Legal Reviews, CSUN Presidents' Statements, and Support for this Webpage



The majority of CSUN web sites do not represent the University itself in any way. Any content contained or accessible from these sites, regardless of access method (http, ftp, etc.), does not reflect the views of the Trustees of the California State University or the Executive Officers of California State University, Northridge. Neither the CSU Trustees nor the CSUN Executive Officers endorse, warrant, or otherwise take responsibility for the contents of any material accessible from these sites."

Excerpt: "...we are writing to express our appreciation for your defense of free speech and academic freedom." "As university faculty members, we are well aware of attempts by special interest groups to stifle critical discussion of the Middle East, and especially the Palestine/Israel conflict. By singling out individual faculty, these groups have tried to create an environment of intimidation, with a chilling effect on freedom of teaching, inquiry, and political activism. In such a poisonous atmosphere it is essential to have educational leaders, such as yourself, genuinely committed to academic freedom."

Excerpt: "We encourage our professors—as well as students and all members of the campus community—to express their points of view, even when many others may disagree with them or even find them offensive." "This determination does not mean that the University supports or endorses Professor Klein’s views. In fact, Professor Klein is clearly speaking for himself and does not represent Cal State Northridge as a whole. The University, as a forum for the free expression of ideas and points of view, takes no position on the individual expressions of ideas by faculty, staff, or students. But the University does uphold and preserve the principles of academic freedom—and Professor Klein’s right to express his views. Our review affirmed that this right extends to the use of an individual’s web pages, as part of the University website, as a vehicle for expression."

Excerpts: "While Dr. Klein is accused of ‘anti-Semitism’ by organizations such as 'Never Again Canada' and 'AMCHA' who seek to impose their pro-Israel, pro-Zionist politics upon the California State University, there is no content on his website that could even arguably be labeled ‘anti-Semitic’ without the offensive conflation of Jews and Jewishness with the State of Israel, its government, and its motivating ideology, Zionism..." "This is far from the first occasion of organized pro-Israel lobbies and groups targeting faculty and students for their advocacy for Palestine. From battles over tenure faced by extraordinarily qualified Palestinian professors to unjust firings or demotions of faculty who have spoken in support of Palestine, efforts to intimidate professors are increasing."





lecture tour that AMCHA tried to prevent, by three CSU campus presidents, February 16, 2013





Excerpts:



"We are writing in response to concerns that have been raised about the appearance on our respective campuses of Ilan Pappé, Professor of History, Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies, and Co-Director for the Exeter Centre for Ethno-Political Studies at Exeter University."



"The individuals who invited Professor Pappé to our respective campuses have acted within their rights to invite speakers they feel bring a perspective to an issue."



"Academic freedom and freedom of speech are not hollow ideals but rather hallowed cornerstones of higher education and a functioning democracy."



"There is no danger to a free society in allowing opposing views to be heard. The danger, instead, is in censoring them."





J’ACCUSE! THE NEW ANTI-ANTI-SEMITISM, CSUN Interim President Harry Hellenbrand, April 27, 2012





Excerpts: Many of Klein’s critics implicitly fuse the elected policy of the Israeli government with God’s covenant with the Jews as a spiritual people and/or ethnic tribe. This consolidation empowers them to denounce, with the fury of Jeremiah, dissent to policy as if it were apostasy...



AMCHA charges, too, that Klein is guilty of misusing state resources -- the CSUN web -- for political ends, citing state code. But AMCHA conducts some of its political work through UC email accounts, while SPME has solicited sponsorships for its lectures from UC departments. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with SPME and AMCHA’s political advocacy in an educational context. The context presents advocacy as a contestable proposition.



Letter from California Scholars for Academic Freedom to Los AngelesCity Attorney Trutanich, June 21, 2012





Excerpt: "We, the California Scholars for Academic Freedom, write to state our opposition to the request you received from the Global Frontier Justice Center to prosecute Professor David Klein for his website-based speech about issues pertaining to the Palestine-Israel conflict. The Global Frontier Justice Center is asking you to abrogate the right to freedom of speech and the rights of professors to academic freedom in the name of their partisan political stance that attempts to repress any speech in the United States that criticizes Israeli policies."





CSUN President Harrison's Statement, July 22, 2012





Excerpt: "The university previously found that Dr. Klein’s expression of views and use of university resources were not in violation of university or state policies, a conclusion that has been supported by the university’s general counsel and the State Attorney General. Further, this conclusion was found to be in keeping with the California State University’s Policy on Academic Freedom and Free Speech Rights, as ratified by its Academic Senate. To censor the website would be contrary to the important value of free speech and send the disturbing message that the university is willing to restrict an individual’s right to personal expression due to disagreement with those views."





Letter from National Lawyers Guild and Center for Constitutional Rights representatives, September 22, 2013





Excerpt: "It is important to understand that the attacks on Prof. Klein and the effort to rope in CSU officials, trustees, the attorney general and others do not originate with genuine concern for our universities’ reputations or conservation of their resources, as AMCHA and several similar groups would have us believe. Rather, they are motivated by an effort to silence discourse by students, faculty and others who speak out in criticism of Israeli government policies. Spurious conflation of such criticism with anti-Semitism, together with a false description of the climate on campus for Jewish students, as if they are under constant, vicious attack, are these groups’ stock in trade."





Statement to the CSU Board of Trustees from Jewish Voice for Peace, Los Angeles, September 25, 2013





Excerpt: "We’ve recently learned about a letter to the CSU Board of Trustees accusing Prof. David Klein of misuse of his CSUN email address and website. As you are probably aware, these accusations are not new. In our opinion they are merely an attempt by AMCHA activists to revisit baseless charges, which CSUN has already rejected."



"As is true of JVP, AMCHA doesn’t represent the “Jewish community” they represent themselves. I am not here today to oppose their positions, but to reject their attempts to limit free expression and robust debate on campuses by attacking groups and individuals in order to limit criticism of the policies of the State of Israel. Shamefully, they often do so by casting the accusation of anti-Semitism or self hating Jew."





Letter to President Harrison and Chancellor White from California Scholars for Academic Freedom, October 8, 2013





Excerpt: "We, the California Scholars for Academic Freedom,** write to express our appreciation for your support of the academic freedom and first amendment rights of faculty at your universities. We also write to urge you to make a public statement to that effect in the case of Professor David Klein. California Scholars for Academic Freedom is an organization devoted to defending academic freedom. We represent nearly two hundred faculty at universities throughout California."



"Recently, the AMCHA Initiative tried to apply political pressure on the Board of Trustees of California State University to reprimand Professor David Klein for his website-based statement pertaining to the Palestine-Israel conflict. The AMCHA Initiative’s attempt to ask the Board to abrogate Professor Klein’s freedom of speech and academic freedom is motivated by their partisan political stance, which attempts to repress any speech critical of Israeli policies."



"The AMCHA Initiative is part of a larger campaign to repress free speech about the Palestine-Israel conflict. This campaign conflates criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. They use intimidation and harassment to silence debate. Targeting Professor David Klein is but one of their numerous harassment activities."



Excerpts:



"This letter addresses the more than two-year hounding of Professor David Klein of your university and other faculty members at California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) campuses by AMCHA, which aims to silence expression of personal political views critical of the state of Israel – faculty and students alike. The attacks on Prof. Klein, most recently in September 2013, have wrongly impugned his integrity and lawful status. They are also intended to cause the university to abandon its responsibility to uphold 'academic freedom and free speech, which are central to the values and traditions of academia and, indeed, a democratic society'."



"Not only is AMCHA’s argument frivolous and legally untenable; implicit in its position is that the general counsel for the university and the state attorney general are so incompetent that they did not read the entire statute before reaching their decision, but only AMCHA did. It is an astonishing claim, but totally consistent with other campaigns by AMCHA that distort the law in an effort to suppress any criticism of the state of Israel."



"The National Lawyers Guild’s (NLG) September 20, 2013, letter to the CSU Board of Trustees (cc to you and others) urged that CSU 'unambiguously and swiftly … deter further instances of harassment and defamation to which Prof. Klein has been subjected for years by AMCHA and allied groups.' All the claims raised in AMCHA’s September 18 and 30, 2013, letters (to the CSU trustees and to you, respectively) have been patiently and repeatedly answered and shown by CSU and CSUN to be unfounded. Continued patience on your and CSU’s part will exacerbate the chilling effect already felt by many students and faculty who wish to engage in serious debate about the grave human rights questions surrounding Israel and Palestine. In the words of the attorney general’s May 17, 2012, letter, 'No further action is required.'"







Seriously Free Speech Committee letter to

CSUN President Harrison and CSU Chancellor White, October 10, 2013





Excerpts:



"I write on behalf of the Seriously Free Speech Committee-Vancouver (SFSC) to support your work in defense of Palestinian human and political rights. We are cheered to see that you have won every challenge from the ultra-zionists so far, and congratulate you on having been so well supported and well defended."



"Although we do not take a position on BDS or one-state/two-state, we firmly believe that criticism of Israel is not anti-semitic and that the Zionists do not speak for all Jews. It is encouraging to note their defeat in such cases as yours; we hope for many more such defeats and that academics who have not been so fortunate in allies will eventually receive the justice we are all working for."





Independent Jewish Voices Canada Letter to CSUN President Harrison and CSU Chancellor White, October 12, 2013





Excerpts:



"I am writing on behalf of Independent Jewish Voices (IJV). Our organization represents Jews across Canada who are working for a just resolution to the dispute in Israel and Palestine through the application of international law and respect for the human rights of all parties."



"IJV has a great deal of experience with groups like the AMCHA Initiative. We categorically reject these and other, similarly outrageous, campaigns to limit freedom of expression, which have been carried out periodically in Canada, as well."



"Vigorous debate of such vitally important topics as the ongoing crisis in Israel and Palestine must be allowed to fluorish on our university campuses. We urge you to protect those who engage in them."







Petition: "Defend Dr. Klein's academic freedom"