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Purge at San Francisco State

By Lee Kaplan
FrontPageMagazine.com | February 26, 2004


Tatiana Menaker is a Russian émigré who knows first-hand about persecution and indoctrination. She was a journalist in her native Russia, and she came to America in 1986, a divorcee with two small children and only $90 in her pocket. A Jewish refusenik against the old Soviet Communist regime, she continued as a journalist writing for the Russian-Jewish community. Later, she bought a small tour van and began giving tours of San Francisco to supplement her income. Three years ago she enrolled at San Francisco State University to better her English. To her dismay, she found the same anti-Semitism and Marxist dogmas prevalent in her previous homeland right here in the U.S.A. at San Francisco State. She frequently found herself arguing with professors who extolled the glories of Marxism and she spoke out frequently at anti-Semitic rallies on campus. One night her tour van was torched which crippled her business. While she could not prove it, she suspected it was those same people with whom she had had heated debates on the Bay Area campus many times.

San Francisco State University is the stomping grounds of the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS). The GUPS are extremely organized on campus. For the last fifteen years, they have been the only student group, out of 206 clubs, to have a permanently assigned office in the Student Union building that boasts a bigger-than-life PLO flag painted onto and covering the entire door. Other campus groups may rotate in or out of offices designated for student activities, but not the GUPS. Many of the Palestinian leadership, such as Saeb Erekat, Yasser Arafat’s chief negotiator, are graduates of SFSU.

Tatiana has written some articles here at Frontpagemag.com about the Marxist and anti-U.S. indoctrination in classes as well as the anti-Semitism she has experienced at SF State. One of her experiences was taking a class in English as a second language with many international students visiting the campus from around the world and having a professor who required every assignment to be written about how U.S. imperialism and terrorism were responsible for the attacks on 9/11. Tatiana once relayed to me how foreign exchange students received a daily barrage of how horrible America is and how it is the cause of all the problems in the world. And her grades suffered as her assignments went against the grain and praised American freedom.

Tatiana has also told me about posters on campus with a picture of a dead baby and the words “Palestinian baby meat canned by the USA and Israel” being hung all over campus, and of Palestinian and Muslim students openly exhorting to kill Jews during demonstrations.

Being from Russia and knowing what it is to live in a real totalitarian state, Tatiana has no qualms about supporting the United States and Israel in a place where to do so can make many other students fearful to speak out. Last year when some of the Jewish students on campus sought to stage a peaceful pro-Israel rally advocating peace in the Middle East, the GUPS and their Marxist allies on campus counter-demonstrated, many of whom screamed out statements like “Kill the Jews” and “Hitler should have finished the job.” The situation was so bad that the former Professor of Jewish Studies on campus described it as being like Germany in the 1930’s. The administration actually had to call in 25 San Francisco city police officers to escort the Jewish students off campus when the campus police could not protect them from the mob.

And it was at this event that Tatiana’s problems first started. Being a tough cookie, she hurled some vituperation back at them, urging some to have sexual relations with a camel. She admits now that her response was a bit unnecessary, but nowhere near the threats of genocide and murder she heard from the other side.

After the demonstrations, Tatiana learned how things operate at SF State: she was ordered in for a “disciplinary hearing” by Donna Cunningham, the Officer of Judicial Student Affairs at SF State. She was told she could not bring an attorney and was to appear for judgment and punishment if found she had broken university rules. Ms. Cunningham, who is Black, and a friend Leila Qutami, one of the student leaders of the GUPS, claimed that Ms. Qutami and others had accused Tatiana of calling Palestinian students “sand n-----s,” using a variation of the “n” word.

Subsequent tape recordings and videos of the event revealed that Tatiana uttered no such slur. Her accuser did not even attend the hearing claiming she was “too afraid” to attend even though a campus police officer was present at the hearing and Tatiana is a 53 year-old mother of three children who hardly poses a threat to anyone. Also present at the hearing were a Black Muslim advisor to the Muslim groups on campus and other members of the GUPS. Some might call this a stacked deck.

After 8 hours, the “hearing” was concluded with Tatiana being told she must do 40 hours of “community service” with the stipulation that none of those hours could be to aid or contribute to any “Jewish, Israeli or Russian groups.” That this was anti-Semitic and discriminatory to please the GUPS made no difference to Ms. Cunningham or the administration at SF State.

Not one to take things lying down, Tatiana began writing about her experiences of facing the same Marxism and anti-Semitism at San Francisco State that she had in the former Soviet Union.

She wrote one article about a Palestinian film festival where the film “Jenin, Jenin” and other propaganda films were shown to the student body further denigrating Jews, Israel and the United States. And she wrote about a professor who had disrupted the festival, a social studies professor at SF State named Deborah Gerson, who is a member of a front group for the Palestinians claiming to be made up of Jews in the Bay Area called Jewish Voice For Peace. The activities and writings of this group have in the past even claimed it doubtful that Jews ever lived in the Holy Land at all in biblical times. In short, Professor Gerson identifies herself as a “Jewish Marxist.” She and Jewish Voice For Peace frequently demonstrate on the SF State campus where calls to dismantle Israel are standard fare.

Tatiana described how this professor refers to her colleagues as “comrade” in the old Soviet style and how she educates students on the glories of the Communist system of government that Tatiana as a Soviet Jew risked her life to escape.

Tatiana continued to write about the political climate at SF State. Her articles were good and appeared in the campus newspaper and on Frontpagemag.com. Then she made her next mistake.

She approached Professor Gerson and asked her for an interview so she could inquiry why Gerson, as a professor of Jewish heritage, supported those who sought to murder of Jews. Professor Gerson was very curt and rude and said she didn’t wish to talk to Tatiana who then responded that she had been through real persecution as a Jew in Russia and told Gerson: “If you think that when they start to kill the Jews, they will spare you, you will still be killed as any other Jew two hours later.”

Tatiana immediately received yet another letter calling her into a disciplinary meeting with Ms. Cunningham. She was accused of making death threats! The meeting was scheduled for February 5th but then postponed to the 23rd. During the meantime, Tatiana published two more revealing articles about the Marxist and anti-U.S. indoctrination on the SF State campus. And on the 23rd, her best work yet appeared about a poetry class she had attended where the central theme was damning the United States. The same day that article broke she met with Ms. Cunningham who handed her a form to sign saying she would waive all her rights allowing Ms. Cunningham to mete out any punishment she saw fit to carry out. Tatiana refused and, when she did, Cunningham informed her she was expelled from the University until the year 2009 and had her escorted off campus by a uniformed police officer. The officer informed her that, if she steps foot on campus, she will be arrested for trespassing.

Tatiana maintains that Cunningham and Leila Qutami are close friends. She also maintains the administration, to keep peace with the GUPS and to avoid negative publicity about the political climate at SF State, simply wanted to get rid of her because she is outspoken in favor of the U.S. and democracy and because she is a Jew who isn’t afraid to speak out against anti-Semitism on campus.

And in that regard she is not alone. The SFSU campus chapter of Students For Academic Freedom, the Jewish Anti-defamation League, the Jewish Community Relations Council, DAFKA, and other civil rights groups along with the Russian Jewish community have all stepped up to support Tatiana in her time of need by providing her written support as well as free legal services. All of these groups understand how important it is to back her up in her fight against political indoctrination and anti-Semitism on a campus where leftist ideological groups turn their opponents into outlaws in order to subjugate and silence them.

If you would like to be a part of or assist the Committee to Defend Tatiana Menaker, please send e-mail to: menakerdefensecommittee@studentsforacademicfreedom.org.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I don't care what side of the aisle you are on, this is just wrong, Wrong, WRONG!!

I mean, where do you start?

- Anti semitism sanctioned by the University
- Refused the right to face one's accusers
- Biased "tribunal" that won't even allow a lawyer
- One sided academic freedom of speech

When people ask me if I really believe there are Americans that hate America, I point to people like this.

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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Sparhawk

FYI, most colleges don't permit attorneys at so-called 'honor trials,' but this is just sickening.

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losthellhound

I can understand the no lawyer, I can understand that the accuser not be in the tribunal (there is no need)...

BUT

Im disgusted that anything like that could ever happen in Academia.. Anyone have an email address for the University's provost so that voices can be heard?

__________________
"Life is possible only with illusions. And so, the question for the science of mental health must become an absolutely new and revolutionary one, yet one that reflects the essence of the human condition: On what level of illusion does one live?"
-- Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death

sipsake

I was apalled that this could happen in America.

Then I started looking into the article.

This article was published in a right-wing journal that Ms. Menaker is a contributor for. There is no attempt to verify the veracity of the information or interview anyone at the university who may shed more light on the issues involved.

One example of the bias the article takes is on the hearing in which Ms. Menaker was sentenced to 40 hours of community service. The article fails to mention that 2 pro-palestinian students were also charged in the incident but accepted settlement agreements.

There is no attempt to represent any opposing views or even information from neutral parties. From a journalistic point of view this story is highly suspect and should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

__________________
When life hands you a lemon, say "Oh yeah, I like lemons. What else you got?"

Henry Rollins

lurkette

This is ridiculous. Clearly something is rotten in the state of this University.

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"If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."

- Anatole France

maximusveritas

Exactly. I can't believe people would just read this BS and believe it without questioning the source.
I'm not saying its all untrue, but it seems highly suspicious. What are Mr.Kaplan's sources? I wouldn't be surprised if he just went up to Ms. Menaker and asked her to tell him what happened.

Also, these "tribunals" are commonplace at many universities. If you get in trouble, you go before a disciplinary committee and you sure don't get to have a lawyer. And the fact that the pro-Palestinian students were also disciplined takes away here claim that it was one-sided. To me, its pretty clear that Ms. Menaker is just a troubled troublemaker with a chip on her shoulder. She'll get no sympathy from me.

nanofever

Yup, the bs detector went ape when it smelled this article.

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sexymama

It sounds to me like Ms. Menaker is a person who celebrates diversity and the U.S. culture. There are amendments that allow her freedom of thought and speech. Why is she being punished for defending democracy? The univerisity's actions make little to no sense to me.

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Ustwo

Even at the rather non-political University of Illinois at Chicago I've seen arab students with Palistinian flag patches on one side of their bag and the words 'sniper' with a cross hair over the Isreali flag on the other. I've seen fliers quite often for 'Isreal sucks' rallies as well. Isreal is the white male of nations, its the only one (outside of the US) you can say anything you want about and not be called a racist or ignorant.

I find nothing in this article surprising, the intolerance of the left is quite apparent to anyone who has seen it first hand at the university level.

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Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

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sipsake

"Menaker was facing disciplinary action for calling a pro-Palestinian student a sharmoota (the Arabic word for bitch) and telling another to "Go f--- your camels" in response to other defamatory words during a May 7 rally."
from Jewish Bulletin News of Northern California

I guess that's one way of celebrating diversity.

__________________
When life hands you a lemon, say "Oh yeah, I like lemons. What else you got?"

Henry Rollins

sipsake

Again, I would point out the overlooked fact that 2 pro-palestinean protestors were also charged in the incident.

__________________
When life hands you a lemon, say "Oh yeah, I like lemons. What else you got?"

Henry Rollins

Ustwo

You can keep making all the excuses you like, but for standing up for her rights she was kicked out. Nasty Jew troublemaker.

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Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

sipsake

Nice try. At no point did I make an excuse for any party involved. I pointed out the bias of the story and reiterated once again the fallacy of your Israel=White Man analogy in this case.

I pointed out, you were wrong in stating "you can say anything you want and not be considered racist or ignorant."

Instead of repudiating my statement, or admitting the analogy was flawed, you attempted to redirect attention by trying to associate my arguement with your "Nasty Jew troublemaker" comment.
A phrase I never used or even implied.

__________________
When life hands you a lemon, say "Oh yeah, I like lemons. What else you got?"

Henry Rollins

losthellhound

Even if the slate of the article is towards Tatiana Menaker, how can anyone explain why the community service she must perform cannot be with the Jewish, Isreali, or Russian communities?

__________________
"Life is possible only with illusions. And so, the question for the science of mental health must become an absolutely new and revolutionary one, yet one that reflects the essence of the human condition: On what level of illusion does one live?"
-- Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death

Strange Famous

How can Marxism be described as anti-semitic? Karl Marx was Jewish. And if she goes around calling peopel "sand n*****" I'm not surprised she got expelled. The people yelling that Hitler should have finished the job probably should be expelled too.

There is nothing wrong with people hating their own country, it is a natural reaction in anyone with a rebellious attitude.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Ustwo

Strange Famous, she said no such thing, as tapes proved. Also the concept wasn't that marxism was anti-semitic, just that SF state is filled with anti-semitic's and marxists.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Lebell

Oh yes,

By all means, do some research.


For example, you might learn:

- The Pro-Israeli group was having a PEACE rally, which was ambushed by a Pro-palestinian group that was shouting for the deaths of the Israelis.

- No one knows if the palestinian protestor's sentences were proportional to that of Ms. Menaker

- Campus police did not follow their own guidelines to prevent the riot.

- For calling a palestinian a "Bitch" and telling them to "Go fuck your camel", SFSU forwarded 'hate crime' charges against Ms. Menaker to the SF District attorney, while those actively shouting for the death of the pro-Iraeli students have not been simularly treated.


(I would have said worse. Links below)

http://www.jewishsf.com/bk020628/sf10b.shtml

http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-...playstory.html

http://www.yourish.com/archives/2002/sfsu.html

And the reward for Palestinian students rioting, posting anti-Israel posters, having cans labeled Palestian "Baby" meat made by Israelis, comparing Israel to Nazi Germany (the ultimate Irony, when radical Arabs freely admit that they want all Jews DEAD), ad naseum, is to get an Arab and Islamic studies program:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...0/BA245037.DTL

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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SLM3

Try writing an article that is critical of Israeli policies and get it published in a major newspaper. I have articles forwarded to me everyday, written by notable academics, and none ever see print. I wonder what you base your statement on. Criticizing Israel in North America automatically generates accusations of anti-semitism (amazing since as an Arab, my arabic speaking family is semitic). Criticizing Israel is not tolerated in America.

For more information on the topic, I'd recommend David Hirst's, "The Gun and the Olive Branch: The Roots of Violence in the Middle East". I think many here would be quite enlightened.


SLM3

Lebell

That was dealt with in one of my links.

She vehemently denies the charge and there are no corroborating witnesses.

There are also no indications that the Palestinians (against whom there ARE corroborating witnesses) were expelled.

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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Strange Famous

I still do not understand why this article makes several attempts to link Marxism to either "Anti-Americanism" or anti-semitism.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Strange Famous

"To her dismay, she found the same anti-Semitism and Marxist dogmas prevalent in her previous homeland right here in the U.S.A. at San Francisco State"

"She frequently found herself arguing with professors who extolled the glories of Marxism and she spoke out frequently at anti-Semitic rallies on campus"

"about the Marxist and anti-U.S. indoctrination in classes as well as the anti-Semitism she has experienced at SF State"

"the GUPS and their Marxist allies on campus counter-demonstrated, many of whom screamed out statements like “Kill the Jews” and “Hitler should have finished the job.”"

"atiana began writing about her experiences of facing the same Marxism and anti-Semitism at San Francisco State that she had in the former Soviet Union"

"Tatiana described how this professor refers to her colleagues as “comrade” in the old Soviet style and how she educates students on the glories of the Communist system of government that Tatiana as a Soviet Jew risked her life to escape"

"Tatiana published two more revealing articles about the Marxist and anti-U.S. indoctrination on the SF State campus"

Again and again the two references appear side by side... the way they put "Marxist Jew" in quote marks is if it were ridicolous... well, thats two ironic to even need to point out.

This article is written in such a way that it makes me doubt very heavily that we are getting the full picture - for example, the fact that a tape recording doesnt prove this women use dthe "sand n*****" reference if of course no proof that she didnt (the article says it is) - at no point is the other side of the case given, or the perspective of the woman who claims she made a death threat to her...

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Ustwo

Sometimes SF I wonder if you read the same articles we all do through some sort of magic filter that changes the output to things only you can see.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Strange Famous

Not sure what you mean, obviously there was an allegation that she made a death threat to the Jewish lecturer... I am doubtful that the version of it in the article is complete.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Ustwo

Ah nm

A found it, looks pretty laughable but I missed that bit.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Strange Famous

"Tatiana immediately received yet another letter calling her into a disciplinary meeting with Ms. Cunningham. She was accused of making death threats"

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Lebell

Yes.

The "threat" was that when they (the Palestinians) started killing Jews, the woman she was talking to wouldn't be spared.

Some death threat.

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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Lebell

Yes,

It is always nice to get both sides of the story.

Unfortunately SFSU and all the other parties are hiding behind "privacy" laws and aren't talking, let alone providing any evidence of the charges.

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

The ONLY sponsors we have are YOU!

Please Donate!

Strange Famous

I read it as the "they" being the Nazi's, or the perpetrators of a new holocaust... and if that really was the "death threat" I agree that legally it should not be actionable and hardly constitutes a threat by any logical definition. My suspicion remains that the article isnot giving a complete story, and if the "death threat" got to the stage it did, there is at least a good chance there is more to it than is revealed here.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas