Tessa Veksler, one of the Jewish student leaders at UCSB, talks to the audience at Little Acorn Park in Isla Vista about the need to “show up for the Jewish community before anti-Semitism happens.”
Several hundred Jewish and non-Jewish people walked together Sunday afternoon in Isla Vista to protest against anti-Semitism and for a better world where diversity is embraced.
The short walk began at Santa Barbara Hillel, an organization that serves Jewish students in Isla Vista and at neighboring UCSB, and it culminated at Little Acorn Park, where speakers varied from Jewish student leaders to state Sen. Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara. There was also a stop halfway during the walk for another round of speeches.
The talks included biographies of Holocaust victims. Jan. 27 was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The walk was co-organized by the UCSB Jewish fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, and Santa Barbara Hillel.
Sunday’s walk came just after a week of widespread anti-Semitic acts in the Santa Barbara area. The acts consisted of anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli comments found Monday of the chalkboard of a UCSB Israeli politics class, anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli comments posted Monday on the bulletin board at UCSB’s Jewish Studies Department, anti-Jewish fliers found Tuesday in Isla Vista and the discovery of a swastika attached to a pole at the Dos Pueblos High School stadium in Goleta.
The Jewish community and its supporters on Sunday reacted to those acts with a walk featuring a large number of people — mostly college-age but there were some middle-age people and seniors in the group, along with some elected officials such as Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps and Santa Barbara City Council member Oscar Gutierrez.
And the students and others spoke in support of the Jewish community, in remembrance of the Holocaust and for the vision of a future where anti-Semitism isn’t tolerated.
Tessa Veksler, one of the Jewish student leaders and a member of the Senate at UCSB’s College of Letters and Sciences, told the crowd at Little Acorn Park that her parents emigrated from Ukraine in 1990 to escape from anti-Semitism.
“They came here with the hope that they would never be prosecuted for being Jewish,” Miss Veksler said. “Now they have to live here knowing their daughter is facing the same exact thing they fled.
“This week has been difficult, to say the least, for the UCSB Jewish community and the Jewish community at large,” she said, urging people to “show up for the Jewish community before anti-Semitism happens.”
Sen. Limón told the crowd that she stood in solidarity with others to end hatred of Jews and all hatred.
“I stand in solidarity to ensure our learning environments are safe, to understand when it (hate) happens to any brother or sister of any background, it can happen and will happen to all of us,” Sen. Limón said.
Jamie Orseck, co-president of the student board at Santa Barbara Hillel and one of the speakers, told the News-Press that the point of the walk was education. “We want to make sure everyone is educated on this issue.”
She said last week’s fliers denying the Holocaust happened are hurtful. But she also said,’ We wanted to stand together and show the community that we are not a presence that can be intimidated. We are all here to be proud of being Jewish and to stand together.”
Six million Jews were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust, a dark chapter in the history of World War II.
In arguably the day’s most enthusiastic speech, former state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, pointed out achievements by Jewish individuals such as Jonas Salk, who created the vaccine for polio. The crowd cheered as she pointed out that Jews created advances in the treatments of cancer and AIDS and excelled in fields such as music and art.
“We must educate others that we have been a critical component in the advancement of the world,” she said.
Ms. Jackson also denounced anti-Semitism.
“We have to recognize that anti-Semitism is among the most despicable, most outrageous types of behavior on this planet,” she said.
She urged her audience to stand up to hatred, to prevent it from repeating itself.
After the walk, Rabbi Evan Goodman, the executive director of Santa Barbara Hillel and one of the speakers, told the News-Press he thought the turnout was excellent.
“I’m sad that it took something like this (anti-Semitic acts) to bring us together, but I’m pleased and proud that the students organized a march that brought so many people rallying against anti-Semitism.”
email: dmason@newspress.com
