Black Student Union Letter Sparks Clash Over Speeches : CSUN: Head of the group denounces Jewish students for a talk planned for the same time as a campus speech by Louis Farrakhan.

NORTHRIDGE — The head of an African-American student group at Cal State Northridge accused Jewish students Thursday of “Hitlerian tactics” in a clash over a planned campus speech by the controversial minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam.

Plans by Jewish students to hold another event at the same time as the speech next Thursday by Farrakhan--accused by Jewish groups of making anti-Semitic remarks in the past--are “blatantly undermining and disrespecting” the Farrakhan event, complained Leslie Small, president of the CSUN Black Students Union, in a letter to other campus groups.

The Hillel Jewish Student Center quickly condemned Small’s letter as “inflammatory and anti-Semitic.”

University President Blenda Wilson called Small’s letter “insulting and disrespectful to Jews.”

The fracas comes a week before Farrakhan’s scheduled address to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a famous CSUN protest by black students who seized the administration building in 1968. Some were convicted of felony offenses. But that incident is credited with sparking a successful drive to establish a black studies department the following year.

In a 1 1/2-page letter titled “The Jews Attempt a Coup” and written under a BSU letterhead to other student organizations, Small wrote: “It saddens me to find out Hillel, a Jewish organization, would try the Hitlerian tactics of, divide and concur (sic), amongst people of color on this great day,” referring to the anniversary celebration.

Small’s letter then recites a series of historical allegations that Jews “participated in the vicious murder of two hundred and fifty million Africans,” were “partakers in the genocide of our Indigenous American brothers,” supporters of South African apartheid, and “murderers and robbers of the Palestinians.”

Hillel said the charges “have no basis in fact.”

After Farrakhan’s planned speech was publicized last week, leaders of Hillel and several other campus groups began planning their own event, “A Gathering of People for Understanding,” to be held at 6 p.m. at Hillel’s center on the night Farrakhan is scheduled to give a $20-per-ticket speech at 7 p.m. on campus.

Small, saying the multicultural aims of the Hillel event “prostitute something we’ve been fighting for,” said he was most angry that Jewish leaders on campus did not consult with BSU leaders on their plans. Small probably would not have written the letter, he said, had Jewish leaders consulted with the students’ group.

He also conceded that because of his anger, the letter may have been excessively harsh.

But Dawn Price, second vice president of the black students group, said the letter was written on behalf of the organization and was meant to reflect its views. She called the Hillel event “a personal attack” on campus blacks and added, “That’s why we responded so strongly.”

In a statement issued by the university along with Wilson’s statement, the Hillel group said of Small’s letter: “His groundless slurs convey hatred, mistrust and xenophobia.” And the group accused Small of trying to create hostility among ethnic groups, saying his message of black pride is poisoned “with lies about the Jews.”

Josh Epstein, student chair of the Hillel group, said its event is an alternative and is not meant to detract from Farrakhan’s speech. But Epstein said Small’s letter reflects the rhetoric the Nation of Islam group and Farrakhan have used in the past about Jews. And he said Hillel plans Tuesday to ask CSUN’s student government to condemn the letter and sanction Small.

The BSU letter was sent after Jewish leaders at CSUN--despite what they said are their personal misgivings about Farrakhan--had promised not to protest his appearance. Instead, they had said they hoped Farrakhan would use the speech to mend his longstanding rift with the Jewish community.

Farrakhan, a charismatic speaker and popular advocate of black separatism, has drawn fire from Jewish groups in the past for calling their faith “a dirty religion” in 1984, and for at other times referring to Adolph Hitler as “a great man” and referring to the “wickedness” of Jews.

In her statement, Wilson called Small’s letter “offensive to the principles of tolerance and respect for every individual, principles which I hold dear.” The president said both Farrakhan’s speech and the Hillel event are consistent with the university’s principles of free speech and diversity. And she said “it is not unusual” to have concurrent events on campus.