Statement from Alpha Epsilon Pi Executive Director on Recent Anti-Semitic Attack at University of California, Davis
(PRWEB) February 02, 2015 -- “Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the anti-Semitic hate crime that occurred this past Saturday morning at the University of California, Davis. (UC-Davis)
AEPi’s 9,000 undergraduate and 85,000 alumni brothers stand strongly in solidarity and support with our brothers at UC-Davis.
On campuses throughout North America and Europe, AEPi brothers have been leading the Jewish community and leading the student movement to defend Israel. Because of that leadership, in the last few months alone, our brothers have been the targets of anti-Semitic attacks at a dozen universities including Oregon, the Claremont Colleges, Arizona, Calgary, Loyola, Ohio, Ohio State, Vanderbilt, Temple, Emory, SUNY-Oneonta, Tufts and, now, in Davis.
Last week, our UC-Davis brothers proudly defended Israel while the student government voted to adopt a hostile anti-Israel resolution. Within hours of that vote, during the Sabbath night, our fraternity house was vandalized with swastikas. Anti-Semitism is on the rise on college campuses across the world, and the “BDS movement” -- the effort to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel -- is the chief face of campus anti-Semitism.
Alpha Epsilon Pi International has dispatched staff and security experts to Davis to assure that our brothers are safe in their university and safe when expressing their Judaism and support for Israel. We are cooperating with university and law enforcement authorities in the ongoing criminal investigation. Additionally, we are working in coordination with the Secure Community Network -- the national homeland security initiative of the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations -- to assure the safety of our Brothers across the world and to educate students, college administrators, and local communities about the rising tide of anti-Semitism.
AEPi will not allow any brother -- or any Jew -- on any campus to be intimidated or threatened because of their ethnicity or their support for Israel."
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Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) is the world’s leading Jewish social fraternity, operating chapters on more than 180 college campuses in six countries. Founded in 1913, AEPi has more than 90,000 living alumni. While non-discriminatory, the fraternity’s mission – developing the future leaders of the Jewish communities – is demonstrated every day through acts of Brotherhood, Tzedakkah (charity), social awareness and support for Jewish communities and Israel.
Jon Pierce, Alpha Epsilon Pi, http://www.aepi.org, (518) 427-1186, [email protected]
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