hess, Ph.D., Medicine
Sanford Jacoby, Management
David Kaplan, Music
Katherine Prager, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Angela , Psychology
Eric Levander, Psychiatry
Larry Braman, Anderson
Stephanie Praw, MD, Medicine
Mojdeh Makabi , Computer Science
Joshua Freedman MD, Psychiatry
Gil Melmed, Medicine
Ja-Hong Kim, Urology
Rimma Shaposhnikov , Medicine
Zachary Weirzner, Surgery
Mariya Svilik, Anesthesiology
Samuel Daneshvar, M.D., Department of Medicine
Prosper Benhaim, UCLA Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Allison L Diamant, Medicine
Diana A.Lev MD, Family Medicine
Terri Getzug, Medicine
Karim Chamie, Urology
Peyman Benharash MD, Surgery and Bioengineering
Michael Hitrik , Mathematics
Pamela Dyne, MD, Emergency Medicine
Diana Hekmat, MD, Anesthesiology
Corey Weiss , Anderson
Mark Grossman , UCLA Health
David Teichner, Anderson, Faculty Advisor
Tim Fisher, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, CNSI
Rinat Masamed, Radiology
Michal Scharlin, Student Affairs
Robert Reiter , Urology
Lillian Gelberg, Family Medicine
Elizabeth J. Videlock, Medicine
Joshua Pretsky, Psychiatry
Roger E. A. Farmer, Economics
Steven Zeitzew , M.D., Orthopaedic Surgery
Thuy Thi Tran MD, Medicine
Scott Zeitlin, Urology
Coach Weinhaus , Anderson