SAN DIEGO (SDJW) – Israel’s war against Hamas continues to prompt actions and reactions among San Diego County residents. Local Republican Congressman Darrell Issa is concerned that anti-Israel sentiment may influence decision-making at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. And, at UC San Diego and other University of California campuses, unionized graduate student workers, have voted to authorize a strike in reaction to campus officials calling in law enforcement to clear out war protesters’ encampments.
There was a pro-Israel rally, attracting an estimate 500 persons, on the UCSD campus on Tuesday night. It was organized by a fellow for the Jewish Agency for Israel with the help of Hillel and the Israeli-American Council.
Given the surge in anti-Israel and antisemitic incidents with the growth of the BDS movement and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, The Jewish Agency for Israel’s Campus Israel Fellows are supporting Jewish college students by maintaining an authentic and engaging Israeli presence on campuses. One of the priority initiatives of The Jewish Agency brings dozens of Israeli young adults to college and university campuses around the world — to further efforts of campuses to be safe spaces for education, tolerance, and diversity.
In a letter to Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, Issa and two other Republican lawmakers cited a post on Reddit by a person who was self-identified as r/patentexaminer.
The post said “I have a case in my docket filed by a company in Israel, which is basically for soldiers to provide military solutions by combining real battlefield experience with technological innovation. I have been watching news about Columbia campus protest. And obviously, I can’t refuse to examine this case and I won’t, but can’t help thinking of Gaza Strip where about 2 million Palestinians live, can’t escape and bombarded. So I have mixed feelings, as I would allow this case, thus strengthening their portfolio only to get more investment. Do you guys any similar experience or feelings? It is my first time to examine this kind of case as our Art Unit ran out of cases.”
Issa, joined by Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and California Rep. Kevin Kiley of the Sacramento Valley, urged Vidal to investigate “whether there is a pattern of patent examiners substituting their own preferences and beliefs for the law and USPTO guidance. Innovation cannot flourish without a transparent and robust set of rules, which this unnerving claim undermines.”
Meanwhile, student workers at UC San Diego who are represented by United Auto Workers Local 4811and their counterparts at other University of California campuses, voted on Wednesday to authorize their leadership to call a strike in furtherance of demands for amnesty for pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters. The teaching and research assistants also demanded that the university tell what companies with Israel ties it invests with that may profit from Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas.
*
SDJW staff report