[A-List] Fwd: [R-G] (no subject)

[Suzanne de Kuyper]

Free speech is elsewhere it seems clear. S.


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Suzanne de Kuyper <suzannedk at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 1:52 PM
Subject: Fwd: [R-G] (no subject)
To: "kcourtenay at aol.com" <KCourtenay at aol.com>




---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gary Crethers <garyrumor2 at yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, Mar 17, 2011 at 6:27 PM
Subject: [R-G] (no subject)
To: Suzanne de Kuyper <suzannedk at gmail.com>



You mean this sort of thing?

Student Activism
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UC Students Arrested at Israeli Ambassador’s Speech
February 9, 2010 in Students
About a dozen University of California students were arrested at UC Irvine
last
night after they disrupted a speech by Michael B. Oren, the Israeli
ambassador
to the United States.
Oren, who is on a speaking tour of West Coast campuses, was interrupted by
protesters ten times over the course of his speech, and at one point left
the
podium for twenty minutes.
A post at the Irvine activist blog Occupy UCI said that twelve students were
arrested, and that all were enrolled at UC Irvine, while an Associated Press
article put the number at eleven — nine Irvine students and two from UC
Riverside. All of the arrested students were cited and released at the
scene.
Another Israeli official, Daniel Taub of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is
scheduled to speak at Irvine at noon tomorrow, in an event billed as a
discussion of “Counterterrorism and Humanitarian Law.”

===================================================
Activists take Muslim student protest grievance to O.C. supervisors
By BRIAN MARTINEZ
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Story Highlights
About 50 protested earlier Tuesday outside the District Attorney building,
many
with their mouths taped.
       *
SANTA ANA – About 25 community leaders, students, educators and residents on
Tuesday took their grievances against the District Attorney's recent
handling of
a year-old, racially charged incident at UC Irvine to the Orange County
board of
supervisors.
The activists oppose the grand jury's recent subpoenas that forced six of
the
students arrested in the incident to testify before the panel as well as the
potential criminal indictments that might be forthcoming. The subpoenas were
issued just a few weeks before the one-year statute of limitations expires
on
the Feb. 8 arrests.
UC Irvine students, local Muslims and supporters, many with mouths taped
rallied
outside the Orange County District Attorney's office Feb. 1, 2011. They
protested potential criminal charges against UCI Muslim student union
members
arrested last February after disrupting a speech in by the Israeli
Ambassador to
the United States. The sign says, "Stand with the 11."
JEBB HARRIS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The incident at UCI involved members of Muslim Student Union protesting a
speech
on U.S.-Israeli security by Israeli Ambassador to the Unites States Michael
Oren. The students were arrested after shouting and chanting during Oren's
speech, forcing the diplomat to stop his remarks for 20 minutes. The
students
were held in a nearby room, cited for disturbing a public event and released
after the event ended. The incident was captured on video and inflamed
tension
between Muslim and Jewish students at the university.
Muslim community leaders, including Salam Al-Marayati of Muslim Affairs
Council,
say the District Attorney is practicing selective law enforcement because
protests occur every day on college campuses all over the United States and
the
UC Irvine administration already disciplined the students. They say criminal
charges would have a chilling effect on political speech on college
campuses.
The university revoked the union's charter for one year and placed it on
probation for another year after launching its own investigation. In
September,
the school softened the sanctions and restored the group's charter on Dec.
31,
but added a year of probation and 100 hours of community service. The
university
also disciplined individual students according to school policy, but those
consequences cannot be disclosed publicly, said Cathy Lawhon, a university
spokeswoman.
Al-Marayati said even if the students' methods were not an appropriate way
to
protest, they still should not have to live with a criminal record for
practicing free speech and speaking out against what they view as injustice
and
oppression. Students make mistakes, but it should be handled by the
university,
not the justice system, he said.
On Tuesday, about 50 people protested outside the District Attorney
building,
many with their mouths taped. They gave speeches and held signs. The gist of
their message echoed that of the community leaders – the arrested students
have
already been disciplined by the school and criminal charges would scare
other
students away from exercising political speech.
At the same time of the protest, Muslim community leaders and others spoke
out
against District Attorney Tony Rackauckas at the Board of Supervisor's
public
meeting and later met in an informal setting with staff representatives of
supervisors Bill Campbell and Patricia Bates. Irvine is part of Campbell's
district.
The activists complained about Rackaukus' refusal to meet with them to
discuss
the situation and said he appears to be making decisions to pursue criminal
indictments based on political factors instead of justice and equality.
According to the Board of Supervisor's legal counsel, the board has no
supervisorial authority over the District Attorney's decisions.
"This is our community, and we want to be engaged and understand their
concerns," said Whitney Secor, Campbell's policy adviser.
Don Hughes, chief of staff for Supervisor Patricia Gates, said the staff or
the
supervisors would reach out to the District Attorney to discuss the
situation
and hopefully get answers as to why they will not meet with the Muslim
community
groups.
While she declined to comment on the still-open investigation or on any
grand
jury proceedings, Susan Kang Schroeder, District Attorney chief of staff,
said
the District Attorney makes its decisions to file charges based on the facts
and
the law and cannot bend to pressure from the community. She added that the
office generally does not meet with any community groups before deciding
whether
to file any charges.
The Register asked Jewish Federation & Family Services of Orange County for
comment on the grand jury's subpoenas and the protests.
"Our focus remains that we want to build civility on campus for all
students,"
said Chalom C. Elcott, president and CEO of the federation. "We want to move
on.
The university took appropriate action, and we want to build for the
future."
He said the federation has not asked the District Attorney to pursue
criminal
charges and that he does not know of any other Jewish group that has.



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