(SANTA CLARA, CA, 2/5/2024) – The San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today issued a formal letter to University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) Chancellor Carol Christ and School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, expressing deep concern over a recent incident in which pro-Palestinian students and professors were doxxed on campus.
On January 30, 2024, a digital billboard “doxing truck” circled the UC Berkeley campus for hours, displaying names and photos of several UC Berkeley graduate students, alumni, and faculty members who have publicly voiced pro-Palestinian views, alongside the false and inflammatory words “Berkeley’s Leading Antisemites.” The billboard also displayed the name of the conservative organization Accuracy in Media and directed viewers to the websites BerkeleyHatesJews.com and CheckYourHate.com.
CAIR-SFBA Senior Civil Rights Attorney Jeffrey Wang emphasized the severity of this issue in his letter to UC Berkeley leadership, stating:
“Accuracy in Media’s deliberate intimidation, harassment, and targeting of Arab, Muslim, and other pro-Palestinian members of the Berkeley community and their allies is opprobrious and should not be tolerated. Such hateful behavior cannot be ignored, especially when Palestinians and their allies are facing unprecedented backlash for opposing Israel’s violence in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.”
CAIR-SFBA’s letter highlights the legal obligations of educational institutions to address and prevent harassment and discrimination. It urges UC Berkeley to:
Publicly condemn Accuracy in Media’s bigoted, Islamophobic, and anti-Palestinian actions.
Provide resources and support to the affected individuals, including establishing a resource center, like the Doxing Resource Group at Columbia University.
Wang added, “This targeting of pro-Palestinian voices is an attack on the core values of diversity and freedom of expression that should be upheld in all educational institutions. Accuracy in Media’s actions dangerously violate the principles of safety and inclusion within the academic environment. We stand with the targeted individuals and call on UC Berkeley to take swift action to ensure the well-being and security of all its students and faculty.”
CAIR-SFBA reiterates its commitment to combating bigotry, racism, and hate in all its forms and encourages those experiencing acts of aggression, racism, and Islamophobia to contact its Civil Rights department at 408.986.9874.
CAIR-SFBA is an office of CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
END CONTACT: CAIR-SFBA Senior Communications Coordinator Lorrie Adam, ladam@cair.com, 408.986.9874