The University of California, Berkeley campus. Photo: wiki commons.

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) representatives to the University of California Student Association (UCSA) board of directors on Nov. 20 expressed regret for several aspects of a UCSA resolution two months earlier that condemned HR35—a unanimously passed State Assembly resolution urging California schools to squelch nascent anti-Semitism and crack down on anti-Israel demonstrations.

The UCLA representatives wrote in an email that they were “unaware that the resolution would be presented by members of UC Berkeley’s Students for Justice in Palestine” and also unaware of “the confidential e-mail communication happening between members of SJP.” The UCLA representatives, whose email was posted on the “Bruins for Israel Facebook page, said they agreed that such procedure “undermines the democratic process.”

“This issue has prompted the board to re-evaluate its procedures and guidelines regarding the co-sponsoring of resolutions by third-party organizations,” the UCLA representatives said.

The UCLA representatives recognized the “negative impact that the resolution’s language had on the Jewish community and our campus climate” through the inclusion of phrases such as “illegal occupation” when referring to Israel. The UCSA resolution’s language “blurred the lines between advocating for free speech and taking a stance on the Israeli-Palestinian issue,” according to the UCLA representatives.