Antisemitism can’t be tolerated

In his column ("A new McCarthy era," Daily Journal, Dec. 11, 2023), I respectfully believe Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of UC Berkeley School of Law failed to appreciate why so many of us Jews applaud the resignation of President Elizabeth Magill from the University of Pennsylvania, and the outpouring of criticism to her Congressional testimony.

The parsing of the words "imminent," "incitement," "threat" are well served in a legal brief, but not in the venue of public opinion. We cannot tolerate any context in which the genocide of Jews can be tolerated. Not in a classroom, not at a rally, and not even in a court of law. We cannot ignore the present pervasive massive outpouring of antisemitism, here and abroad, whether it was Charlottesville, Jan. 6, Oct. 7, or "the river to the sea" in our very backyards. We cannot allow our inattention to Germany in the 1930's to be repeated. If the First Amendment will not protect us, then our reaction to the Congressional testimony, the withdrawing of funding to universities, and withdrawal offers of employment by law firms, might.

Louis Lipofsky

UC Berkeley School of Law '62