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City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, up for re-election in November, is denouncing a mysterious letter that accuses him of “siding with anti-Jewish and anti-Israel forces” and calls on Berkeley residents to donate to the campaign of his opponent, UC Berkeley student Micki Weinberg. 

Weinberg said he had nothing to do with the letter and argued that Worthington is using it to distract from the critical issues in the campaign – safety and affordable housing. 

The letter, dated Oct. 7 and distributed via e-mail, purports to come from four prominent community members, Noah Alper of Noah’s Bagels, attorney Paul “Buddy” Warner, Lois Marcus and UC Berkeley Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature Robert Alter. 

Alter, reached by the Daily Planet Friday, said he had never agreed to sign the letter and does not know who affixed his name to it. 

“The only letter I signed was about a month ago – a more general letter of support of Micki Weinberg that didn’t include his opponent,” he said. “I don’t know who wrote the letter.” 

Alter said the use of his Hebrew name, Uri, in the letter is evidence that he did not sign it because he does not use his Hebrew name in public pronouncements. 

Calls to Warner and Marcus Friday were not returned by press time. The Daily Planet could not find contact information for Alper. 

The letter opens by discussing the recent vandalism of Berkeley Hillel, a center of Jewish cultural life on the UC Berkeley campus and attacks on Jewish community members. 

The letter does not tie Worthington to the vandalism, but says he has a “history of siding with anti-Jewish and anti-Israel forces.”  

The letter cites a resolution that Worthington brought to City Council calling on authorities to drop criminal and university discipline charges against pro-Palestinian students who took over UC Berkeley’s Wheeler Hall in April. It also discusses a vote against an environmental report for the new Beth El synagogue. 

“This November will be a decisive election that will determine the future policy of Berkeley towards Israel and expressions of anti-Semitism,” the letter concludes, asking for donations to Weinberg’s campaign. 

Worthington said the letter distorts his record. He said the letter implies that he has done nothing in the face of anti-Semitism in Berkeley when, in fact, he authored hate crimes legislation and took part in a campus demonstration supporting a Jewish student who was an alleged victim of a hate crime. 

Worthington said he wrote the resolution supporting the pro-Palestinian students because he felt they were being treated differently than previous protesters. His vote against the Beth El environmental report was rooted not in opposition to the synagogue, he said, but in a concern that the temple’s parking lot plans would prevent an underground creek from ever being surfaced. 

Alan Kay, a Jewish neighbor who raised concerns about the Beth El plans, attacked the fund-raising letter and defended Worthington in a statement read during a Thursday night campaign event on the issue. 

“We reject entirely the implication that taking a position on a local land use issue involving a synagogue constitutes anti-Semitism, whether one is a Jew or a non-Jew,” he said. “And we condemn, in the strongest possible terms, those who would lend their names to this despicable attempt at demagogery and hate campaigning.” 

Other Jewish and African-American community leaders condemned the letter and defended Worthington at the Wednesday event. 

But Weinberg attacked Worthington for supporting the pro-Palestinian protesters who took over Wheeler Hall, arguing that the occupation was deeply disrespectful because it came on Holocaust Remembrance Day. 

Contact reporter at 

scharfenberg@ 

berkeleydailyplanet.net