Letter to the Editor

I condemn the graffiti of the Third World Mural, but I want to highlight the stark differences in the responses to this “assault” compared to 2007, when a Jewish Sukkah on the Quad was vandalized with the words “Free Palestine.”

Did campus officials speak out as vehemently? No. Did student groups rally to support Jewish students? No. Did Muslim students denounce the crime? Not publicly.

Then how should the campus respond? First, the community needs to understand, despite what Rick Sanchez says, Jews are an oppressed minority. They have been for millennia. Just as not all Muslims are terrorists, not all Jews are rich. Jews endure the same discrimination, racism, etc. that other minorities also face. About 13 million Jews comprise 0.3 percent of the world’s population. It’s estimated that less than 10 percent of UC Davis is Jewish. That makes Jewish students, by the truest definition of the word, a minority.

Why aren’t Jews represented on this mural “which represents various minorities on campus?” If they aren’t because this is a Third World Mural, then why are other American minority groups represented? To begin to heal we need to realize we are not that different from one another. A good first step would be to offer Jewish students a space on the mural.

MICHAEL AMERIKANER

International Relations, ’04