Berkeley employee tears down anti-Zionist sukkah after students ignore law enforcement orders
Members of the UC Berkeley chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a leftist student organization, defied law enforcement orders to dismantle an anti-Israel sukkah.
The sukkah was intended to educate students about both Sukkot, a week-long Jewish holiday, and the 'environmental devastation in Palestine by the Israeli government.'
On Friday, members of the University of California, Berkeley chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a leftist student organization, defied law enforcement orders to dismantle an anti-Israel sukkah, according to The Daily Californian.
The sukkah was intended to educate students about both Sukkot, a week-long Jewish holiday, and the “environmental devastation in Palestine by the Israeli government,” according to a post by JVP’s Instagram account.
Following JVP’s refusal to remove the sukkah, a facilities worker reportedly tore it down since the school determined that its presence violated “Time, Place, and Manner” policies.
In the same Oct. 19 Instagram post, JVP characterized the school’s decision to remove the sukkah as discriminatory against practicing Jews, stating that the commitment to promoting “Palestinian freedom” and Jewish freedom are very related.
“Universities are dictating where Jewish students pray, and punishing those who practice Judaism beyond school administrators’ narrow view,” the post reads. “This has everything to do with silencing anyone who speaks out for Palestinian freedom, and nothing to do with protecting Jews.”
The sukkot’s campus location at the Sather Gate was also the site of anti-Israel protests during last school year.
In March, activists carried out a days-long protest, which included creating a blockade of the gate’s main arch. UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ characterized the protest’s duration as “unusual” and expressed uncertainty in relation to the school’s policies surrounding the event.
“In anticipation of what are likely to be frequent political protests, I am not sure our approach to our current time, place, and manner rules, particularly about the Gate, are serving us well,” she reportedly wrote in an email.
JVP is also an anti-Zionist advocacy group that describes itself as a “political home for Jews on the left.”
“We’re organizing a grassroots, multiracial, cross-class, intergenerational movement of U.S. Jews into solidarity with the Palestinian freedom struggle, guided by a vision of justice, equality, and dignity for all people,” the group’s website reads.
“[I]f you’ve been wanting a Jewish community with justice at the center; if you’ve been looking to turn your rage and grief into meaningful, strategic action: Join us. You belong here,” the web page continues.
Campus Reform has reached out to UC Berkeley and JVP for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.