The following is from Red County Campus Watch and was co-written with Jonathan Constantine Movroydis.
Jonathan: Amir Abdel Malik-Ali's speeches are becoming mundanely redundant. After rambling on an incoherent diatribe about Zionism and imperialism Thursday, he made his characteristically hazy distinctions between anti-zionism and anti-semitism. He especially targeted Jews in America as traitors "masquerading as right-wingers;" and again praised terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah as freedom fighters:
Our non-Muslim friends they got you all thinking that this Islamic revival is something that you should fear. That's propaganda!
Ali also made some inane and apocalyptic assertions about the fate of America and Israel:
In order for people to live like human beings America must fall as an empire and America is coming down. When you put the Israeli flag up next to the American flag, what it means for many of us, you will fall just like that empire is going to fall.
While covering Amir Abdel-Malik Ali's lecture at the flag polls, school administrators (Dean Sally Peterson pictured below) were busy making sure student journalists were in compliance with the fundamental tenets of Sharia law, essentially enforcing the MSU's own personal jihad against the 1st Amendment.
If you don't remember in May 2007, I (along with my brother) was harassed out of an auditorium for simply recording a lecture by Amir Abdel Malik-Ali. This came to no surprise as the University has a history of allowing MSU members to police their own events. Fortunately, California Assemblyman Chuck Devore was able to convince UCI Chancellor Michael Drake to reverse the campus taping policy.
However, equally unfortunate is the administration's unwillingness to fully enforce this rule. UCI Police will either stand idly while intimidation occurs, and administrators continue efforts to censor.
Accordingly, when MSU member Jow Haider (pictured above) noticed our gender neutral policy in our coverage of keffiyeh wearing activists from the Muslim Student Union, he became visibly angered and demanded that Dean Sally Peterson stop us from practicing our press freedoms. Aware of these rights, we plainly refused this order and continued:
What followed Ali's speech is particular striking. Surrounded by students, the Oakland Imam left the flag polls and ascended up the stairs to ring road. A woman, who later identified herself as a Palestinian, then began to argue with Ali in her native Arabic.
Yet, for all his grandstanding as a moral authority on Islam, he couldn't understand the original script of the "Holy Book." So continuing the conversation in his native English, she admonished him for polluting young minds on campus. Nodding and without a cogent and decipherable answer, he walked away.
After Ali broke through the crowd, President Omar Zarka and the "brothers and sisters MSU" formed two-lines and began exclaiming variations of familiar battle cries for the destruction of the Israeli state:
Hey Hey, Ho Ho, the State of Israel Has got to go!/ the occupation has got to go!
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!
Judaism yes, Zionism no!
As we continued filming and capturing stills, the level of hostility escalated among MSU members. Below is Reut Cohen's eyewitness account of the MSU's willingness to threaten violence against my brother Emanuel, due in large part because they continually get passes from the administration.
Reut: I witnessed MSU thuggish actions firsthand when a male individual who was filming the hateful procession had at least three Muslim males charge at him for daring to film as the females from the group walked past.
One of the males, a student named Yasser Ahmed (pictured above) who purportedly threw a cinderblock at an FBI vehicle during May 2007, said to him: "You wanna get jacked! We can go get jacked right now! C'mon Emanuel, we've learned a lot about you lets go! Lets go get jacked, Lets go get jacked!"
These hotheaded males from the Muslim Student Union claimed it was disrespectful to film them or put a camera too close to them. I was at the scene and could say for certain that Emanuel maintained a respectful distance and was merely filming as these students marched down ring road shouting "Judaism, yes. Zionism, no" at the top of their lungs.
In fact, considering that last year I had a camera shoved in my face by a female MSU student, I find the MSU"s objection to being filmed extremely laughable. Their reaction, moreover, was disgusting. A group cannot use a public university as a platform for hateful rhetoric calling for genocidal actions against Israel and expect not to be filmed! I could also say for certain that I had my picture taken at least ten times on Thursday by various individuals from the Muslim Student Union, both male and female.
Considering that the confrontation that occurred was blatant intimidation and, perhaps, assault, it needed to be reported to campus police who were present.
Yet UCIPD treated this incident unprofessionally and took no action. Emanuel gave his statement to a UCI police officer and explained how he was assaulted. The officer then went to take statements from the males with the MSU, particularly one student named Ilgiz Khisamov who put his hands on Emanuel's camera and charged at him.
The police officer came back and told him one of the males who charged at him had apologized and that nothing more could be done.
I asked the officer how such behavior could be tolerated on a campus. I also stated that the MSU has the right to freedom of speech, which includes hosting hate mongers like Amir Abdel Malik Ali. They do not, however, have the right to assault individuals who choose to film or protest at their events. The officer asked me if I witnessed the incident and I said that I did. He didn't want to take a statement from me and told Emanuel that he now had statements from both him and the male from the MSU.
Case closed.
Interestingly enough a Christian preacher on campus, Michael Venyah, also had his rights violated and the cops on campus chose to do nothing. This preacher, who believes that all people must accept Jesus in order to get into heaven, began preaching about the prophet Mohammad and his crimes. Evidently MSU members didn't like hearing what he had to say and opted for charging up to him and running into him. This was obviously assault. The cops present did nothing and Edgar Dormitorio, the Dean of Judicial Affairs, suggested that Michael should leave.
That sounds fair, doesn't it? Amir Abdel Malik Ali spewed his genocidal thoughts for an hour on campus and was allowed the freedom of speech to do so. But a preacher who offended Muslims wasn't granted the same rights and the campus police wouldn't stop the males with the MSU from running into him deliberately.
Freedom of speech and expression has been monopolized by one group at UC Irvine. MSU organizers have taken it upon themselves to restrict the freedoms of others on the university campus and have managed to avoid significant criticism from the administration.
Jonathan: In what is evidently a violation of administrative code, the MSU finally gathered into a crowd in the middle of ring road to hear once last breath of motivation from Ali.
UC Irvine has become a base of Palestinian support....that means that whatever they try to do will backfire on them.....in spite of the odds, that we are outnumbered.....we are still winning.
And in affirmation of their violent ideology, the MSU repeated the ominous battle cry:
There is a group on campus that is very pro-Israel. They are called the ZOA-UCI group. In the last two weeks they have hosted David Horowitz and Nonie Darwish on campus.
There is also a Hillel and a pro-Israel club associated with Hillel on campus. In my experience, Hillel does good things for Jewish life but chooses to focus on cultural and religious aspects of Jewish life rather than clear and straightforward support for the state of Israel.
That is why ZOA-UCI was created. If you live in the LA/Orange County area, I hope that you'll be able to attend some future events. I often post about upcoming events here on this blog.
Here's what gets to me, Palestine is a creation of the Islamic Ottoman Empire, best I can tell. This issue as seen from the Muslim-side completely ignores history and bibically and quranic references to Israel and its land.
These two book never mention Palstine. Not once.
How insulting they are to Christians and the Jewish people who live in America.
I'm neither Muslim nor Jewish. I observed some of the speeches of Amir Abdul Malik Ali and the behavior of the protestors. I like to think myself as neutral in this matters and less biased than others.
I do think that SOME of the things Mr. Malik Ali says are true while others are absurd. In the end though, I think his speeches serve to get us to think about things through a different perspective, not to evoke violence.
On the other hand, I have noticed that the coverage of all the incidents at UCI from Amir Abdul Malik Ali have been heavily biased and misconstrued. This is clear from TV, Radio, Newspapers, YouTube, Blogs, etc.
I think his speeches should be uploaded in its entirety and let people decide what parts they agree and what parts they disagree with, instead of posting out of context clips.
The last anonymous comment (before mine) is pretty interesting.
I, too, am not Jewish or Muslim. I am an Atheist. If you think the fact you aren't a Jew or a Muslim makes your comment more valid, you are wrong.
I have seen speeches in their entirety on this blog. After reading your comment, I sent an e-mail to the blogger (Reut R. Cohen) and she sent me some links. Cohen doesn't edit any of the videos. She has said that before. Clips that are shorter are shorter because one can only film so much with a digital camera.
On the other hand, the MSU does EDIT their videos. Regardless, the content is disgusting because the MSU always brings defrocked academics, anti-semites and radical imams. Facts are misconstrued, lies are spewed forth, and speakers support terrorism.
As for Amir Abdel Malik Ali, he is completely wrong and all he does is evoke violence! Wake up and smell the JIHAD!
Sometimes there is a right and wrong side. People like Malik Ali are on the wrong side. Of course he has a right to voice his disgusting views. However, that doesn't mean he is offering a good perspective on anything.
How sad! How are these people even allowed on a public university campus?
You know that protests against Israel's 60th also happened at UCLA and CSUN (which has a huge Jewish student body)? How sickening! Something must be done to stop these people. I want to know how many professors at each of these schools supports the destruction of Israel so we can petition against them, along with all the anti-semitic clubs. Who's with me?
This protest was meant to represent the oppressed Palestinians and to speak our word in a cause to stop the oppression not to promote violence. The word Islam in its literal meaning means peace and people of our religion who demonstrate otherwise must not be who you categorize all Muslims under. I think people should take into consideration the amount of struggle that mothers, sisters, children, cousins, etc are going through in Palestine because of the unjust war.
My family is from what we now refer to as the Arab world (countries like Iraq and Syria). They were dispossessed of their properties and made into refugees. It was criminal to be Jewish. My family came to Israel (along with a 1,000,000 other Middle Eastern Jews). The mandate was filled with swamps and disease. The Jews went to work and the made an inhospitable land bloom. Jews like my grandparents, who were oppressed by their Muslim neighbors, went to work. Unlike the Palestinians they never attempted to massacre pregnant women and little children at ice cream parlors or falaffel stands.
Interestingly enough, the land confiscated by Arab governments from Jews is more than five times the land mass of Israel. This is not a well-known fact. On the other hand, Palestinians who are oppressed because of their Muslim brothers and the governments they elect want the whole of Israel and aspire to murder the Jews living there (and even Jews abroad).
Israel has extended peaceful proposals to the Palestinians throughout the years. The "oppressed" Palestinians could have created their state already instead of telling their children to aspire to martyrdom.
My relatives, who are Middle Eastern, received no reparations for the vicious pogroms they endured in Iraq and Syria. I suppose to your thinking they don't matter.
I think that it was after the uprising by Bar Kochba around 70 A.D. that the Romans, when quelling it, killed hundreds of thousands of Jews, destroyed the Temple, banished the Jews from the entire area, renamed the area Palestinium and erected one of their own temples on the site of the Temple Mount. There were never any indigenous "Palestinian" people. The Arabs that were there during the time when the Ottomans held dominion over that part of the world were basically squatters in a particularly inhospitable and arid region.
Your defense of a fanatic like Amir Abdel Malik Ali is quite misguided. I highly encourage you to move away from the cult mindset of the Muslim Student Union (if you are a member of the MSU or part of the MSA network).
I have Arab friends who I care for dearly and they are like family. They have told me how worried they are by the incessant hatred they see on university campuses that is perpetuated by groups like the Muslim Student Union. Misrepresentation and outright lying is what it is, and it is detestable. In some cases, I think it is also blind hatred. I cannot count the number of times I've seen or heard MSU members make anti-Semitic comments. Certainly that detracts from any credibility they may have had as a moderate, peace-loving group. I hope you realize the amount of propaganda you've been fed.
Normally I don't respond to anonymous comments, so I hope you appreciate the fact that I decided to publish yours and took the time to respond.
Regards, Reut R. Cohen
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Comments and feedback are welcome and appreciated. Please stay on topic and avoid profanities unless it is relevant to the discussion. By commenting on the site, you agree that you are not impersonating anyone else and that you are solely responsible for the content you post. In commenting on the website you agree that you are not violating copyright or intellectual property rights of others. Spam and commercial posts are not permitted and will not be published. Disagreement and debates are welcome, but comments which are slanderous, demeaning, obscene, resort to ad hominem, and/or are of a threatening nature will not be published. Opinions expressed in the comments section do not necessarily reflect the views of the website’s author. The author of the website reserves the right to reject or remove comments at any time and for any reason.
I am a journalist and researcher, and have written numerous research and investigative pieces. My work has been published with several notable organizations, including CAMERA on Campus, the Jewish Policy Center, Pajamas Media, and the Investigative Project on Terror.
My interests include ethics and epistemology, history, economics, and international relations.
I graduated from the University of California, Irvine with distinguished honors, earning a Bachelor of Arts in English. Presently I am pursuing a Master's degree at USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism in the field of Broadcast Journalism. I can be reached at Reut AT reutrcohen DOT com.
14 comments. Leave a comment:
Unbelievably disturbing! These radical MSAs get away with too much.
This is ridiculous. If we let this go on, things will only get worse.
Charles of LGF just posted on this.
reut cohen is smoking hot. love the way you walked in with the israeli flag. where the hell was the jewish community when this was happening?
This is our tax dollars at work. Good to see that a few students protested. The university administration is despicable.
I would advise students to seek litigation.
Does UC Irvine have a pro-Israel/Zionist club that can stand up to these Jihadist thugs at campus events?
Hi Eclectic Infidel,
There is a group on campus that is very pro-Israel. They are called the ZOA-UCI group. In the last two weeks they have hosted David Horowitz and Nonie Darwish on campus.
There is also a Hillel and a pro-Israel club associated with Hillel on campus. In my experience, Hillel does good things for Jewish life but chooses to focus on cultural and religious aspects of Jewish life rather than clear and straightforward support for the state of Israel.
That is why ZOA-UCI was created. If you live in the LA/Orange County area, I hope that you'll be able to attend some future events. I often post about upcoming events here on this blog.
Sincerely,
Reut R. Cohen
"F" "F" PaleSWINE.
From the river to the sea,
PaleSWINE will NEVER BE.
Here's what gets to me, Palestine is a creation of the Islamic Ottoman Empire, best I can tell. This issue as seen from the Muslim-side completely ignores history and bibically and quranic references to Israel and its land.
These two book never mention Palstine. Not once.
How insulting they are to Christians and the Jewish people who live in America.
Am I missing something here?
I'm neither Muslim nor Jewish.
I observed some of the speeches of Amir Abdul Malik Ali and the behavior of the protestors.
I like to think myself as neutral in this matters and less biased than others.
I do think that SOME of the things Mr. Malik Ali says are true while others are absurd. In the end though, I think his speeches serve to get us to think about things through a different perspective, not to evoke violence.
On the other hand, I have noticed that the coverage of all the incidents at UCI from Amir Abdul Malik Ali have been heavily biased and misconstrued. This is clear from TV, Radio, Newspapers, YouTube, Blogs, etc.
I think his speeches should be uploaded in its entirety and let people decide what parts they agree and what parts they disagree with, instead of posting out of context clips.
The last anonymous comment (before mine) is pretty interesting.
I, too, am not Jewish or Muslim. I am an Atheist. If you think the fact you aren't a Jew or a Muslim makes your comment more valid, you are wrong.
I have seen speeches in their entirety on this blog. After reading your comment, I sent an e-mail to the blogger (Reut R. Cohen) and she sent me some links. Cohen doesn't edit any of the videos. She has said that before. Clips that are shorter are shorter because one can only film so much with a digital camera.
On the other hand, the MSU does EDIT their videos. Regardless, the content is disgusting because the MSU always brings defrocked academics, anti-semites and radical imams. Facts are misconstrued, lies are spewed forth, and speakers support terrorism.
As for Amir Abdel Malik Ali, he is completely wrong and all he does is evoke violence! Wake up and smell the JIHAD!
Sometimes there is a right and wrong side. People like Malik Ali are on the wrong side. Of course he has a right to voice his disgusting views. However, that doesn't mean he is offering a good perspective on anything.
How sad! How are these people even allowed on a public university campus?
You know that protests against Israel's 60th also happened at UCLA and CSUN (which has a huge Jewish student body)? How sickening! Something must be done to stop these people. I want to know how many professors at each of these schools supports the destruction of Israel so we can petition against them, along with all the anti-semitic clubs. Who's with me?
This protest was meant to represent the oppressed Palestinians and to speak our word in a cause to stop the oppression not to promote violence. The word Islam in its literal meaning means peace and people of our religion who demonstrate otherwise must not be who you categorize all Muslims under. I think people should take into consideration the amount of struggle that mothers, sisters, children, cousins, etc are going through in Palestine because of the unjust war.
Dear last anonymous,
My family is from what we now refer to as the Arab world (countries like Iraq and Syria). They were dispossessed of their properties and made into refugees. It was criminal to be Jewish. My family came to Israel (along with a 1,000,000 other Middle Eastern Jews). The mandate was filled with swamps and disease. The Jews went to work and the made an inhospitable land bloom. Jews like my grandparents, who were oppressed by their Muslim neighbors, went to work. Unlike the Palestinians they never attempted to massacre pregnant women and little children at ice cream parlors or falaffel stands.
Interestingly enough, the land confiscated by Arab governments from Jews is more than five times the land mass of Israel. This is not a well-known fact. On the other hand, Palestinians who are oppressed because of their Muslim brothers and the governments they elect want the whole of Israel and aspire to murder the Jews living there (and even Jews abroad).
Israel has extended peaceful proposals to the Palestinians throughout the years. The "oppressed" Palestinians could have created their state already instead of telling their children to aspire to martyrdom.
My relatives, who are Middle Eastern, received no reparations for the vicious pogroms they endured in Iraq and Syria. I suppose to your thinking they don't matter.
I think that it was after the uprising by Bar Kochba around 70 A.D. that the Romans, when quelling it, killed hundreds of thousands of Jews, destroyed the Temple, banished the Jews from the entire area, renamed the area Palestinium and erected one of their own temples on the site of the Temple Mount. There were never any indigenous "Palestinian" people. The Arabs that were there during the time when the Ottomans held dominion over that part of the world were basically squatters in a particularly inhospitable and arid region.
Your defense of a fanatic like Amir Abdel Malik Ali is quite misguided. I highly encourage you to move away from the cult mindset of the Muslim Student Union (if you are a member of the MSU or part of the MSA network).
I have Arab friends who I care for dearly and they are like family. They have told me how worried they are by the incessant hatred they see on university campuses that is perpetuated by groups like the Muslim Student Union. Misrepresentation and outright lying is what it is, and it is detestable. In some cases, I think it is also blind hatred. I cannot count the number of times I've seen or heard MSU members make anti-Semitic comments. Certainly that detracts from any credibility they may have had as a moderate, peace-loving group. I hope you realize the amount of propaganda you've been fed.
Normally I don't respond to anonymous comments, so I hope you appreciate the fact that I decided to publish yours and took the time to respond.
Regards,
Reut R. Cohen
Post a Comment
Comments and feedback are welcome and appreciated. Please stay on topic and avoid profanities unless it is relevant to the discussion. By commenting on the site, you agree that you are not impersonating anyone else and that you are solely responsible for the content you post. In commenting on the website you agree that you are not violating copyright or intellectual property rights of others. Spam and commercial posts are not permitted and will not be published. Disagreement and debates are welcome, but comments which are slanderous, demeaning, obscene, resort to ad hominem, and/or are of a threatening nature will not be published. Opinions expressed in the comments section do not necessarily reflect the views of the website’s author. The author of the website reserves the right to reject or remove comments at any time and for any reason.