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| 12/25 |
| 2004/11/8-9 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Israel] UID:34744 Activity:very high |
11/8 Religion of peace, though they look like La Raza
Jihad at San Francisco State
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=15855
\_ All of these kids are definitely eligible for the Alec Baldwin
\_ Hey, I'm not the one complaining about every little thing
that's wrong in the U.S. I didn't agree with the Iraq war,
but then I don't agree with a lot of things that the
government does. Does that mean I bitch and moan about
it all day and threaten to leave? No, because for all
its fault the U.S. isn't like a really horrible place to
life. If you think that, hey, you can leave, and I'm
willing to help defray your cost for leaving. Seems
logical to me. So what's your beef? -williamc
\_ So every time someone bitches and moans about it, you're
going to bitch and moan about them bitching and moaning?
Get a grip, son. Let them vent their frustration without
adding to the useless din.
Pledge Fund. I say we pool our money together and send the
\_ Well, nobody is forcing anybody out of the country, but
a lot of people have expressed that they do want to leave,
so why not help them? Seems pretty damn logical to me.
I mean, if someone keeps complaining about the food in a
restaurant, then why do you keep coming back to it? It's not
like you HAVE to eat there. That's the wonderful concept of
free will. If you don't like it, you can leave. If you don't
like the U.S. and you're saying that everything sucks, then
there's like a whole other world to live in. So my question
is, why are you still here if you complain about it so much?
-williamc
\_ You know what, you're right. Then again, the whole
concept of a free society is that you have the right to
try and change the things you don't like, and to mouth
off about that as much as you want, without people telling
you "if you don't like it, why not just leave?" Note that
I use "right" not in its constitutional sense, but rather
in the common sense (as in "I have the right to not have
to deal with blithering morons.") -John
\_ Uhm yeah. I think very few people that actually say this
really want to do that; it's an expression of the general
turmoil in the nation. The fact that you need this pointed
out to you is kind of sad.
Palestinians back to Palestine and the rest to Canada.
-williamc
\_ William, I'm sure the ABPF would benefit greatly if you pledged
to go with the exiles.
\_ Hey, I'm not the one complaining about every little thing
that's wrong in the U.S. I didn't agree with the Iraq war,
but then I don't agree with a lot of things that the
government does. Does that mean I bitch and moan about
it all day and threaten to leave? No, because for all
its fault the U.S. isn't like a really horrible place to
life. If you think that, hey, you can leave, and I'm
willing to help defray your cost for leaving. Seems
logical to me. So what's your beef? -williamc
\_ Will, first of all you're perpetuating a myth that makes
leftie celebs like Alex Baldwin look like idiots. Stop.
They don't need any help doing that. Second, the last
thing this country needs is lib-flight to the Great White
North; contrary to what ppl post on freep, we _need_ an
opposition here (including you, apparently), so stop
trying to buy tickets for people and start convincing
them to take up the fight right here.
\_ Well, I can't vouch for leftie celebs, I don't know
them. But if they make stupid statements like "I
will leave the country if XYZ gets elected" then
I call them like I see them. I generally have a low
opinion of most celebs, as I've worked in Hollywood
for a limited time and wasn't impressed with the
people in the system. I completely concur that we
need an opposition, and although I'm a fiscal
conservative I respect others for having a different
opinion. What I don't like is the defeatist attitude
that seems to pervade the left. The reason why
the conservatives (and in california I am pretty
much a conservative by context, although I have
no great love of fundementalism or creationism and
I do believe gay people should have rights) is that
we (meaning the conservative people that I associate
with on a daily basis who have similar beliefs as I
do) seem to have a more "can do" attitude. Maybe it's
because we've worked for what we have. Maybe it's
just that conservatives have faith in their religion
or themselves or both. Whatever it is, the left is
just shooting themselves in the foot because they
don't attract people like myself and my friends.
The radical agenda of the left is just so off
putting and defeatist. If the left wants to win
then stop whining and start putting up. Fight the
creationists, fight the anti-choice proponents,
fight the racists, fight ignorance. But if you
on the left continue to expound defeatist attitudes,
if you on the left fail to come together and find
resolve, then you are a truly doomed party. The
democratic party just doesn't reach out to people
in the middle anymore, and it gives off the impression
of liberal elitism that nobody is impressed with.
In addition, if I respect your views although they
are different from mine, I expect you to do the same
for me, and I have found very little tolerance from
the liberals for my conservative views on certain
subjects. That just makes me NOT want to deal with
whiny defeatist liberals. If you're going to leave,
then leave.
-williamc
\_ Okay, look. The dems just lost a very acrimonious,
potentially impactful election. If you think that
whining and 'defeatist attitude' is unique to the
Dems, then either you're blinding yourself, or
you're too young to remember Clinton's reelection.
As for the absurd generalization that 'lefties are
defeatest', I've worked and associated with both
sides and have found alot of that can-do attitude
(that you allege is only extant on the R side) on the
D side as well. I've also found alot of rabidly
hostile and absurdly destructive whininess from the
R side. Your one sided experience doesn't say so
much about the D/left side to me as it does about
your objectivity. Deporting people because they're
upset isn't very can-do, IMO -- it's petulant and
stinks of puerile 'tit-for-tat'. Either put up and
figure out how to address their problems and find a
way to make it work, or stop being part of the
problem by injecting more emotion and invective
into the mix. Your attitude in this matter heavily
undermines your assertion about 'can-do-on-the-right'
btw. -POC
\_ Again, you are making sweeping assumptions about
what is stated. First off, I made no suggestion
that ANYBODY be deported. Deportation is the
forceful removal of individuals from this country.
I advocate no such thing. I merely say unto those
who state that they will leave the country for
greener pastures if so-and-so is elected that
they put their money where their mouth is and
follow through with their pledges. Second, I have
had extensive experience dealing with liberals,
having been involved as an ASUC senator for a year.
Basically everyone in Berkeley politics is pretty
far out liberal and there are very few middle of
the roaders or strict conservatives. The experience
has merely been reinforced in the "real world."
As for "tit-for-tat", it appears that YOU are
the one with the beef, not me. I have already
stated that I respect others right to differing
viewpoints, and I would welcome the input of those
on the opposite side of the fence. I have never
been and never will be a strict conservative or a
strict liberal. They are merely stupid labels
for the mentally incapable which you apparently
appear to be. Your defense of liberal defeatism
is also exceedingly weak. Boohooo, you lost the
election. Get over it, stop being acrimonious
because it's not working. It hasn't worked for
the past 10 years. Yes, both parties are at
fault for being acrimonious. I was there when
Limbaugh was king of radio, I was there when
Lewinsky-gate developed, I was there during the
Dole debates, hell, I was there when when Dukakis
stuck his head out of the tank. I was even
there when Geraldine Ferraro was running for VP.
So don't make assumptions that you can't back.
The point is that neither left nor right has
all the answers, and it is important to learn
how to work together on issues. So, stop being
so politically devisive yourself, stop pandering
to the leftist dogma or the the rightist dogma,
start using reason and common sense to come to
policy, stop towing the party line, and start
owning up to your words. All I ask is that
people do what they say and say what they
do, and all I can say is that from my experience
the moderates and conservatives seem a lot less
flaky to owning up to their words. -williamc
\_ Actually, I'm calling you a hypocrite, an
accusation which you've largely substantiated.
ASUC senate isn't representative of anything
real, as anybody with half a brain would
(or should, at any rate) know. Yes: neither
side as all the answers, but from your rhetoric
it seems rather hard to believe that you
actually ascribe to that, rather than using it
as a lever to gain the moral highground. Yes,
let's work together on the issues and stop
bandying about such absurdly undescriptive
binary labels as 'liberal' or 'conservative'.
It's interesting that, despite all your avowals
of moderate objectivism, you STILL continue to
inject divisiveness even as you assert your
superiority and ability not to be subject to
it. I never defended the left's whininess,
which you'd have realized if you were paying
attention; I pointed out that it's NOT UNIQUE
to the left, counter to your earlier
assertions. The point should be obvious,
namely that being in denial of this fact only
shows that you're likely part of the problem.
Again, if you'd been paying attention to
anything I said, you'd have also noted that I
was pretty clear about referencing that I've
seen positive attitude on BOTH sides, as well
as negative. I suspect that both sides are
very large populations of people, and asserting
any facile generalization about behavior to
one side or the other is, at best, self-
serving. Perhaps this conversation would best
be continued offline, since it's clear we're
just going to be wasting bits here. -POC
\_ YEAH! USA! #1! If you don't like it, get the fuck out! -John
\_ Well, nobody is forcing anybody out of the country, but
a lot of people have expressed that they do want to leave,
so why not help them? Seems pretty damn logical to me.
I mean, if someone keeps complaining about the food in a
restaurant, then why do you keep coming back to it? It's not
like you HAVE to eat there. That's the wonderful concept of
free will. If you don't like it, you can leave. If you don't
like the U.S. and you're saying that everything sucks, then
there's like a whole other world to live in. So my question
is, why are you still here if you complain about it so much?
-williamc
\_ Dude, relax, it's not like any of them will have jobs beyond
"sales executive" after graduating from college. -John
\_ ...which is likely to mean they'll cause more trouble rather
than less.
\_ Erm, picture Al Bundy rioting. -John
\_ I think there was a labor day episode about that.
And the beer tax episode. In fact, Al Bundy riots
a fair amount. -- ilyas
\_ a joke?
\_ THE AMERICAN LEFT HAS NO HISTORY OF VIOLENCE!
\_ Boohoo, I got slapped by a 98 pound woman. I am going to cry
and whine about how I am oppressed!
\_ You go/went to a university where a guy can get busted because
some woman 'feels' you oppressed her but it's ok for her to
slug you and then jump you? Okey dokey! No double standard
there! Good thinking! Is it ok if she knifes you? Clubs
you? Shoots you? You're a knucklehead.
\_ She did not slug the guy or jump him or stab him
or shoot him, she slapped him. Stick to reality please.
And you are a pussy if you think being slapped by a
woman is a big deal.
woman is a big deal. My guess is that you have never
been in a real fight or slapped by a real woman ever
in your life.
\_ She jumped him and had to have 3 cops pull her off.
If that is a-ok with you because it was a woman hitting
a man then please join william's org and find a new
country where it is ok to abuse someone because of
their gender and blame the victim and call the victim
names. If it was a conservative woman, say Ann Coulter,
who hit a liberal guy, say you(!!!) then you'd be
screaming bloody murder and pressing every charge in
the book. Hypocrite.
\_ Uh, no, actually if it was AC I'd happily beat the
living shit out of her and claim self-defense. Oh
wait...I just proved ilyas point, huh? Damn, I
better stop and reexamine myself or something.
\_ 1) "a noisy and menacing mob"? The barbarians are at the gates!
2) I thought an "entourage" needed someone to accompany.
3) You couldn't find a freeper link for this?
\_ 1) Huh?
2) True!
3) It's ok to attack people I don't agree with!
\_ A quick google will turn up pleanty of webpages about what
has been going on at SFSU. If you don't like frontpage, you
can read the same story a dozen other places.
\_ I've got nothing in the news. Can you point me to a reputable
source for these stories? I'm not trusting FPM on this any
more than I'd trust Mother Jones on a labor conspiracy.
\_ This stuff has been going on at SFSU for years. If you
don't know about it by now... sheesh.
\_ Does "sheesh" = "you must not go to SFSU"?
\_ That's true, it doesn't seem to have appeared in the
news. I have to idea what you would consider
news. I have no idea what you would consider
reputable, and I'm pretty sure you can google as well
as I can. I found a couple of eye-witness accounts,
and an editorial on why the SFSU president did the
right thing in about a minute.
\_ Let's see: Jihad Watch, the Great Separation, and
Front Page Mag are the only ones I get via Google.
Share the ones you've found? The editorial sounds
interesting.
\_ Hmm.. I made a mistake. Most of these links
refer to an earlier incident. Here's the stuff
about the earlier incident, I'll look some more
for this more recent one.
Cron: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/05/15/BA110132.DTL
Present professor: http://www.indybay.org/news/2002/05/128582_comment.php
Editorial :http://www.jewishsf.com/bk020524/comm2.shtml
\_ Thank you. The Chron link was plenty, and,
all jokes about its epitaph "the Comical" aside,
this is an actualy news story. That said, wtf?
this is an actual news story. That said, wtf?
C'mon, SFSU kids, less aggro, more solutions.
\_ I had a class at Cal about the history of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Very fair,
interesting Israeli professor, students were
ca. 30% MSU, 30% IAC and 30% "other". I can
definitely see these turds at SFSU as being
for real after that experience. -John
\_ And 10%??? (MSU == MSA?)
\_ Liberal arts, we're not real good at
complex math. It used to be called MSU
as I recall. They and IAC were the ones
always screaming at each other at
Sather gate. -John
\_ You're a liberal arts major?WTF?
\_ Bite me. -!John |
| 12/25 |
|
| www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=15855 com | November 8, 2004 Chris Finarelli could barely believe his own eyes last Wednesday. As Vice President of the College Republican Club at San Francisco State Univers ity, Finarelli showed up at the student union building that morning to h elp table and distribute literature to solicit new club members after Pr esident Bushs victory the previous election day. What he found was a noi sy and menacing mob of over 300 Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and radical le ftist students surrounding his clubs table being held back by 13 San Fra ncisco State police officers. The police officers were forced to surroun d the CRs table both in front and in back in order to protect the conser vative students safety. Preview Image The previous Monday, the day before the election, the CRs were physically attacked while handing out Bush/Cheney materials in the Universitys Mal colm X Plaza. On that day, Victor Traycey, one of the members of the co nservative club, was slapped by Nala Gardizi, an Arab woman student who was part of an entourage led by four Palestinian women who accused the conservative students of being responsible for the murder of Palestinian babies due to their support for President Bush. In addition, food was t hrown at the Republican college students and drinks poured over the camp aign materials on their table. Gardizi harangued Victor Traycey that day and even called him a Nazi, according to eye-witness reports. Lee Wolf, another College Republicans member, described one of the women on Monday as shouting, The only way we can defeat you is to kill as many as possible! Id rather die a suicide bombers death than to call myself an American! He continued, In my opinion, these were terrorist threats. She was ranting that 9/11 was the fault o f the United States, according to Finarelli. The General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) at SF State was stagin g this noisy demonstration on Wednesday as a follow-up to their Monday a fternoon attack on the conservative students by calling for the complete removal of the Republican Club from the SFSU campus. Flyers were even d istributed all over campus that bore inscriptions such as Dont Let the C ollege Republicans Commit Racism and Bigotry Against Arab Women. Preview Image Other flyers claimed that the College Republican Club was run by bigots a nd racists. SFSU President Robert Corrigan took no action against the GUPS or individ ual students involved in Mondays assault despite police eye-witnesses an d even photographs of the perpetrators. Nor were the GUPS told not inter fere with the ability of the College Republicans to exercise their right s of free speech. In fact, during the earlier attack on Monday, the poli ce asked the College Republicans if they would leave rather than arresti ng their attackers. They were all around us wearing black and white keffiyahs like Arafat wea rs, said Finarelli about Wednesdays latest assault. Preview Image Derek Wray, another member of the CRs, commented that people had been spy ing on meetings of the College Republicans for weeks prior to the electi on and questioned if what was happening had not been planned in advance to remove the conservative group from the campus. He mentioned that his chapter of the College Republicans was on one of the most radicalized ca mpuses in America. Lee Wolfe commented that the demonstrators all had ne w PLO flags that were neatly folded and unused, as if they had just been brought for a specific purpose. We dont even deal with the Israel/Palestinian dispute that much in our di scussions and materials, Wray said. We dont even have any Jewish members as far as I know, although we do promote a conservative political agend a Wray also told me how a female member of the College Republicans rece ived a threat during the demonstration. Watch what happens when the poli ce arent around, b---h! They say theyre goi ng to have another demonstration and drive us off campus. Another member of the SFSU College Republicans who was present at the dem onstrations also told me he has received death threats since the inciden t and wished to remain anonymous out of fear. Finarelli further described what happened: At one point, one student jump ed up on an adjacent table and shouted, Were going to gather thousands o f people and show them what were all about! Students were urged to strike by not attending classes and marche d around campus seeking to increase their numbers. But they never got in to the thousands like they said they would. At least by marching they ga ve us a bit of a breather, Wolf said. Preview Image Ellen Griffin, a media spokeswoman for SFSU, described Wednesdays demonst ration as an unauthorized event that occurred spontaneously on the campu s She also claimed the GUPS maintained they were not involved in Monday s attack. A call by this reporter to the GUPS office on campus went unan swered. An additional call to Nala Gardizi only netted an answering mach ine. Other descriptions of signs carried at the spontaneous event bore such in scriptions as Zionism is Hitler, Bush is Hitler, Racists and Murderers Off Campus, Repu blicans Off Campus, and also RepubliKKKans Off Campus. Although the GUPS were supposedly present at this demonstration and denie d culpability for the earlier attacks on the CRs, they offered no condem nation of such attacks. They were also joined by radical activists from groups like Students Against War and International Answer. Preview Image When I asked Ellen Griffin for a membership list of the GUPS to identify members by photos taken at the scene, she maintained the University does not have full membership lists of clubs on campus, only of officers. Ho wever, Finarelli maintains the University has such lists, that they are required to instate any clubs and that the GUPS have a permanent office in the student union that requires such a list to allow for entry. Campus President Robert Corrigan has a lackluster reputation for meting o ut discipline to the GUPS despite an earlier attack on Jewish students d uring a pro-Israel rally at SFSU when the off campus city police needed to be called in to protect Jewish students and escort them to safety. Co rrigan did suspend the GUPS for one year, but did not require them to re linquish their office on campus to other active campus student groups. I n addition, a Jewish student, Tatiana Menaker, was equally disciplined b y the administration for responding to her tormentors. Her punishment, a s signed off on by Corrigans administration, was 40 hours of community s ervice, but it stipulated that no such public service could be performed for Jewish organizations. Ellen Griffin told this reporter that Victor Traycey, one of the College Republicans, although he was slapped by MsG ardizi, would also be facing the same disciplinary hearing and potential punishment as his attacker despite his being the victim of a physical a ssault. Such disciplinary procedures can harm a students academic career . Ms Gardizi filed a police report in which she alleged she was attacked b y Traycey; however, several witnesses at the scene say they saw MsGardi zi instigate the violence and the police report says she had to be restr ained and removed by the other three Arab women who approached the table . Both Traycey and Gardizi declined to press any criminal charges. Calls to President Corrigan and Campus Police Chief Kimberly Wible for co mments were both referred to Ellen Griffins office. FPM DIGEST: WEEK OF July 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS What to do about the Oil-for-Food Scandal Here Come the Massachusetts Democrats Farewell, Chairman Bill The Iran-Syrian Connection Fake Handoff War Blog The Ayatollahs' Final Solution? The Test Ahead for America Jews, Be Jews Iraqi Optimists vs. US Pessimists Iraqi Terrorists Almost Snatched Chemical Warheads Hezbollah's Hollywood Hero Fear Syria's Economic Might, Great Satan! of Terror Federal Bureau of Islamists Leftist Accomplices to Terror Iran's Suicide Registration Service What's Behind Anti-American Hate? The Glass is Half-Full in Iraq The War on Terror Goes to Sea Tables Turn on Zarqawi War Blog Look for the Dirty Laundry in Edwards' Closet Hate-Americ... |
| sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/05/15/BA110132.DTL Email This Article San Francisco State University administrators are reviewing videotapes of a clash between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups on campus last we ek to see whether disciplinary action -- or even prosecution by the dist rict attorney's office -- is warranted. The university's move, announced by President Robert A Corrigan Monday, followed a May 7 pro-Israel peace rally held by members of the universit y's Hillel chapter, a Jewish student group. The rally, which drew some 400 people, was mostly peaceful. But accounts differ about the heated exchange that followed. Witnesses say Palestinian supporters cornered a small group of pro-Israel students and threatened them, shouting phrases like "Hitler should have finished the job" and "Die you racist pigs." The pro-Palestinian group says the pro-Israel side started the verbal battle by calling them terro rists and using racist epithets. While nobody came to fisticuffs, one pro-Palestinian protester tore down an Israeli flag and stomped on it. Campus and city police officers had t o separate the two sides, which have a history of tension on campus. "The situation was as close to an all-out riot as it could without actual ly coming to one," said Dennis Dubinsky, a senior and member of Hillel. "In all my 14 years of president of this university," Corrigan said in a letter addressed to the campus, "I have never been as deeply distressed and angered by something that happened on this campus. "Strong, even provocative, speech is not the problem, nor are strongly he ld opinions on highly-charged topics," Corrigan wrote. Rather, "a small but terribly destructive number of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, many o f whom were not SFSU students, abandoned themselves to intimidating beha vior and statements too hate-filled to repeat." Corrigan said that campus police had videotaped the rally and clash that followed, and that officers were reviewing the tapes to identify possibl e student violators who might be subjected to disciplinary procedures su ch as warnings, suspension or expulsion. "If we identify violations of public law, we will refer cases to the dist rict attorney, with our strong recommendation for full prosecution," he said. A university official said no one had been arrested at the rally, and no cases have yet been forwarded to prosecutors Leila Qutami, a sophomore and member of the General Union of Palestinian Students who attended the rally, called the president's response one-sid ed. "It addresses the safety and right of the pro-Israeli sector on our campu s and completely ignores those of Arabs, Palestinians and pro-Palestinia ns on campus," she said. She said racist epithets such as "camel jockey" had been used before the rally and angered the Palestinian supporters. So did the presence of a p olice barricade, especially because campus police have not barricaded pr o-Israel counter-protesters at other campus events, Qutami said. She said her group chanted "No Justice, No Peace" and other slogans durin g the pro-Israel rally. "We are allowed to chant, and that is what we di d" As for reports of hateful speech from pro-Palestinians, she said, "There may have been some people -- not from GUPS -- who may have said somethin g I did not hear anybody say that. " Dubinsky, a pro-Israel supporter, said he was aware of one Israel support er who had made racial comments to the pro-Palestinians. Campus officials have been criticized for failing to respond quickly and appropriately to the clash. Last week, Laurie Zoloth, director of the Jewish Studies Program at SF State, circulated a letter which read in part: "I am saddened to see SFS U return to its notoriety as a place that teaches anti-Semitism, hatred for America and hatred, above all else, for the Jewish State of Israel." |
| www.indybay.org/news/2002/05/128582_comment.php edu SFSU Proffesor describes the experience of being caught in anti-Jewish r iot at SFSU. Today, all day, I have been listening to the reactions of students, paren ts, and community members who were on campus yesterday. I have received email from around the country, and phone calls, worried for both my pers onal safety on the campus, and for the entire intellectual project of having a Jewish Studies program, and recruiting students to a campus that in the last month has become a venue for hate speech and ant i-Semitism. After nearly 7 years as director of Jewish Studies, and afte r nearly two decades of life here as a student, faculty member and wife of the Hillel rabbi, after years of patient work and difficult civic discourse, I am saddened to see SFSU return to its notoriety as a place that teaches anti-Semitism, hatred for America, and hatred, above all e lse, for the Jewish State of Israel, a state that I cherish. I cannot fully express what it feels like to have to walk across campus daily, pas t maps of the Middle East that do not include Israel, past posters of ca ns of soup with labels on them of drops of blood and dead babies, labele d "canned Palestinian children meat, slaughtered according to Jewish rit es under American license," past poster after poster calling out "Zionis m=racism, and Jews=Nazis." This is not civic discourse, this is not free speech, and this is the Weimar Republic with brown shirts it cannot con trol. This is the casual introduction of the medieval blood libel and vi rulent hatred smeared around our campus in a manner so ordinary that it hardly excites concern-except if you are a Jew, and you understand that hateful words have always led to hateful deeds. Yesterday's Peace In The M iddle East Rally was completely organized by the Hillel students,mostly 18 and 19 years old. They spoke about their lives at SFSU and of their s upport for Israel, and they sang of peace. They wore new Hillel t-shirts that said "peace" in English, Hebrew and Arabic. A Russian immig rant, in his new English, spoke of loving his new country, a haven from anti-Semitism. A sophomore spoke about being here only one year, and abo ut the support and community she found at the Hillel House. Both spoke o f how hard it was to live as a Jew on this campus how isolating, how ter rifying. A surfer guy, spoke of his love of Jesus, and his support for I srael, and a young freshman earnestly asked for a moment of silence, and all the Jews stood still, listening as the shouted hate of the counter demonstrators filled the air with abuse. As soon as the community supporters left, the 50 students who remained pr aying in a minyan for the traditional afternoon prayers, or chatting, or cleaning up after the rally, talking -- were surrounded by a large, ang ry crowd of Palestinians and their supporters. They screamed at us to "go back to Russia" and they screamed that they would kill us all, and other terrible things. They surrounded the praying students, and the elderly women who are our elder college p articipants, who survived the Shoah, who helped shape the Bay Area peace movement, only to watch as a threatening crowd shoved the Hillel students against the wall of the plaza. I had invited members of my Ortho dox community to join us, members of my Board of Visitors, and we stood there in despair. Let me remind you that in building the SFSU Jewish Stu dies program, we asked the same people for their support and that our Je wish community, who pay for the program once as taxpayers and again as J ews, generously supports our program. Let me remind you that ours is arguably one of the Jewish Studies programs in the country most devoted to peace, justice and diversity since our inception. As the counter demonstrators poured into the plaza, screaming at the Jews to "Get out or we will kill you" and "Hitler did not finish the job," I turned to the police and to every administrator I could find and asked them to remove the counter demonstrators from the Plaza, to maintain the separation of 100 feet that we had been promised. The police told me that they had been told not to arrest anyone, and that if they did, "it woul d start a riot." Finally, Fred A stren, the Northern California Hillel Director and I went up directly to speak with Dean Saffold, who was watching from her post a flight above us. But the police could do noth ing more than surround the Jewish students and community members who wer e now trapped in a corner of the plaza, grouped under the flags of Israe l, while an angry, out of control mob, literally chanting for our deaths, surrounded us. This was neither free speech nor discourse, but raw, physical assault. No, really more sad that I could not protect my students. I knew that if a crowd of Pa lestinian or African American student had been there, surrounded by a cr owd of white racists screaming racist threats, shielded by police, the f aculty and staff would have no trouble deciding which side to stand on. In fact,the scene recalled for me many moments in the Civil Rights movem ent, or the United Farm Workers movement, when, as a student, I stood wi th Black and Latino colleagues, surrounded by hateful mobs. Then, as now , I sang peace songs, and then, as now, the hateful crowd screamed at me , "Go back to Russia, Jew." How ironic that it all took place under the picture of Cesar Chavez, who led the very demonstrations that I took par t in as a student. We had to be marched back to the Hillel House under armed SF police guard, and we had to have a police gu ard remain outside Hillel. I was very proud of the students, who did not flinch and who did not, even one time, resort to violence or anger in r etaliation. Several community members who were swept up in the situation simply could not believe what they saw. One young student told me, "I m have read about anti-Semitism in books, but this is the first time I hav e seen real anti-Semites, people who just hate me without knowing me, ju st because I am a Jew." Her mother calls and urg es her to transfer to a safer campus. For me, the question is an open one: what do I adv ise the Jewish students to do? add your comments ZIONIZM in not Judeaizm by Earnst Miesner Monday, May 20, 2002 at 11:14 AM Zionizm is Racism. They belive in using Jewish people to eraticate Muslims (never mind that the Isreali government also kills Christians) . Isreal is used by the Imperialist powers to keep a tension in the region. This tension gives International oil firms a lot more negotiating power when it comes to cutting a deal with Arab states. It also forces both Isreal and the Arab nations to buy billions and bil lions of dollars of wepons from US companies. A lot is at stake for thes e companies, they cannot afford peace. add your comments Zionism IS NOT Racism by CA Jew Monday, May 20, 2002 at 12:36 PM Zionism is not racism. Zionism is the belief that there should be a Jewis h homeland in the historical land of the Jewish people. You can a Zionist and be for a Palestinia n State living peacefully next to Israel. The Israeli Jews who are of African descent are often c alled racist names by the Palestinians. add your comments Video of Daniel Pearl Execution by Outraged American Monday, May 20, 2002 at 12:54 PM Is this what the Muslim Student Union advocates? May the beautiful soul of Daniel Pearl rest happily wherever it is and may the vicious, hateful people who did this suffer for an ete rnity. As outlined by Herzl, Zionism was a secular political proj ect that defined the Jews as a people, a nation and a race, rather than a religious group. In the context of the fervent European anti-Jewish di scrimination of the time, Herzl argued for the need to create an indepen dent Jewish state for the Jewish people who, he argued, could never poss ibly assimilate in the countries they inhabited (Beit-Hallahmi 1993; Although multiple locations were suggested, the Zionist movement proposed Palestine as the site for a Jewish state, in a strategic move th at would allow them to use the religious history of Palestine to justify their purely political goal of colonization (Garaudy 1983). The racist nature of the Zion... |
| www.jewishsf.com/bk020524/comm2.shtml Mustafa X Photo -- Joyce Goldschmid Pro-Palestinian demonstrator Mustafa X (center wearing kaffiyeh) yells at a pro-Israel group at San Francisco State. SFSU president deserves praise, not unbridled criticism by Rabbi Doug Kahn In the aftermath of verbal threats and physical intimidation by anti-Isra el protestors directed at Jewish student activists and their supporters at the conclusion of a very successful student-led^ pro-Israel rally on May 7, San Francisco State University President Robert Corrigan was shar ply criticized by some members of the Jewish community. Critics felt he failed to ensure a safe atmosphere for Jewish students on campus. In part, this was a result of the e-mail equivalent of the old telephone game, where an initial e-mail -- in this case a powerful cry for help by Laurie Zoloth, chair of SFSU's Jewish studies program -- continued to a ttract bolder headlines as it wound its way around the world. "Pogrom at SFSU," "Anti-Semitic Riot" and other headlines not part of Zoloth's ori ginal e-mail fueled the anger. The situation on campus was bad enough wi thout such exaggerated headlines. Intimidation directed against Jewish student activists at SFSU is, unfort unately, not new. It took root in the late '80s, and was even entrenched in student government. In June 1995, the Jewish Community Relations Cou ncil, along with San Francisco Hillel, submitted to Corrigan and other t op administrators a 59-page non-public report entitled: "Anti-Semitism a t San Francisco State University." The report gave a detailed descriptio n of the problems and a series of recommendations to rectify them. He has repeatedly a cted with courage and deserves our praise -- along with our calls for mo re action in response to the return of intimidation at SFSU. In 1994, a mural of Malcolm X was unveiled on campus, complete with expli cit anti-Semitic symbols the artist added at the last minute. Corrigan, outraged that the student government did not have the guts to act, made a decision that the entire mural be painted over. And it was sandblasted , as I recall, despite predictable cries of First Amendment rights. In the two days prior to his decision, we spoke several times as I convey ed the depth of concern among Jewish students and the broader community. I told him that Jewish students did not want the entire mural removed, only the offensive symbols. But he reasoned that the entire mural had to be removed because it violated the terms on which it was originally app roved. In the nearly 10 years I have known him, since we spent 10 days together in Israel on a JCRC-sponsored seminar for non-Jewish community leaders, Corrigan has demonstrated that he cares deeply about the safety of Jewis h students on campus. He has established the Jewish studies program to l evel the playing field and ensure a symbol of pride for Jews on campus. In his May 13 statement to the campus community about the most recent inc ident of intimidation, Corrigan once again spoke out and went beyond wor ds. He wrote: "A small but terribly destructive number of pro-Palestinia n demonstrators, many of whom were not SFSU students, abandoned themselv es to intimidating behavior and statements too hate-filled to repeat." H e asked the San Francisco District Attorney's Office to investigate and take legal action against any individual who may have committed a crime, while committing the university to taking action against any group or s tudent who violated university regulations. Yes, much more needs to be done, and we should urge further action. Follo wing a two-hour meeting with Corrigan last week -- attended by myself, a long with Hillel Director Seth Brysk, students, a parent, Professors Lau rie Zoloth and Fred Astren, and Karen Zatz of the local Anti-Defamation League -- Brysk submitted a list of recommended actions. These include: *Teaching a jointly taught course on the Middle East to educate each "sid e" of the other's history and concerns, as well as another course about the values and nature of civil discourse and disagreement. First, to convey to all administration officials that no favoritism toward anti-Israel voice s on campus will be tolerated; and secondly, to sensitize all administra tion officials to the need to act swiftly and forcefully to any manifest ation of anti-Semitism, whether or not it is masked in the language of a nti-Zionism. That hesitation must end when it comes to explicit anti-Semitism or attempts to harass Jews on campus). We should press Corrigan to implement these recommendations to ensure a s afe environment for Jews. B ut when we call, write, or send e-mails, it is also important to know th at he has stood tall. At a time when our community feels under siege, we should applaud moral courage even as we ask for more of it. The author is executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Counci l in San Francisco. |