SDJW staff report
In a hearing on Yom Kippur day, a court provisionally dismissed felony charges against five students who vandalized the executive offices in Stanford University’s administration building, prompting the Jewish Community Relations Council – Bay Area and Jewish Silicon Valley to issue this statement on Tuesday, Sept. 22:
“We are disappointed that prosecutors dismissed felony charges against the remaining defendants from June 2024’s break-in and vandalism at Stanford University. While we appreciated California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s decision to take responsibility for the prosecution following the court’s removal of Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, the outcome of this case sends the troubling message that politically motivated destruction of property carries minimal legal consequences.
“After more than two years of legal proceedings, the five defendants, who faced felony vandalism and conspiracy charges, will have all charges dismissed upon completion of 100 hours of community service each and will collectively pay restitution in an amount far lower than the property damage attributable to the incident.
“We are also troubled that this court hearing, which has garnered great interest in the Jewish community, was held on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. That a hearing so closely connected to debates over rising antisemitism was made inaccessible to many in the Jewish community demonstrates a lack of sensitivity and cultural competency.
“We will continue to defend both the right to free speech and the principle that vandalism, intimidation, and harassment are not protected forms of protest. In a democracy, vigorous disagreement can flourish without allowing political causes to excuse unlawful conduct.”
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Former Vice President Kamala Harris appeared alongside Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan’s Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, for an hour-long discussion on Tuesday on Black maternal mortality, a subject Harris and El-Sayed stuck to closely during the roundtable.
Thus, the Senate nominee and the 2024 presidential nominee did not confront the issue that divides them: Israel. El-Sayed and other left-wingers disapproved of President Joe Biden selling weapons to Israel, which they said was engaged in a “genocidal” war against the Palestinian population of Gaza. Harris favored Biden’s policies toward the Jewish state. Her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, is Jewish and occasionally publicly voiced his co-religionists’ concerns.
A group of rabbis across Michigan who styled their campaign “nonnegotiable Michigan” had publicly urged Harris to pin El-Sayed down on his views about the Jewish community. In a press release prior to the high-visibility Democrats’ meeting on Tuesday, the organization had this to say:
“Nonnegotiable Michigan has emphasized that its concerns are not about weapons, foreign aid or criticism of any Israeli government or policy. They are about whether Jewish safety will be taken seriously; whether Jews will be able to define their own identities and participate fully in American political life without accusations of corruption or sinister or nefarious aims; and whether the Jewish people’s right to collective self-determination and statehood in the land of Israel will be respected and protected.”
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Collated by the staff of San Diego Jewish World.