UC board chair stands strong against cancel attempt for supporting Israel

The chair of the University of California system’s Board of Regents has not backed down as a coalition pressures him to resign over his engagement with pro-Israel social media content.

“The moral bankruptcy and bigotry of UC Regents Chair Richard Leib is not welcome in our university community, and we will remain steadfast in our demands for his resignation,” the UC Palestine Collective said in an email to The College Fix.

The Fix asked Leib for comment on the accusations via LinkedIn message but did not receive a response in the past two weeks. The Fix also contacted the general regents email for comment on Tuesday but no response has been received.

Leib, who is Jewish, “has personally met with Arab, Jewish and Muslim students” to hear their concerns about hostility on campus, according to a UC spokesperson.

Leib (pictured) has called on campus officials “to provide resources for added safety measures, to swiftly condemn inappropriate behavior and enforce rules against it, and to call out hate speech, even if protected by the First Amendment,” the university stated.

The board chair, who assumed his role in 2018, told the Los Angeles Times he doesn’t plan to resign in response to an open letter from the UC Palestine Collective accusing him of “racism” and “homophobia” amid Israel’s war against the terrorist group Hamas.

The group also criticized Leib for liking “posts claiming that Hamas uses hospitals as military headquarters” and falsely claimed this is “wholly unsubstantiated.”

The head of a Gaza hospital and Hamas members have told Israeli interrogators that the group regularly stores supplies and hides in these civilian areas. The Israeli military has also released footage supporting the claim.

The group also doubled down on its denial that Hamas uses hospitals as military bases. It cited a Washington Post piece  arguing that the footage, weapons, and tunnel network revealed by the Israeli military isn’t enough proof. The organization dismissed statements from interrogated individuals, claiming they were “likely” subjected to “abuse and torture.”

“We find it especially disturbing that Leib, who oversees five major academic medical centers under the purview of his leadership, deemed it appropriate to publicly support targeted and unjustified attacks on hospitals,” UC Palestine Collective told The Fix.

But the controversy over Leib shows a different “double standard” in higher education, according to Alan Dershowitz, an emeritus Harvard law professor who regularly writes and comments on Israeli politics.

“There are so many overtly anti-Israel zealots on boards,” the Harvard law professor told The Fix. “A bit of balance is desirable.”

https://www.thecollegefix.com/uc-board-chair-stands-strong-against-cancel-attempt-for-supporting-israel/