Israeli-American Nexus Outraged by UCLA’s Treatment of Graduate Student Leader Targeted by BDS

Israeli-American Community Stands in Solidarity with Outgoing UCLA Graduate Student Association (GSA) President Milan Chatterjee; Calls on the UCLA Administration to Apologize

Today the Israeli-American Nexus (IAX) issued the following statement to the media:

“The Israeli-American Nexus is outraged by the UCLA Administration’s treatment of UCLA law student Milan Chatterjee, former 2015-2016 Graduate Student Association President, who has been targeted, harassed, and defamed by proponents of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement for the past year for refusing to provide GSA funds in support of their hateful campaign to pressure UCLA to divest from the State of Israel.

This week, a confidential report from the UCLA Discrimination Prevention Office (DPO) was apparently leaked to the media, which claimed that Milan Chatterjee violated university policy by refusing to fund either side of the debate surrounding the BDS movement against Israel. It is very troubling when a public university sanctions a fair and balanced student leader for simply seeking to keep the UCLA GSA from being entangled in the complex issues of Middle East politics. When the policy was enacted by Milan in November 2015, the GSA Cabinet had voted unanimously in favor of it.

The leak of this disturbing and defamatory report is a clear violation of the Federal Educational Records Privacy Act (FERPA) and a telling sign about the cowardly bias of a UCLA office that is meant to prevent exactly this kind of discrimination. We call on the UCLA Administration to immediately address this culture of bias, intimidation, and discrimination on campus, starting by apologizing to this courageous and thoughtful student leader.”

About the Israeli-American Nexus (IAX): The Israeli-American Nexus (IAX) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that advocates to policymakers on behalf of the Israeli-American community. A partner organization of the Israeli-American Council, the IAX works to make the voices of Israeli-Americans heard on a range of issues at the federal, state, and local level.