UTA’s Jay Sures Condemns Israel-Gaza Letter From UC Faculty Group, Calls Missive “Appalling And Repugnant”

deadline.com:

Jay Sures is not just UTA‘s Vice Chairman, he is also a Regent of the University of California. It was in the latter capacity that Sures sent a letter to the UC system’s Board of Regents, its chancellors and its president protesting what he termed a “appalling and repugnant” letter from the UC Ethnic Studies Faculty Council to the regents.

Specifically, Sures asserted, that letter “is rife with falsehoods about Israel and seeks to legitimize and defend the horrific savagery of the Hamas massacre of October 7.” The Ethnic Studies Faculty Council describes itself as “a diverse statewide body that represents over 300 faculty systemwide.” On October 16, that council issued its own statement regarding a communication from University of California Board of Regents Chair Richard Leib and UC President Michael V.

Drake, M.D. In their communication, Leib and Drake expressed sympathy for the victims of the October 7 massacre and said unequivocally, “This was an act of terrorism.” They described the violence as “sickening and incomprehensible,” and urged, “This act deserves and requires our collective condemnation.” In its response, the Ethnic Studies Council asserted that it “rejects recent UC administrative communications that distort and misrepresent the unfolding genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and thereby contribute to the racist anddehumanizing erasure of Palestinian daily reality.” That council further stated: “It is deeply distressing that the UC and other higher education institutions’ administrative statements in the last week and a half, that irresponsibly wield charges of ‘terrorism’ and ‘unprovoked’ aggression, have contributed to a climate that has made Palestinian students and community members unsafe, even in