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Who are the Hillel vandals? I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry at Will Youman's suggestion (letter to the Editor Aug. 21) that Berkeley Hillel may have been vandalized by partying frat boys. The facts remain: a brick was thrown and a trash can was defa
To the Editor:
I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry at Will Youman's suggestion (letter to the Editor Aug. 21) that Berkeley Hillel may have been vandalized by partying frat boys. The facts remain: a brick was thrown and a trash can was defaced, shaking the Jewish community. The vandalism occurred during a tense period in the Middle East. The peak being the massacre of Israeli Jews during a Passover religious ceremony.
Berkeley cannot become a field on which the events in the Middle East are played out. If this attack was a direct result of the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict, the solution is to create an open environment for discussion, where people can talk, listen, learn and debate. Calling for extreme measures that do not hold peace as the ultimate goal is pointless.
Why is Mr. Youmans afraid to admit that the vandalism of the “Holyland” restaurant may have likely been a hate crime? According to the Anti-Defamation League, the Bay Area has the highest rate in the country of hate crimes against Jews, as the Jewish Bulletin reported on June 7.
It is a sad day when communities anywhere are forced to absorb attacks brought on them by cowardly hooligans who find it appropriate to harm others through force, based on worldly affairs.
Devora Liss,
Berkeley
