The Forgotten Refugees

In 1945 there were up to one million Jews living in the Middle East and North Africa - many living in communities dating back more than three millennia. Today, there are only a few thousand remaining.

Who are these Jews? What precipitated their mass-exodus in the 20th century? Where did they go? And why do we always hear about the Palestinian refugees, but didn't even know these Jewish refugees existed!?

Here is a documentary exploring this important issue:


Also See:
- Part 2
- Part 3
- Part 4
- Part 5

Rep. Brad Sherman speaks out about antisemitism at UCI

Hat Tip: Jonathan Constantine

Representative Brad Sherman (D) urges Chancellor Drake to condemn the antisemitic hate speech by the Muslim Student Union at UC Irvine:

Hate on Campus
A California Campus Event Intended to Encourage Violence and Spread Hate
May 26th 2008
Rep. Brad Sherman
House of Representatives

In mid-May, I wrote a letter to Chancellor Michael Drake expressing my concern with the University of California at Irvine’s (UCI) Muslim Student Union’s campus event entitled "Never Again? The Palestinian Holocaust," which was held on the campus from May 7th to May 15th. This event appears to have intended to encourage violence against the State of Israel and propagate the spread of anti-Semitism.

The title of the event itself is particularly inflammatory. Comparing current Israeli policies to the Holocaust, the systematic murder of the Jewish people of Europe, is clearly anti-Semitic. It wholly demeans the Jewish victims of the Holocaust and vilifies the Jewish citizens of Israel. The United States Department of State has officially declared that such a comparison is a prototypical example of anti-Semitism. In a recent report to Congress, the State Department adopted the following definition of anti-Semitism:

"Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities. Such manifestations of anti-Semitism could also target the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity . . . . Contemporary examples of anti-Semitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to: Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis." [emphasis supplied] (Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism Report, Released by the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, U.S. Department of State, March 2008).

The titles of some of the lectures at the event -- "Death to Apartheid: A Farewell to Zionism" and "Silence is Consent: Stop the Palestinian Holocaust" -- are also disturbing. And, the guests invited to give these lectures have a record of making anti-Semitic statements. As is observable on YouTube, one of the lecturers, Amir Abdel Malik Ali, stated in a speech at UCI in May 2006, "The truth of the matter is: [Israel’s] days are numbered. We will fight you until we are either martyred or until we are victorious." It should be of concern that a speech given at UCI calls for "martyrdom" – the euphemism for suicide bombing.

I grew up near UCI and I have even taken a course there. I recognize that it is an excellent educational institution with a history of intelligent, vigorous debate. While I strongly support the First Amendment rights of individuals to speak freely and without impediment at the UCI campus, I hope that readers share my belief that we all have a moral responsibility to denounce speech that is clearly and unambiguously hateful in nature.

As the leader of a public university, Chancellor Drake also has a duty to condemn anti-Semitism, especially when it occurs at the UCI campus. In my letter to the Chancellor, I asked him to publicly denounce this hate speech. I hope he does so.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-California) represents California’s 27th District in the San Fernando Valley.

Another Example of Anti-Semitism From the Muslim Student Union at UC-Irvine

Gary Fouse just posted the following about the Muslim Student Union's visual wall display and the antisemitic undertones of the display:

Above: Der Stuermer, 1944 issue
Below: MSU portrayal of Ariel Sharon at UCI, May, 2008
(courtesy of Red County blog)

The week before last, UC-Irvine's Muslim Student Union (MSU) hosted one of their quarterly anti-Israel weeks featuring a parade of speakers, some of whom are not only anti-Israel, but anti-America and anti-Jew as well. Of course, the MSU fervently denies they are anti-Jewish-only anti-Zionist. In fact, during their "festivities" at UCI, on at least one occasion, they marched around chanting, "Judaism yes! Zionism no!".

As part of their visual display, the MSU erected a mock wall representing the wall Israel has erected to keep out suicide bombers. The wall contained various photographs, drawings, quotations etc. The one that caught my attention was a caricature of Ariel Sharon drawn in the old style of Julius Streicher's Der Stuermer, an infamous newspaper of the Nazi era that was devoted to propagating hatred of Jews among the German people.

Julius Streicher was the Gauleiter (district leader) of Nuremberg during the Nazi era, as well as the editor of Der Stuermer. Streicher was such a repulsive character that even his fellow Nazis viewed him with disgust (Hitler excluded). To Streicher, the Jews were sexual predators, sacrificing Aryan children for their blood rituals and lusting after and defiling Aryan women.

For illustrations, Der Stuermer's artist was a fellow named Philip Ruprecht, who used the moniker "Fips" in his drawings. Ruprecht's semi-pornographic drawings portrayed Jewish men as fat, bald, and ugly with large hooked noses and thick lips.

After the war, Streicher was put on trial as one of the main Nazi war criminals for his incitement of hatred of Jews that contributed to the eventual Final Solution. Already in forced retirement by the time the war started, Crimes Against Humanity was the only charge he could be convicted of. For this, he was hanged.

Unfortunately, Der Stuermer's style of portraying Jews has survived, mostly in the Middle East, where such caricatures persist. It seems they have also survived among some segments of the American Muslim population-specifically, the Muslim Student organizations in various colleges around the country-at least the one at UCI.

Of course, Ariel Sharon is a hated figure among Muslims and Palestinians as a warrior on behalf of his country. That hardly justifies portraying him in a way that dredges up negative stereotypes of Jews in general, which is exactly what the MSU at UCI did.

Yet, there has been not a word of protest among the professors and leaders of UCI for this type of display (except for me-I included it in a letter to the campus newspaper, New University). To the university, however, this is apparently just another example of their sacred cow-Free Speech. Not only did they allow it to stand for a week, but to my knowledge, no one else who draws a paycheck from the university has said a word about it publicly.

I also called attention to this display in my letter to the director of the Orange County Human Relations Commission, a certain empty suit by the name of Rusty Kennedy. In his nasty reply to me, he attacked me for criticizing UCI's leaders for their negligence, but never said a word about the display.

So the hypocrisy and hatred of the MSU stands naked for all to see. I would invite the reader to compare the above pictures and draw his or her own conclusions. Also be aware that since the MSU receives funding from the university taken from student tuition fees, your tax dollars are being used to pay for this kind of display.

Pajamas Media; UC Irvine Still Enforcing Sharia Law

I co-wrote the following with Jonathan C. Movroydis of Red County Campus Watch for Pajamas Media. From Pajamas Media:

UC Irvine Still Enforcing Sharia Law

Administrators are either clueless about radical Islam's foothold on campus or determined to create an environment in which supporters of terrorism can thrive. Take your pick.

The University of California-Irvine is a sprawling campus in Orange County. The institution, located between the Santa Ana Mountains and the shore of the Pacific Ocean, is not only home to some of the best minds in science and engineering, but also to some of the most virulent supporters of radical Islam in America — and a school administration bent on capitulating to them.

The university’s Muslim Student Union (MSU) holds several annual events, at which members unashamedly voice support for terrorist groups and denounce Israel, America, and the Western world. Past events hosted during the group’s annual anti-Israel week have had titles such as “Hamas: the People’s Choice” and “Israel: The 4th Reich.” Speakers have included Norman Finkelstein, Ward Churchill, and Anna Balzter.

This year, from May 7-15, the MSU hosted a series of programs entitled “Never Again? The Palestinian Holocaust.” As they have done in the past, the MSU appropriated ideas of genocide in order to promote their radical ideology.

The featured speaker last Thursday, May 15, was Amir Abdel Malik-Ali, a radical imam from Oakland who is all too familiar to UCI students. Malik-Ali frequently engages in anti-Western rhetoric and is a vocal supporter of terrorist groups. Not only has he praised Hamas, Hezbollah, and the mujahadeen in Afghanistan as “Islamic resistance” movements struggling against Western “oppressors,” he has called any scrutiny of these terror groups mere “propaganda.” Following Ali’s speeches to UCI’s MSU, the audiences of keffiyah-wearing Muslim students always repetitively recite the battle cry “Takbir! Allahu Akbar!” This year’s audience was no different.

While his rhetoric is lurid and apocalyptic, Malik-Ali’s speech is protected under the First Amendment. What’s alarming is the administration’s willingness to enforce the MSU’s prerogatives on other students who attend their events — hence the application of Sharia law where the Bill of Rights is applicable. For example, while videotaping Malik-Ali’s speech, we were confronted by a school administrator. Dean of Student Services Sally Peterson told us that, on behalf of the male students, we would have to stop filming the female activists, or as she called them “the sisters.” Aware of our rights, we refused her orders and continued covering the event.

As we continued our coverage of the festivities, members of the MSU ultimately decided to enforce what appears to be their own principle of just retribution. After Thursday’s event, the MSU walked up and down the main campus road chanting anti-Israel slogans and blocking off the entire walkway for several minutes while police and administrators stood by idly.

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 who purportedly threw a cinderblock at an FBI vehicle last year, said to the cameraman: “You wanna get jacked! We can go get jacked right now! C’mon Emanuel, we’ve learned a lot about you let’s go! Lets go get jacked, Lets go get jacked!”

The UCI police department treated this incident unprofessionally and took no action. The student journalist gave his statement to a UCI police officer and explained how he was assaulted. The officer then went to take statements from the males MSU members. The police would not, however, take statements from those who witnessed the assault against the student journalist. After the police officer took statements, he told the student journalist that one of the males who charged at him had apologized and that nothing more could be done.

A Christian preacher on campus, Michael Venyah, also had his rights violated last Thursday. 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 and running into him. This was clearly an incident of assault. The cops present did nothing, and Dean of Judicial Affairs Edgar Dormitorio suggested that Mr. Venyah should leave.

Another case of MSU’s vigilantism occurred when a young Jewish female was followed back to her car and surrounded by six members of the MSU. A community member who witnessed the harassment also had her civil rights violated when the Muslim students noticed her. As UC Irvine police offers stood idly by, the Muslim students proceeded to situate themselves on the hood of her car in order to photograph her face, her vehicle identification number, and her license plate. When she later called the police department for answers, they justified the criminal behavior as the culmination of a tit for tat ethnic squabble. Put simply, they justified the need for Muslim students to “vent,” as they were just getting back at the Jews.

One group at UC Irvine has monopolized freedom of speech and expression. 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. Conversely, those who voice concern over MSU’s actions are depicted as stirring up trouble.

UCI administrators have not been helpful. Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl of UC Berkeley signed a letter, published in the New York Times, warning against anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish activity on campus. UC Irvine’s then-chancellor, Ralph Cicerone, refused to sign this letter. The current chancellor at UCI has called hate speech “repugnant,” but has refused to specify which group was responsible for hate speech and has been unable to ensure a safe environment during the hateful events hosted by the MSU.

The administration at UC Irvine has sent a clear message to the MSU: incitement and harassment against Jews, Israel, and America is acceptable on campus and will not incur consequences.

Jonathan Constantine Movroydis, a senior at UCI, is a staff writer for RedCounty.com. Reut Cohen recently graduated from UCI, where she ran a blog to document the ‘anti-Israel,’ anti-Semitic and anti-American incidents on campus.

Mohammad Al-Dura "murder" a HOAX! Karsenty wins case!

Philippe Karsenty has won his case against France 2. The courts gave the verdict today. This is a historic day and it will be very interesting to see how the press behaves. The image of a terrified little boy hiding beside his father is a constant image in the Arab world and has also been used in Al-Qaeda recruiting videos. The face of Al-Dura is often seen during Muslim Student Association events and rallies, and a picture that is very much in the minds of Muslims. In fact, at UCI both this year and last, the story of Al-Dura appeared on the anti-Israel wall the MSU brought to campus. Philippe Karsenty has proven that the entire incident was a hoax. It is Jewish blood libel of the worst sort and France 2 needs to publicly apologize for working with Palestinians to stage the event which incited Palestinians to riot and kill Israelis during the Second Intifada.



The Jerusalem Post reports the following:

The French Court of Appeals on Wednesday found in favor of Jewish activist Philippe Karsenty, overturning a lower court decision that he had libeled France 2 and its Jerusalem correspondent Charles Enderlin when he accused them of knowingly misleading the watching world about the death of the Palestinian child Mohammed al-Dura in the Gaza Strip in 2000.

"The verdict means we have the right to say France 2 broadcast a fake news report, that [al-Dura's shooting] was a staged hoax and that they duped everybody - without being sued," Karsenty told The Jerusalem Post shortly after the verdict was issued at 1:30 p.m. Paris time.

Al-Dura was filmed cowering with his father Jalal behind a barrel at the Gaza Strip's Netzarim Junction on September 30, 2000, during an apparent gun battle between Palestinians and Israeli troops. Fifty-five seconds of video footage were released to the world by France 2 at the time, out of some 18 minutes that were shown in court and even more footage that France 2's detractors claim is not being shown to the public.

The video, taken by Palestinian cameraman and France 2 stringer Talal Abu Rahma, shows al-Dura hiding, and then cuts to footage of him lying, apparently dead, at the junction. It does not show the child killed.

The footage, and Enderlin's broadcast assertion of Israeli responsibility for the killing of al-Dura, turned the 12-year-old's death into a cause célèbre in the Muslim world. According to Middle East and media expert Tom Gross, "Osama bin Laden referred to al-Dura in a post-9/11 video; the killers of Wall St. Journal reporter Daniel Pearl placed a picture of him in their beheading video; streets, squares and academies have been named after al-Dura. He became a poster child for the Intifada."

Karsenty, the head of the media watchdog Media Ratings, was sued for libel after calling for Enderlin's and France 2 news director Arlette Chabot's dismissal, saying the footage was "a hoax." Enderlin, who was not present in Gaza at the time of the incident, has vehemently denied the charge, expressing confidence in cameraman Abu Rahma's honesty.

Convicted of libel in 2006, Karsenty, the director of the media watchdog group Media-Ratings, was slapped with two $1,380 fines - one to be paid to France 2 and one to the station's reporter - and ordered to pay another $4,000 in court costs when he wrote that the incident constituted a "masquerade that dishonors France and its public television." On Wednesday, his appeal against that conviction was upheld.

The IDF, which initially apologized for the death of al-Dura, concluded after an investigation that the boy could not have been hit by Israeli bullets.

A statement forwarded to The Jerusalem Post from Enderlin said that "the appeals court ruled that Karsenty's words were, in fact, libelous, and that Karsenty failed to prove that the news was staged and/or false." The statement added that the case was nevertheless overturned because "the court believed Karsenty had the right to stridently criticize the [France 2] report, since it dealt with an emotional topic, and that Karsenty's investigation into the matter convinced the court he was bring sincere."

A source close to Enderlin's side of the case explained that "you can get out of a libel suit either by proving you're right, or by showing you were sincere and had some research. The court found the latter to be the case."

The source also said Enderlin and France 2 would appeal the verdict, noting that they had won three out of four instances of judgment in the matter.

But, replied Karsenty, the only appeal left would be to France's Supreme Court.

"If they continue to insist they are correct," added Karsenty, "we will have victims of terror attacks that directly resulted from the [al-Dura] footage sue France 2."

Karsenty also called on French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who Karsenty sees as "ultimately responsible" for the publicly owned television station, "to take responsibility for the French state's defense of the worst anti-Semitic lie around. It's time to apologize to the world for broadcasting a fake news report that has inflamed the Muslim world and endangered world peace."

Karsenty's claims are based on inconsistencies in the footage, including a publicly-available video-taped admission by Abu Rahma that there are untold secrets related to the case, the fact that only seven bullet holes are seen behind al-Dura despite Abu Rahma's repeated statements that the child survived 45 minutes of continuous shooting by Israeli forces directed at the boy, footage clearly showing pretend gun battles and faked ambulance runs at the junction that day, testimony of the IDF soldiers stationed at the junction who said they did not participate in any firefight that day, and the lack of footage of al-Dura's actual shooting.

Despite France 2's playing down of the verdict, some analysts believe it is significant. According to Gross, "today's ruling shows there are serious doubts about France 2's version of events, and that the entire world press was irresponsible in being so quick to take at face value the claims of a local Palestinian cameraman, who has admitted his partisanship."

Several months ago, the deputy commander of the IDF Spokesman's Office, Col. Shlomi Am-Shalom, wrote to France 2 asking for the entire unedited 27-minute film shot by France 2's Palestinian cameraman on September 30, 2000, as well as footage the cameraman filmed on October 1, 2000. Am-Shalom stressed that the IDF had "ruled out" the notion that al-Dura was killed by Israeli fire.

Citing the findings of the IDF's probe into the incident, ordered by then-OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yom Tov Samia, Am-Shalom wrote, "The general has made clear that from an analysis of all the data from the scene, including the location of the IDF position, the trajectory of the bullets, the location of the father and the son behind an obstacle, the cadence of the bullet fire, the angle at which the bullets penetrated the wall behind the father and his son, and the hours of the events, we can rule out with the greatest certainty the possibility that the gunfire that apparently harmed the boy and his father was fired by IDF soldiers, who were at the time located only inside their fixed position [at the junction]."

The text of Wednesday's final verdict has not yet been released to the media.

OC Human Relations Committee doesn't care about violations at UCI

Gary Fouse, a faculty member at UCI, recently sent an e-mail to Rusy Kennedy of the Orange County Human Relations Commission (OCHRC). Gary Fouse, a faculty member at UCI, recently sent an e-mail to Rusy Kennedy of the Orange County Human Relations Commission (OCHRC). Gary expresses his concern about antisemitism at UCI during Muslim Student Union events and his disappointment at the failure of the UCI Administration to confront this filth. The response Gary received from Mr. Kennedy was quite disappointing.

Below is the original e-mail that was sent out to Mr. Rusty Kennedy:

Dear Mr Kennedy,

My name is Gary Fouse, and I am an adjunct teacher at UCI-Ext (ESL). I have been in that position since 1998 (subsequent to my retirement from the Drug Enforcement Administration. I am writing to you per the suggestion of Dr Brian Levin, CSUSB to give you my perspective as a teacher at UCI regarding the quarterly events hosted by the Muslim Student Union on our campus.

Recently, I have heard that various figures in the university administration have described critics of the MSU events and their speakers as "hysterical Jews", "troublemakers, "outside groups", etc.

I am neither a "hysterical Jew" (I am not even Jewish) nor am I an outsider. I have seen and heard what is happening for several years. I can tell you:

1 The claims of hate speech made by Jewish students are justified. When we listen to the words of Amir Abdel Malik Ali, Abdel Musa, and Mohammed Al-Asi, we hear them call for the destruction of Israel, glorify suicide bombers as heroes and martyrs, rail about "Zionist Jews", advocate the destruction of the Jewish state, defend Hizbollah and Hamas, condemn America, call Jews, "lowlife ghetto-dwellers" (Al-Asi) on and on and on.

This past week, the "Wall" erected by the MSU had a characterture of Ariel Sharon, drawn with a hooked nose and over sized lips, exactly in the style of Julius Streicher's, Der Stuermer, the virulent, anti-Jewish newspaper of the Nazi era. How was this allowed to appear on a university campus?

Also this week, during Al-Asi's speech in front of the flagpoles, while he was spouting his racist rhetoric, a group of about 20-30 small schoolchildren were gathered yards away by their bus listening to this man's vile words. Meanwhile, university deans (who are known to be antagonistic toward the Jewish students' concerns, were scurrying around like hall monitors, moving peaceful Jewish student protesters with their "hate Speech" warning posters here and there and keeping walkways open while ignoring the kids being exposed to this garbage.

2 The leadership of this university clearly has no concern for the concerns of Jewish students. They have dismissed numerous complaints and shown every indication that they are more sympathetic to the MSU and their inciteful speakers. This past week, David Horowitz, in his talk at UCI, described UCI as the worst university campus in the nation when it comes to MSU radicalism. There were two deans in the audience, one of
whom took copious notes on her laptop, yet none of them even attempted to defend the university in the question and answer session. When I told Mr Horowitz that 99% of the students at UCI were not involved in this ugliness, I told him that we had 2 problems: the MSU and an administration that is hiding under their desks, either out of fear, apathy or they just don't care about their Jewish students. They did not respond to me either.

They can't.

Why is it that hundreds turn out to hear and applaud the words of Hamas/Hizbollah, Iran supporter, Norman Finklestein including numerous deans and faculty, but only 20 come to hear Nonie Darwish, a courageous woman who has left Islam, condemned terror and defended the US and Israel? I was the only faculty member present (and I am only a part-timer). No deans (except one pacing outside the hallway who could not bring himself in to hear Ms Darwish's words) were present.

Sir, as a part-time teacher, who has no tenure nor long-term contract, I am fully aware that what I am doing and saying jeopardizes my continued employment at UCI. They don't even have to fire me-just tell me they have no available classes for me next quarter. I am willing to accept those consequences to stand up for what is right.

This is not about free speech. It is about inciteful speech. If this situation is not addressed, someday there will be a tragedy on the campus, and everyone will be wringing their hands wondering how it could happen at UCI. I won't be wondering.

I thank you for your attention, and you may feel free to share this letter with whomever you deem appropriate.

Sincerely,

Gary Fouse
Adjunct teacher
UCI-Ext-ESL

Here is Mr Kennedy's response:

Dear Mr. Fouse

Thank you for sharing your perspective on the issues pertaining to UCI and the state of Jewish/Muslim/Arab relations there.

The OC Human Relations Commission has been deeply involved at the request of the UCI administration, students, faculty and community groups for many years on campus seeking to build a safe, inclusive community where bigotry is frowned upon.

In our years of experience at UCI we have attended the events of all of the sides in this struggle to inform our perspective. We have engaged in conversations, dialogues, discussions and disagreements with all sides. We also carry this work out on other college campuses in Orange County where similar issues arise.

Additionally since our inception in 1971 we have provided comprehensive intergroup relations and tolerance teaching programs that reach over 40,000 students in OC schools annually. We founded in 1991 and have hosted regular meetings/trainings since then of the Hate Crime Network a broad based community/law enforcement network dedicated to building a community wide collaboration at responding to and preventing hate crimes and incidents. We conduct police and community trainings, forums, leadership development programs and dialogues to build understanding between diverse communities that make up Orange County.

Where I agree with you in some of your characterizations of hate mongers who have spoken in OC and at UCI, and regularly speak up to condemn this bigotry, I take strong exception to your comments about UCI and particularly your insulting, demeaning and inaccurate statements about the administration.

In our extensive experience with the UCI administration we have never heard any of them address the concerns that you outline, (and I think they all share) with anything but appropriate concern. And we have never heard them calling those community members who speak out on this, Jewish and others, anything derogatory. In fact, I have seen them time and again address even the most passing comments of hate, bigotry or fear as absolutely top priority, seeking to document, investigate and appropriately respond.

I do not know what you have done to address the bigotry that exists in our community, on campus and across our country, but I have seen the extraordinary steps taken by UCI administration, from the Chancellor, to the Vice-Chancellor, to the Dean of Students, on down through the ranks to condemn bigotry, respond decisively to hate crime, and to set a community standard that works to discourage hate.

I see that you go on with statements like, "the leadership of this university clearly has no concern for the concerns of Jewish students". Rather than respond to this unfair comment I will let the Jewish students speak for themselves as to the lack of veracity of your claim.

You report that you are risking your job to speak up for what is right, this is a noble act. I would hope that you would be more thoughtful about your accusations and hostility to well meaning efforts; more constructive in your engagement; more mindful of the impact of your diatribe; if indeed you seek to do what is right.

Sincerely

rusty

Rusty Kennedy, Executive Director
Orange County Human Relations Commission
1300 S. Grand, Bldg B
Santa Ana, CA 92705
714-567-7470
fax 714-567-7474
www.ochumanrelations.org

MISSION: Fostering mutual understanding among residents and eliminating
prejudice, intolerance and discrimination in order to make Orange County
a better place for ALL people to live, work and do business.

Gary also sent the following after he received Mr. Kennedy’s response:

Dear Mr Kennedy,

I am sorry that you took offense to my email. You probably think that I am some radical "bomb thrower". I am neither. I am retired from law enforcement (DEA). As such, I know a volatile situation when I see it, and I have seen it for several years at UCI. What I am is a concerned citizen simply reaching out to those who should be concerned about hate speech on a university campus.

I will not engage in further debate with you on the performance of the UCI Administration. I have expressed my opinion, and you have expressed yours. I will stand by what I said.

I should state that I was warned that writing to your office was a waste of time, and I won't take up any more of your valuable time. I would, however, like to attach a posting from this morning's Red County blog about an incident that reportedly happened at UCI last Thursday night. I have no personal knowledge and cannot vouch for it, but I will attach it for whatever inquiry you may deem appropriate. It makes reference to the response of the university, in this case, the campus police.


"UCI PD Allow Muslim Students to Attack Jewish Woman
Posted by: Jonathan Constantine | 05/18/2008 9:38 PM


The attacks from MSU members continued after Amir Abdel Malik-Ali's evening lecture. According to a member of the Orange County community who witnessed the event, a young Jewish female who was filming the event was followed back to her car and surrounded by 6 male members of the Muslim Student Union. When officers from the UCI Police Department arrived at the scene, they stood idly by and watched as the Muslim students began to assail the witness. When the witness (turned victim) called the police department for answers, they explained that the MSU members were just "getting back at the Jews:"

"On Thursday May15, 2008 I went to the UCI campus to hear a talk: Death to Apartheid, A Farewell to Zionism. Since much of my life was spent fighting the apartheid system in my native country of South Africa, I was interested to hear speakers who probably had not personally lived through that time. I noticed that there were many people filming the speaker's presentation. Afterwards, I walked
to my car in the university underground parking. I noticed a young woman standing backed up against her car. She was surrounded by at least 6 males who appeared to be of university age. There was an additional young man who appeared to be with the girl. She looked scared and I asked her if she was OK. She said she had called 911. I have 4 children aged 22-30, and was very concerned for her safety. I did notice she had a camera and that she was not engaged in talking with the 6 males that had surrounded her and her car. I thought they wanted her camera but she was not taking photos. She told me that they wanted to see the license plate on her car. Since they were not the police, I thought this to be very strange. I realized that they were trying to photograph her license plate.

I breathed a sigh of relief when the police arrived. I attempted to describe to them the scene that I had just witnessed. The policeman replied sarcastically:
"good ---- do you feel better now that you got that off your chest". I was shocked! My emotions had swung like a pendulum. From the initial fear at seeing the young woman being harassed, to relief at the sight of the police, and now back to fear, as I the realized that the arrival of the police would not provide the protection that I had anticipated. At this point it occurred to me that these were University of California, Irvine campus police. I know that police are usually interested in a witness statement, and what I saw was intimidation of two people in a parking lot who were outnumbered 3 to 1. To my amazement the police refused to take a witness statement from me.

By asking the girl if she was OK, I had somehow become involved in this altercation, and now my safety was in jeopardy. After the officer had expressed his disinterest in my account, I turned to enter my car to head home. The patrol car, though, was blocking my vehicle and preventing my exit. At this point another woman came walking by. I was too afraid to speak, but welcomed seeing another woman there. She said it was not safe to be there in the parking structure and that I should try to get out. I showed her that I could not, since my car was blocked. I asked if she was part of the university administration, as I did not think she was a student. She said that she just happened to be walking through the parking lot - I remembered thinking that it was strange that it was after 10 pm and this is not a parking lot you just walk through. I shrugged off my suspicions. The woman then told me that I could go to other "meetings" with her. She described the meetings as the same as the ones held on campus, but at different venues, such as hotels. At that minute the young boy who had been with the girl student ran over to me and asked for my phone number. Simultaneously, the police angrily shouted to him to get into his car.

After the woman left, I noticed that one of the "intimidators" was situated on the hood of my car in an attempt to photograph the VIN number under the windshield ( he lifted up the windshield wiper to get a better look at the number). He glared at me in a way I will describe as intimidating and menacing. Then he took photos of my car's license plate, and then snapped photos of me. All the while the police officers were present and did absolutely nothing! I asked for their card and told them that if anything were to happen to my person, family or property, that I will hold them and the university responsible.

Once I arrived home, I called the Irvine police and old them what had happened. I asked if it was reasonable for the police to not take a statement or to protect me, and that was definitely not the protocol. It was recommended that I speak to the watch commander. I was put through to them and a lady Lori said she would call him. I told her my concern was about what I saw in the parking garage. After awhile she said he was not available and she further informed me of the following: the 2 people in the parking lot were Jewish and they had been harassing the Muslim students on campus during the day, and the Muslim students were simply getting back at them. I had not asked her what the incident was about, but she volunteered that information. I told her that what I saw was two people outnumbered and surrounded in the parking structure, and I was concerned because the girl looked terrified. It was ludicrous to portray her as capable of harassing anyone. I told her that I did not feel safe and that I was phoning to report the lack of concern on the part of the police to take my eyewitness account. They did nothing to assure that I got safely out of the parking structure. I have reported this to the university and have been told that someone would contact me. My complaint to the campus police has so far gone unanswered, as well.

Even if the 2 Jewish students had in some way "wronged" the Muslim students earlier that day, was it appropriate for the Muslim students to take things into
their own hands? Is vigilantism now acceptable and legal on University of California campuses? The incident has left me struggling with many things. How do the police come to a conclusion regarding this event, while refusing to take a witness statement? If I was scared, how do students feel when confronted with menacing behavior? If we can not depend on police officers to protect us and to intervene in a tense situation, who can we depend on? What were they waiting for- property damage or physical injury? Is the university administration and their campus police in charge of maintaining law and order and a safe campus environment? Or do they allow gangs of students to assume control of the campus through intimidation?"

Thank you for your time and attention,

Gary Fouse

Welcome to Irvinistan

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:

Takbir! Allahu Akbar! Takbir! Allahu Akbar!

MSU harassment permitted by UCIPD

An individual who lives in Orange County sent me the following account of an incident she witnessed on the evening of May 15th. The description of what occurred below demonstrates ineptitude on the part of the UCI Police Department and how the Muslim Student Union has assumed control of the campus:

On Thursday May 15, 2008 I went to the UCI campus to hear a talk: Death to Apartheid, A Farewell to Zionism. Since much of my life was spent fighting the apartheid system in my native country of South Africa, I was interested to hear speakers who probably had not personally lived through that time. I noticed that there were many people filming the speaker’s presentation. Afterwards, I walked to my car in the university underground parking. I noticed a young woman standing backed up against her car. She was surrounded by at least 6 males who appeared to be of university age. There was an additional young man who appeared to be with the girl. She looked scared and I asked her if she was OK. She said she had called 911. I have 4 children aged 22-30, and was very concerned for her safety. I did notice she had a camera and that she was not engaged in talking with the 6 males that had surrounded her and her car. I thought they wanted her camera but she was not taking photos. She told me that they wanted to see the license plate on her car. Since they were not the police, I thought this to be very strange. I realized that they were trying to photograph her license plate.

I breathed a sigh of relief when the police arrived. I attempted to describe to them the scene that I had just witnessed. The policeman replied sarcastically: “good ---- do you feel better now that you got that off your chest”. I was shocked! My emotions had swung like a pendulum. From the initial fear at seeing the young woman being harassed, to relief at the sight of the police, and now back to fear, as I the realized that the arrival of the police would not provide the protection that I had anticipated. At this point it occurred to me that these were University of California, Irvine campus police. I know that police are usually interested in a witness statement, and what I saw was intimidation of two people in a parking lot who were outnumbered 3 to 1. To my amazement the police refused to take a witness statement from me.

By asking the girl if she was OK, I had somehow become involved in this altercation, and now my safety was in jeopardy. After the officer had expressed his disinterest in my account, I turned to enter my car to head home. The patrol car, though, was blocking my vehicle and preventing my exit. At this point another woman came walking by. I was too afraid to speak, but welcomed seeing another woman there. She said it was not safe to be there in the parking structure and that I should try to get out. I showed her that I could not, since my car was blocked. I asked if she was part of the university administration, as I did not think she was a student. She said that she just happened to be walking through the parking lot – I remembered thinking that it was strange that it was after 10 pm and this is not a parking lot you just walk through. I shrugged off my suspicions. The woman then told me that I could go to other “meetings” with her. She described the meetings as the same as the ones held on campus, but at different venues, such as hotels. At that minute the young boy who had been with the girl student ran over to me and asked for my phone number. Simultaneously, the police angrily shouted to him to get into his car.

After the woman left, I noticed that one of the “intimidators” was situated on the hood of my car in an attempt to photograph the VIN number under the windshield ( he lifted up the windshield wiper to get a better look at the number). He glared at me in a way I will describe as intimidating and menacing. Then he took photos of my car’s license plate, and then snapped photos of me. All the while the police officers were present and did absolutely nothing! I asked for their card and told them that if anything were to happen to my person, family or property, that I will hold them and the university responsible.

Once I arrived home, I called the Irvine police and old them what had happened. I asked if it was reasonable for the police to not take a statement or to protect me, and that was definitely not the protocol. It was recommended that I speak to the watch commander. I was put through to them and a lady Lori said she would call him. I told her my concern was about what I saw in the parking garage. After awhile she said he was not available and she further informed me of the following: the 2 people in the parking lot were Jewish and they had been harassing the Muslim students on campus during the day, and the Muslim students were simply getting back at them. I had not asked her what the incident was about, but she volunteered that information. I told her that what I saw was two people outnumbered and surrounded in the parking structure, and I was concerned because the girl looked terrified. It was ludicrous to portray her as capable of harassing anyone. I told her that I did not feel safe and that I was phoning to report the lack of concern on the part of the police to take my eyewitness account. They did nothing to assure that I got safely out of the parking structure. I have reported this to the university and have been told that someone would contact me. My complaint to the campus police has so far gone unanswered, as well.

Even if the 2 Jewish students had in some way “wronged” the Muslim students earlier that day, was it appropriate for the Muslim students to take things into their own hands? Is vigilantism now acceptable and legal on University of California campuses? The incident has left me struggling with many things. How do the police come to a conclusion regarding this event, while refusing to take a witness statement? If I was scared, how do students feel when confronted with menacing behavior? If we can not depend on police officers to protect us and to intervene in a tense situation, who can we depend on? What were they waiting for – property damage or physical injury? Is the university administration and their campus police in charge of maintaining law and order and a safe campus environment? Or do they allow gangs of students to assume control of the campus through intimidation?

FrontPageMag; The MSU's Hate Week

I co-wrote the following article with Jonathan Constantine Movroydis of Red County Campus Watch.

The MSU's Hate Week
By Reut R. Cohen and Jonathan Constantine Movroydis
FrontPageMagazine.com | Tuesday, May 13, 2008

It is a well-chronicled fact that modern academia is no friend of Israel. Even in this generally hostile environment, however, the University of California at Irvine stands in a class of its own.

Witness the school’s tradition of allowing the campus chapter of Muslim Student Union (MSU) to hold events whose sole aim is to denounce Israel and America, while supporting Islamic terrorist groups. Past events hosted in this mold have been titled “Hamas: the People’s Choice” and “Israel: The 4th Reich,” and have featured far-left demagogues like professors Norman Finkelstein and Ward Churchill, as well as Amir-Abdel Malik-Ali, a black imam notorious for his anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and his open championing of Hamas and Hezbollah.

This year is no exception. From May 7 to May 15, the MSU will host a series of programs that will demonize Israel as a Nazi state. Titled “Never Again? The Palestinian Holocaust,” this year’s hate-fest will include speakers like Imam Amir Abdel Malik Ali and Norman Finkelstein. If past experience is any guide, this year’s event will be give Israel’s enemies much to cheer about.

A review of the scheduled speakers bears out this impression. Among them, for instance, is Amir Abdel Malik Ali. A regular speaker at UCI, he has in the past informed Muslim students that a martyr’s death is the most honorable death. In May of 2007, to chants of “Allah Akbar!” from the Muslim Student Union, he shouted: “[W]e will not stop until we are either victorious or until we are martyred!” Not surprisingly, Ali will be delivering the keynote address at this year’s event.

The Muslim Student Union also will be hosting Norman Finkelstein, the DePaul University professor who was denied tenure for “furnishing deliberately hurtful” scholarship in June 2007. DePaul University President Rev. Dennis Holtschneider maintained that not only did Finkelstein engage in inflammatory ad hominem attacks against fellow scholars, but he neglected his perfunctory academic duties by investing more time in his dogmatic advocacy – not least his attacks on Israel – than on responsible scholarship.

For example, in his 2000 book The Holocaust Industry, Finkelstein claims that “Jewish elites” have exploited this genocidal tragedy for political and economic gain. Among other charming allegations, Finkelstein derides Holocaust survivor and humanitarian Elie Wiesel as a “resident clown” and a shake-down artist who invokes phony tales of atrocity to serve the strategic interests of the United States and Israel.

In December of 2006, Alan Dershowitz reported that Finkelstein was among those scheduled to speak at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust Denial Conference along with former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke. Though Finklestein’s name was mysteriously moved from the online programming schedule, his association with neo-fascists and extremists comes as no surprise.

Finkelstein also is a vocal supporter of Hezbollah. In February 2008, in an interview with MEMRI TV, Finkelstein stated that he respected Hezbollah’s resistance to “foreign occupiers”, and he was happy to express his solidarity with the terror group. “They showed courage, discipline, I respect that.” In the same interview, Finkelstein also asserted that those Arabs who prefer more normal relations with America and Israel have “no self-respect.” As if to demonstrate the depth of his commitment to Hezbollah’s terrorist cause, this January he met with top Hezbollah commanders in Lebanon.

Another speaker worthy of note is Muhammed Al-Asi, a radical cleric banned from the Islamic Center in Washington D.C. in 1983 by his Saudi dominated board of directors for advancing a radical, pro-Iranian agenda. Al-Asi too has praised suicide bombers and is a Holocaust denier to boot. According to the Washington Post, the U.S. government has taken close surveillance of Al-Asi through court-approved wiretaps as he has traveled to Iran to meet with high-ranking hardline clerics.

Al-Asi also never hesitates to express his condemnation of Israel and Jews. In a speech earlier this year to students at UC Irvine, he derided Israel’s security barriers as analogous to Jews locking themselves in their man-made ghettos. In a curious attempt at dodging charges of anti-Semitism, he expressed his disdain for what he describes as the “political Jew,” comparing American Jews in government to rats hiding away from light.

The festivities will also include Anna Baltzer, an American activist and volunteer for the International Women’s forum. Baltzer’s stock in trade is presenting photographs from her trips to West Bank and Gaza, all of which are intended to portray Israel as the aggressor. In what amounts to a clear endorsement of terrorism, Baltzer has said that the employment of violent tactics against Israelis is analogous to Martin Luther King’s leadership during the Civil Rights Movement. For Baltzer, as for Hamas suicide bombers, terrorism is the only means to Palestinian liberation; diplomacy is impractical and idealistic.

The MSU has made its position regarding Israel and America abundantly clear. And it is not only the group’s events that betray its pro-terror prejudices: MSU members literally wear their hate on their sleeve. Thus, MSU members wear clothing bearing slogans like “Freedom Fighter,” a clear reference to the terrorists’ preferred designation. Following the fashion of suicide bombers, they sport green stole emblazoned with the Arabic word “shahada,” a declaration of Islamic faith that some have interpreted as a extolling the virtues of dying a martyr’s (read: terrorist’s) death. In the past, the MSU also has voiced support for terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

Although the MSU defends its events on the ground of “free speech,” the group has shown itself to be intolerant of debate and criticism. Following MSU gatherings at which imams predict the destruction of the “Zionist Jews,” many students at UCI have been confronted with spray-painted swastikas, hate-mail, strange phone calls, jeering and cursing. In some cases, students have even been kicked out of public events for videotaping or have had cameras shoved in their faces....

Please click here to read the entire article.

FrontPageMag; Campus Support for the Terrorist Jihad

From FrontPageMagazine.com:

By Reut R. Cohen and Jonathan Constantine Movroydis
FrontPageMagazine.com | Monday, May 05, 2008

The Muslim Student Association (MSA) maintains more than 150 chapters at colleges across the country, fronting as a cultural and religious organization. Realistically, however, the MSA is a radical political group that was initially founded by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the godfather of al-Qaeda and Hamas. The purpose of the MSA is to promote jihad in institutions of higher learning.

At the University of California- Irvine (UCI), the Muslim Student Union (MSU) is also a part of the Muslim Student Association and has openly supported terrorist groups. Presently the MSU aims to "build an environment that enhances good, discourages bad, and provides networks of resources, knowledge, people, and companionship to its members." The MSU offers "daily congregational prayers, daily free iftars … over eight weekly classes, a quarterly magazine Alkalima, coalition building with other clubs on campus, and a gateway to the larger Muslim community …" MSU also provides career advice and a study program to help Muslims at UCI.

Yet underneath this innocuous description it also becomes apparent that this organization preserves a seething hatred of Jews, Israel, and America. MSU activities constantly reveal support for violence, anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism. MSU members have made their positions clear: they support Hamas, they support "freedom fighting" and they have publicly declared that Zionists have no future and Israel will soon be wiped off the map. Members of this organization commonly wear green armbands to signal their allegiance to the terrorist group Hamas.

Earlier this month, a student coalition led a boycott against two Orange County, CA, movie theaters for their decision to hold a private screening and fund-raiser co-sponsored by CAIR (Council of American-Islamic Relations) and the UC Irvine Muslim Student Union. The featured film was the USA Versus Sami Al-Arian: (1) a hagiographic screening on the self-starved convicted terrorist. An indictment against the United States government on the egregious charge of false imprisonment, the film compares the Palestinian Islamic Jihad collaborator to a Socratic like figure jailed for his patriotic dissent and practice of his fundamental civil rights.

The evidence against Al-Arian was damning, alleging that Al-Arian, a former professor at the University of South Florida, was the head of the American wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The indictment against Al-Arian suggests that Al-Arian abused his position as a university professor to bring other members of his terrorist group into the United States "under the guise of academic conferences and meetings." (2)

Read it all here.

MSA at CSULB incite hatred against Jews and Israelis

Rabbi Yonah included the following description along with his video of the MSA at CSULB:

This "passion play" used was created to incite hatred against Jews and Israelis. This dramatic presentation of Jewish cruelty is in my opinion anti-semitic. It shows the helpless and powerless at the mercy of cruel Jewish villains. While one may choose to see this film in "objective" light - its only a protest Rabbi Yonah to raise awareness of the conflict - I cannot help but view this as part of the continuum of anti-semitism. In fact, the passion plays of the middle ages are very similar in content - showing a powerless Jesus victimized and killed by the Jews. The point of those passion plays was to inflame anger against Jews, and burn the image of the suffering Jesus into the minds of the public. The point of this passion play is to inflame anger against Jews, hatred of Israel, and burn the image of the suffering Palestinians into the minds of impressionable students. Some of these students involved told me that their peace proposal is the elimination - yes destruction - of Israel, and the establishment of an Islamic state in its place.

(Video courtesy of Rabbi Yonah Bookstein)

MSA at USC; Promoting genocide against Jews?

The following quote (from the Hadith) is on the MSA-USC website:

Book 041, Number 6985:

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews.

If you scroll down in their hadith collection on this page, you'll find that the numbers of the hadiths go straight from 6980 to 6986. What were 6981 through 6985? Go here to find out. For the sake of convenience, here they are:

Book 041, Number 6981:

Ibn 'Umar reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: You will fight against the Jews and you will kill them until even a stone would say: Come here, Muslim, there is a Jew (hiding himself behind me) ; kill him.

Book 041, Number 6982:

Ubaidullah has reported this hadith with this chain of transmitters (and the Words are):" There is a Jew behind me."

Book 041, Number 6983:

Abdullah b. 'Umar reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: You and the Jews would fight against one another until a stone would say: Muslim, here is a Jew behind me; come and kill him.

Book 041, Number 6984:

Abdullah b. 'Umar reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: The Jews will fight against you and you will gain victory over them until the stone would say: Muslim, here is a Jew behind me; kill him.

Book 041, Number 6985:

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews.

MSA Supports Osama Bin Laden

The July 1999 issue of UCLA's MSA Magazine al-Talib features the faces of Ayatollah Khomeini, Osama bin Laden and Malcolm X.

The article in the magazine about Osama expresses a hope that Muslims will defend their "brother" when someone refers to him as a terrorist:

When we hear someone refer to the great Mujahid (someone who struggles in Allah's cause) Osama bin Laden as a "terrorist," we should defend our brother and refer to him as a freedom fighter, someone who has forsaken wealth and power to fight in Allah's cause and speak out against oppressors. We take these stances only to please Allah.

The Muslim Student Union at UCI is no different in their support for Jihad, terrorism and their anti-Israel & anti-American views. It still boggles my mind that they are considered a religious/cultural organization on campus despite their politicized agenda.

Jonathan Constantine posted the entire al-Talib article for your viewing pleasure at Red County Campus Watch.

Nonie Darwish at UCI

Last week, on May 8th, Nonie Darwish spoke at UC Irvine at an event hosted by ZOA-UCI and the College Republicans. Darwish was born in Cairo, Egypt and spent much of her early life in Gaza. Her father, who was part of Fatah, was involved in killing hundreds of Israelis. As a result the Israeli Defense Forces eventually killed him. Ms. Darwish explained how she grew up in a society where she was taught to hate Jews and Israel. However, around the period of 9/11, Darwish began to reject Islamic violence and became a critic of "Jihad."

Darwish expressed her frustration that moderate Muslims are too fearful to speak up and suggested that many Americans simply do not understand Islam or Arab culture.

Darwish also had some criticism for administrators on college campuses and stated she was shocked regarding the kinds of events groups like the Muslim Student Association will hold that present outright lies, fabrications and hatred against Jews, Israelis and the west.

"Muslim student organizations are very active, well-funded, connected to the Middle-East," she said. "Unfortunately, they are bringing Gaza and the West Bank with them. The Saudis give a lot of donations.... The administrators, they are more naive about the cultures they are dealing with."

Following Nonie Darwish's talk, Pierre Rehov's film "The Suicide Killers" was screened. Rehov's film examines the phenomenon of suicide bombers through rare and unique interviews with actual family members of terrorists, the prisoners whose bombing attempts have been thwarted, and exclusive footage of a terror bomber as he prepares for mission. The film provides a message of urgency for increasing our understanding and awareness of the psychopathological dynamics of these terrorist bombers.

Al-Asi Speaking at UCI, Sign the Anti-Hate Petition

"...We have a psychosis in the Jewish community that is unable to co-exist equally and brotherly with other human beings. You can take a Jew out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of the Jew, and this has been demonstrated time and time again in Occupied Palestine. And now they have American diplomats and politicians and decision makers and strategists in their pocket....
Imam Muhammed Al-Asi
UC Irvine
February 21, 2001

"If the only thing the Israelis and their mentors, and their sponsors, and their superiors in Washington DC, are going to understand is the use of force, then that's the language we're going to communicate with, we're going to use force, and whatever was taken by force can only be retrieved by force."
Imam Muhammed Al Asi
UC Irvine
May 15, 2002

"It is about time we begin to open our eyes, see for ourselves and identify this cancerous presence of the Israeli interest that has taken over the American body politic."
Imam Muhammed Al Asi
"Israel Awareness Week"
UC Irvine May 18, 2005

Al-Asi is a devout supporter of Iran's late leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He frequently speaks at universities across the United States, Canada and Europe. Formerly, Imam Al-Asi led prayer at the Islamic Center of Washington. Although he was allegedly elected Imam by the congregation at the time, he was expelled from the Center in 1983 for preaching extremist views. Although he still identifies himself as the Imam of the Islamic Center, the Center has stated that it has no affiliation with him.

If you have already signed the petition, thank you!! If not, Please add your name to the hundreds who have:

To: UC Irvine

We, the undersigned, condemn this year's "Never Again? The Palestinian Holocaust" as yet another program sponsored by UC Irvine's Muslim Student Union that demonizes Jews, Zionism and Israel with falsehoods and misrepresentations, including the monstrous lie that Israel is perpetrating a holocaust against the Palestinian Arabs. These programs are not legitimate political discourse about the conflict in the Middle East. They are hateful, anti-Semitic, and violate UCI's principles and values, which call for a campus environment of positive engagement and mutual respect, free from expressions of bigotry. As the United States Civil Rights Commission declared, "Anti-Semitic bigotry is no less morally deplorable when camouflaged as anti-Israelism or anti-Zionism."

We call on the Muslim Student Union to renounce the rhetoric of hate and engage in civil intellectual discourse that is free from falsehoods, misrepresentations, prejudice and bigotry.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

http://www.petitiononline.com/ucimsu01/petition.html

Gary Fouse: Why We Are Suspicious of Muslims

Gary Fouse, an outspoken faculty member at UCI, wrote the following article for his blog:

The on-going dispute at UC-Irvine (where I teach) over the Israel/Jewish/Muslim issue is bringing up (again) an unpleasant but obvious question; that is, the position of American Muslims in American society-especially since 9-11. Today, many American Muslims are feeling isolated, besieged, under suspicion, and forced to choose between their religion and their country. They know that so many Americans view them with suspicion and have developed a very negative perception of Islam as an intolerant religion trying to impose its will on the non-Muslim world. They resent the fact that America is a long-time ally of Israel and that most Americans support the right of that country to exist and to defend itself from attack.

To an extent, they have a point. Those feelings must be acknowledged and dealt with directly and honestly. In this article, I will try to do so in a civil manner, but many Muslims will not like what I have to say.

First of all, Americans in general do view Muslims here with a certain degree of suspicion. Since 9-11, we have tried to put it into some sort of perspective and not paint all Muslims with the same paintbrush. Certainly, most Muslims worldwide are not involved in terrorism, but that does not eliminate the fact that Islamic terror is a reality.

I think it also has to be stated that most Americans have been disappointed by the response of Muslims here to the whole terror issue. For the most part, there has been silence-either out of fear, apathy or sympathy with the terrorists. In many cases, organizations like CAIR have added to the resentment with their complaints of Islamophobia and discrimination. We had hoped that, after 9-11, American Muslims would have stood up and proclaimed to the Islamic world that they reject terror and stand with their nation in opposition to it. We have been disappointed.

We want to believe the phrase, "Islam is a religion of peace", but it is increasingly difficult to do so.

Also, the actions of many Muslim Student Organizations on numerous university campuses have only added fuel to the fire and increased suspicion. Many of the speakers they sponsor to come onto the campuses are virulent, racist, anti-Semitic, glorifying of terrorists and condemning of America as well. UCI is a prime example. When your sponsored speakers regularly speak in praise of Hamas and Hizbollah and condemn our own country, how can ordinary Americans feel that you are loyal? (Of course, the obvious response is that many walks of American life criticize our country, but Muslims must acknowledge that they sit in a unique position. People are going to listen to their radical speakers and draw negative conclusions. Sorry. That's just the way it is.) We also view with disgust the cowardly pandering of many on the academic left since it fits into their world view that the US and Israel are basically flawed, racist countries-which they are not.

Does that make America a nation of religious intolerance? No. You have to go back to the Salem Witch Trials to find true intolerance of religious issues. Though we have experienced forms of anti-Semitism, Jewish commentators like Dennis Prager and Michael Medved have expressed the thought that Jews have been able to prosper in America precisely because we are a predominantly Christian country that has traditionally tolerated all religions in our midst. That should never change.

In the case of Islam, we have welcomed Muslim immigrants and permitted them to construct their own places of worship. This is a form of tolerance that is not seen in many places in the Middle East, where any religion other than Islam is not permitted, or Egypt, where Coptic Christians are being persecuted as we speak (as are those of the Ba'hai faith in Iran). As for Jews in these countries, they have been already driven out. Many of us in the West are also aware of the poisonous education that Middle Eastern children receive that teaches them that Jews are nothing but apes and pigs.

It might be appropriate here to say a few words about our Jewish population in America. As a Gentile child in West Los Angeles, I grew up among Jewish families. Later, as a US serviceman, I was stationed with the Army just outside Nuremberg for over two years. Anyone with even a basic knowledge of the Third Reich is aware of Nuremberg's significance in that era. I not only visited the many sites made infamous by the Nazi era, I have also visited many of the Nazi's concentration camps, including Auschwitz (in Poland). It has left an indelible mark on me insofar as the subject of anti-Semitism is concerned because I have seen the residue of what anti-Semitism brings. Today, many of the same words, the same caricatures that were used by the Nazis to portray Jews are being repeated by many Muslims today. It must be confronted and exposed for what it is and not passed off as simply anti-Zionism.

Rightfully, or wrongfully, my perception of American Jews today is that of Americans going back generations. My perception of Muslims is one of recent immigrants though I recognize that many Muslims were born here. My point in stating this, perhaps in a nationalistic manner, is that I view the resurgence in anti-Semitism in our country as being largely imported from abroad. I don't have the empirical evidence to back that up, but that is simply my perception.

Many of us, in the wake of 9-11, have tried to learn more about this religion called Islam. Is it violent? Are the terrorists breaking away from true Islam-or merely putting it into practice? As Americans, we want to believe the former.

When we read the Koran, much of it reads like the Bible. Yet, there are disturbing passages that speak of killing infidels. Virtually every chapter refers to non-believers burning in Hell. (Christianity also has this as a tenet, but it is not repeated constantly throughout the Bible.) I believe the constant repetition of that principle instills a hatred for those who do not share the faith.

When we read the life of Mohammed, we are struck by the irrefutable fact that he was a soldier, a military leader who spread Islam at the point of a sword and was responsible for the deaths of thousands-through battles and executions. For a military leader, that is one thing; for a religious prophet, it is troubling to many of us non-Muslims.

Be that as it may, Americans are perfectly willing to concede that holy books can be interpreted different ways by different people, and to let Muslims worship as they choose without interference-as long as it doesn't impinge on the rest of us. One of my conservative blog co-respondents, convinced that Islam is a religion of hate and intolerance, argues that the US should outlaw Islam. I respectfully disagree since this would be counter to everything our country stands for. We also have to accept that this is a religion practiced by over a billion people world-wide-with whom we wish to live in peace.

Having said that, it must be stated that a free and democratic society like the US can never accept any religion, whatever it is, dictating our everyday life. In our society, we allow freedom to practice any-or no religion. We also have to accept certain freedoms that many of us do not approve of in terms of dress, art and sexuality. Muslims who choose to immigrate to America-or the West-must understand that we have freedoms that we would die to protect, and that we will never accept Shariah Law. That means that so-called "honor killings" and fatwas will be severely punished as any murder would be.

Yet, we do see forms of accommodation toward Muslims in America-and Europe. Certain state-run universities and airports are installing foot baths in rest rooms-in disregard of the separation of state and religion that would preclude the spending of government money for religious purposes. Muslim student unions, like the one at UCI, receive school funding taken from tuition fees. Do Muslims not recognize that the rest of us question that? Do they not understand our resentment when we read about Muslim cab drivers in places like Minneapolis who refuse to carry passengers because they are carrying alcohol? Or Muslim store clerks who refuse to check out customers purchasing pork? Do they not understand when some of us ask; "Who do they think they are?" Who did those "Flying Imams" think they were when they deliberately provoked airline passengers into complaining to the airline about their suspicious behavior, an incident that led to their being removed from the plane-then filing a lawsuit and trying to drag in the complaining passengers?

We also read about what many Muslims are doing in European countries that have accepted them. We see the demonstrations in the UK, where radicals wave posters calling for the beheading of those who defame Islam, call for the overthrow of British democracy and imposition of Shariah law. We read about the violent death of Theo van Gogh in the Netherlands at the hands of a Moroccan immigrant because he had the temerity to make a film critical of Islam's treatment of women. We see the riots over Danish cartoons, the riots in France, the Madrid train bombings, the London bombings and the despicable suicide bombings in Israel that kill hundreds of innocent men, women and children-killings that are cheered by some Muslim students and their chosen speakers on our campuses.

We read about people like Nonie Darwish, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Muslim heretics who have spoken out against the violence-and have to live in hiding under security.

Yes, we are suspicious of Muslims.

Finally, the question must be asked in all Western countries: Can Muslim immigrants really assimilate into our tolerant, open and democratic societies? Or is Islam incompatible with our form of society and our values? It may sound racist, but it is a legitimate question, and we must not shrink from asking it. We had previously thought that American Muslims were more assimilated than European Muslims since they came here with more education than their European, blue collar counterparts. Now we are wondering since radical thought spreads across socio-economic boundaries.

I can readily understand why Muslims here in America want to defend their faith. It is natural. I have said this before in my writings, but it bears repeating. Muslims should, indeed, defend Islam. But they don't need to defend it from non-Muslims. They need to defend it-to the death-from those violent terrorist elements that are bringing disrepute to Islam in the eyes of the entire non-Muslim world.

It comes down to this: If Muslims in America are willing to accept our values, warts and all, assimilate and be loyal, then they should be welcome and free to practice their religion in a peaceful and tolerant manner. However, if they feel that our values are in conflict with Islam, and they feel they cannot assimilate and be loyal Americans-even if it means taking up arms against other Muslims in the War on Terror, then, at the risk of being called Islamophobic, racist, xenophobic, or whatever you choose to call it, I can only repeat what former Prime Minister John Howard of Australia publicly proclaimed to his country's Muslims a couple of years back: He told them that if they could not accept Australian values, then they should return to where they came from.

I think that advice applies everywhere in the West. And I am not afraid to say it.