A Berkeley law professor is warning future employers to not hire his students — accusing some of them of being antisemitic in an opinion piece published Sunday.
Steven Davidoff Solomon, who teaches corporate law at the University of California, Berkeley, alleged that some of his students at the college promoted hate towards Jews and therefore should not be given jobs in an op-ed he penned for the Wall Street Journal.
“My students are largely engaged and well-prepared, and I regularly recommend them to legal employers,” Solomon wrote. “But if you don’t want to hire people who advocate hate and practice discrimination, don’t hire some of my students.”
The educator, who advises the Jewish law students association, lobbed the serious accusation at his students after nine campus groups adopted a rule last year banning pro-Israel speakers at events.
Berkeley’s Law Students for Justice in Palestine drafted the bylaw stating the organizations wouldn’t invite speakers “that have expressed interest and continue to hold views, host, sponsor or promote events in support of Zionism, the apartheid state of Israel and the occupation of Palestine,” and asked other student groups to sign on to it.
The student organization said the amendment aims to stop the spread of Zionist beliefs and protect “the safety and welfare of Palestinian students.”
But many on and off campus said it was antisemitic and exclusionary.
“It was rightly criticized for creating ‘Jew-free’ zones,” Solomon said in his opinion piece.
“You don’t need an advanced degree to see why this bylaw is wrong. For millennia, Jews have prayed, ‘next year in Jerusalem,’ capturing how central the idea of a homeland is to Jewish identity,” the professor added. “By excluding Jews from their homeland—after Jews have already endured thousands of years of persecution—these organizations are engaging in anti-Semitism and dehumanizing Jews.”
Another 11 student groups subsequently adopted the bylaw, according to Solomon.
“They didn’t include Jewish law students in the conversation when circulating the bylaw,” he wrote. “They also singled out Jews for wanting what we all should have—a homeland and haven from persecution.”
Palestinians, however, often advocate for the same thing, a homeland and haven from persecution, themselves as they live under a blockade by Israel in the West Bank and Gaza — the latter of which has been called “an open-air prison” by some human rights organizations.
Still, Solomon called the Berkeley students’ behavior “shameful” and claimed it made the horrific Oct. 7 Hamas attack on innocent Israeli civilians possible.
“The student conduct at Berkeley is part of the broader attitude against Jews on university campuses that made last week’s massacre possible,” he said. “It is shameful and has been tolerated for too long.”
Solomon called on potential employers to “treat these law students like the adults they are” during the recruiting process.
“If a student endorses hate, dehumanization or anti-Semitism, don’t hire him. When students face consequences for their actions, they straighten up,” he wrote.
As the war between Hamas and Israel rages on, college campuses have become the backdrop for wars of words on the complicated issues in the region.
At New York University, the president of the college’s student bar association received massive blowback and lost a cushy law job offer after they sent out a newsletter accusing Israel of genocide and blaming the Jewish nation for the recent killings at the hands of the Hamas terrorist group.
“Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life. This regime of state-sanctioned violence created the conditions that made resistance necessary,” the student wrote. “I will not condemn Palestinian resistance.”
The law firm Winston & Strawn revoked an employment offer to the student the same day they sent the newsletter.
Solomon urged other legal employers to follow Winston & Strawn’s lead.
“If a student endorses hatred, it isn’t only your right but your duty not to hire him,” he said to hiring companies. “Do you want your clients represented by someone who condones these monstrous crimes?”