Southern California boasts a network of seven private colleges known collectively as the "Claremont Colleges."  They are pricey and prestigious.  They are also bastions of anti-American, anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist thinking, as revealed in an email the Scripps College student association send to all Scripps students.

Scripps College, a women-only college,* costs around $57,000 for tuition, with another $17,000-plus for room, board, and miscellaneous fees.  What parents get for sending their daughters to Scripps is the promise that it's one of the highest-ranked women's colleges in America.  It even produces lots of Fulbright Scholars.  What it doesn't seem to produce are knowledgeable, rational, mentally stable people who love their country.

Scripps Associated Students (SAS) is the college's student governing body.  Its stated purpose is to be a voice for the students in dealing with the college and to improve student life on campus:

Scripps Associated Students (SAS) is the student governing body of Scripps College. The function of SAS is to liaise between the student body and the administration, faculty, and the Board of Trustees of the College. SAS plans a variety of programs and activities, funds clubs and organizations, and serves as an advocate for student needs and concerns in an effort to improve student life on campus.

Apparently, the SAS is also a pro-Hamas political advocacy group.  I know this because someone shared with me the email blast the SAS sent on May 19 or 20 to all Scripps students.  The first paragraph makes it seem like an ordinary student governing body communication, congratulating classmates for wrapping up a difficult year.

In truth, though, the entire document is a pro-Hamas,** anti-Israel exhortation, along with an offer of mental health help for those students who lack the emotional resilience to cope with a war in another country.  The entire email is at the end of this post, but I want to highlight some of the more inflammatory language.

Ignoring the fact that Hamas was lobbing thousands of missiles at Israeli population centers, and that Israel responded by tightly targeting combatants only, the letter describes the fighting between Israel and Hamas as "escalating colonial violence by the Israeli government's military occupation of Palestine, illegal under international law."  (Untrue.)

Because of this historic ignorance, the SAS believes it's incumbent upon the organization to "support our Scripps students, especially in times of extreme crisis."  Crisis?  This is an affluent American college in sunny Claremont, California.

In a mélange of Marxism and Hamas determinism, the email attacks the American government: "The United States is deeply implicated in the Israeli government's occupation at the political, economic, and sociocultural level."  This complicity results in "U.S. state-sponsored propaganda campaign to silence, censor, and misrepresent Palestinian voices in the mainstream media," forcing the SAS to "uplift all unheard and marginalized voices and disseminate accurate information."

Having ignorantly accused Israel of being an illegitimate colonizer, the SAS wraps itself in the mantle of self-righteousness for all "marginalized and oppressed people ... including, but not limited to, Palestinians and Jews[.]"  Having stirred up anti-Semitism, it decries the "co-opting of the Palestinian liberation movement to the spread of antisemitic hate."

As Monica Showalter has documented, the claim that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism is a political fiction that has no realm in truth.  The reality is that Israel is the only Jewish nation in the world, and, even as other nations from China to Syria systematically persecute Muslims, only Israel is singled out.  In other words, Muslims are worthy of protection only when leftists can attack Jews.

Because one of the defining features of leftist women is that they are mentally broken, the SAS helpfully created a list of mental health resources for students collapsing under the weight of a faraway war.

The email closes with a list of "some educational resources" that come from the most radicalized thinkers in America, starting with Angela Davis, an unrepentant, murderous Marxist and darling of the left:

• Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis
• Let Them Drown by Naomi Klein
• Palestine, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Beinin and Hajjar
• Gaza Fights for Freedom - Free Documentary on Youtube
• Palestine 101 - Institute for Middle East Understanding Primer
• Quick Facts: Israeli Annexation of Occupied Land & International Law- IMEU
• Visualizing Palestine 101 - Online Website

Sadly, what the SAS did is par for the course at America's colleges and universities.  Knowledge (for example, knowing about the fact that the Jews are the indigenous people and the Arabs are the late-arriving colonial occupiers), the ability to reason, and mental resilience are utterly alien to what passes for higher education in America.

_________________

*With exquisite and unintentional humor, Scripps promises that "No Scripps student [i.e., someone who entered calling herself a woman], will lose their [sic] eligibility to attend or graduate from Scripps College by coming out or transitioning."  In other words, "we know you're still a woman."  Heh.

** As a reminder, I will never again refer to Arabs living in the West Bank, Gaza, or Israel as Palestinians.  Doing so confers on them an entirely false historical legitimacy.  They are colonial occupiers trying to evict from the land a people who have the same genetic lineage, speak the same language, and worship the same God as their ancestors who lived in the country more than 4,000 years ago.

Image: Scripps College's Balch Hall by Lure Photography.  CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Scripps Associated Students email

Scripps Associated Students

sas@scrippscollege.edu

Dear Scripps Student Body,

We want to say congratulations to everyone for finishing up an incredibly difficult semester, especially to all of our graduating seniors! As we move through what would usually be a time purely for celebration our hearts are heavy as the world watches what is happening in occupied Palestine.

We know that this may be a very scary and stressful time for many of our students. The SAS Board extends its support in solidarity to our Palestinian students and all students affected by the ongoing and recently escalating colonial violence by the Israeli government's military occupation of Palestine, illegal under international law. As representatives of the student body, it is our duty to support our Scripps students, especially in times of extreme crisis.

The United States is deeply implicated in the Israeli government's occupation at the political, economic, and sociocultural level.

In light of the U.S. state-sponsored propaganda campaign to silence, censor, and misrepresent Palestinian voices in the mainstream media, SAS views itself as having an obligation to uplift all unheard and marginalized voices and disseminate accurate information. As students of an American university, it is vital that we condemn the United States' role in sustaining the Israeli government occupation.

Even as the international community calls attention to the Israeli government's human rights abuses, the US continues to support the Israeli government militarily and financially. Every year over 3.8 billion U.S. tax dollars contribute to Israeli settler colonialism and military occupation. Taxes from Los Angeles County alone send more than $131,000,000 per year to the Israeli military. You can use this link to see how much tax money your state, city, or county sends to fund the Israeli government occupation each year.

In line with our values, SAS stands with historically marginalized and oppressed people throughout the world including, but not limited to, Palestinians and Jews, and as such, we explicitly condemn any co-opting of the Palestinian liberation movement to spread antisemitic hate. We reaffirm our collective commitment to our core principles of anti-racism, equity, and justice for all. We strive to work together with you to build a liberated future.

We have compiled a list of mental health and wellness resources for students to access. We hope everyone is taking care of themselves.

EmPOWER Center: (909) 607-2689 / Website

Monsour Phone #: (909) 621-8202 / Crisis Line: (909) 621-8202 Dial "1"

Campus Health Phone #: (909) 621-8222 / After Hours Emergency Line: (909) 607-2000

The Chaplains Phone # : 909-621-8685 / Email: chaplains@claremont.edu

Primary Contact Deans:

General Support: Adriana di Bartolo, PhD

A-E: Simone Hicks, PhD

F-K: Marissiko Wheaton

L-N & Post-Bac Students: Danny Hernandez

O-S: Brenda Ice

T-Z & International Students: Deborah Gisvold

We recognize the variety of perspectives and past experiences with regards to the Israeli government's occupation and encourage folks to engage with this issue on their own to learn more. With this aim, we have compiled some educational resources.

Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis

Let Them Drown by Naomi Klein

Palestine, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Beinin and Hajjar

Gaza Fights for Freedom - Free Documentary on Youtube

Palestine 101 - Institute for Middle East Understanding Primer

Quick Facts: Israeli Annexation of Occupied Land & International Law- IMEU

Visualizing Palestine 101 - Online Website

Here are actions everyone can take.

Sign the Petition Calling on Pomona's Administration to Stand With Palestine

Donate to Provide Nutritious Meals for Children in Gaza

Support Palestinians by attending protests across the US

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email us.

Sincerely,

SAS Board 2021-2022

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.