Misery Index

Well, the man in the video is Mahdi Bray. After media attention on the above video, Bray claimed he was just having a bit of fun, and not approving Alamoudi’s words in a Northern Virginia Daily news article.

The majority of the people they were kind of raising their hands, and kind of cheering, and so on because this was so uncharacteristic of al-Amoundi.  We didn’t know he had a problem with law enforcement.  He was considered the pillar of the American Muslim community.

You saw me pumping my fists.  You didn’t see me raising my hands.  If they had shown the audience, you would have seen people in the audience raising their hands and falling out laughing.  For him to come and make these kinds of radical rants, no one took him seriously.

Mahdi Bray has worked with International ANSWER, a group who has recently organized over 50 Anti-Israel protests in the United States in the past week, a group who was founded by members of the Workers World Party (WWP) and members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation(PSL).  I recently blogged about ANSWER who has been accused for a few years of anti-Semitism, and supporting Hezbollah and Hamas.

Bray is also involved with:

• Muslim American Society – Executive Director. Group has been reported to be a front group for the Muslim Brotherhood.
• National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom – Founding Board Member.  Group has been reported to have lobbied and litigated against U.S. counter-terrorism laws, provided legal counsel to terror suspects, and works to overturn terrorist convictions.
• American Muslim Council (AMC)– Advisory Board.  This groups claims to fame are, The Chairman of this group was imprisoned for terror-related convictions in 2003.  AMC was a part of the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom.  AMC created the National Islamic Prison Foundation below.  AMC was a longtime supporter of Sudan’s National Islamic Front, which was and still is on the State Dept.’s list of terrorist organizations.
• Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)– Advisory Board.  Formed a coalition to repeal and amend the Patriot Act.  MPAC asserts that Hezbollah “could be called a liberation movement.”  Found and executive director Salam AL-Marayati justified the existence of Hamas as a political entity and a provider of social programs and “educational operations”.  MPAC justified the 1983 bombing of the American Marine barracks in Lebanon as a “military operation” rather than a terrorist attack.  Claims Israel was established by terrorism and that they are the “worst terrorists in the world.”  And a lot more.
• Interfaith Alliance Foundation – Advisory Board
• Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations – President
• National Islamic Prison Foundation (NIPF) – Head.  Created by American Muslim Council.  A Saudi-supported outreach program seeking to convert US prison inmates to the Islamic faith.  Tells them when they are released from prison, they will be able to find food and shelter, as well as assistance in finding employment, in virtually any mosque or masjid.  The indoctrination of American inmates is a strategy described in al Qaeda training manuals.
• Imam Jamil Defense Fund – National Mobilization Chairman.  Organization provides legal aid for Jamil Abudullah Al-Amin (aka H. Rap Brown), who was twice on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitivies” list and is now serving a life sentence for murdering a police officer.
• “The Crescent Report” – Host of the Muslim-oriented radio talk show, sponsored by Wahhabi Saudi Arabia.
• “Activist Training Seminars” – A project of his whose objective is to train at least 1,000 people in the “skills necessary for effective activism.”
• Lots more damming information at “When Islamists Get Caught:  MAS Edition”, “Leader of Muslim Brotherhood Front Group Appointed to Virginia Commission on Immigration”, “The Mendacity of MAS”

Muslim American Society and ANSWER Anti-Israel Protest in Washington

This protest was held this past Friday at the Israeli Embassy in Washington and then headed to the Egyptian Embassy.  Brian Becker, who heads ANSWER also made an appearance which can be seen in video 3 below.

These crimes could not be committed [against Gaza by Israel] and would not be committed without the explicit consent and support and financing provided by the Bush Administration.  And so in that sense we are here to say, that this is a US backed Israeli atrocity and justice demands that the United States Government cut all aid to Israel today, otherwise and because of it the US is guilty of war crimes too. 

[Oh okay, so I guess it didn’t matter that Bush just gave $85 MILLION dollars to the UN for Gaza and the West Bank right?  No aid for Israel, no aid for Gaza.  An eye for an eye.]

Bray, meanwhile, had to say, “We’re here to say the violence must stop.”  “And we’re here to say that there must be a ceasefire, a truce and that basically the sanctity of life is important.”  He also had to say in one of the videos, that the people were there to represent the Muslims.  [Wait, isn’t this SUPPOSE to be anti-war, and not about anti-Semitism?]

Once again, just that, kind of a layout of what we want to do here today.

First of all, we’re here to protest the occupation of Palestine.  We’re here to protest the slaughter in Gaza.  We’re here to protest the 18 months of siege that has taken place in Gaza, before the bombs dropped, people were dying because they couldn’t get food, medicine, medical attention, clean drinking water, etc.  So, that’s why we’re here.

[Sure, I’ve given my own terms for a ceasefire and truce.  Gaza stays the way it is, Israel stays the way it is.  However, if a rocket comes from Gaza into Israel, that means that Israel can send a Hellfire missile back across to Gaza.  If two rockets come from Gaza, then two Hellfire missiles go back across to Gaza.  Fair deal.   But if Iran sends anything over to Israel, then that’s a whole different ballgame.]

One angry protestor spoke against Barack Obama wanting to know why he was silent and why he wasn’t president now. But pointed out when Georgia was attacked by Russian, Obama spoke on that issue against Russia. That Obama doesn’t seem to represent “Change”.  

And that “President Obama, despite all he said on television, that is illegal.  That is immoral. That is inhuman. And reason for him to make a decision now.”  And additionally said that Obama is a subservient to the current Administration. 

[Can be seen and heard in the first video below.  Obama has in the past stated that Israel has the right to defend itself.  And obviously, these protestors want the United States to start a war with Israel.  NOT GONNA HAPPEN.  If these people want help to defend Gaza, then they can just take the next plane over there, and join Hamas.  But instead, they choose to stay safely here, and whine, instead of paying homage to their country, and serve the country they seem to show more allegiance to than the United States.]

More Pictures Here, and Here.
Additional Videos Here1, Here2 and Here3.

In another article, Hamas quickly denied this week’s disclosure by the London-based Al-Hayat (who in the past, has nearly always been right on the news they report), that the Palestinian legislature has voted for an Islamic penal code that would include hand amputations, crucifixions, lashes and executions.

Palestinian Media Watch however, learned that official Hamas leaders have proudly announced in the Hamas-run media in the last two months that this Islamic penal code was being prepared, had “14 chapters and 220 clauses” and was nearly ready.  Hamas leaders went as far as to say that when these laws are implemented, they will have force not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank.

Examples of Hamas Contradictions:

SHARI’A

Sharia is the body of Islamic religious law.  The term means “way” or “path to the water source”; it is the legal framework within which the public and private aspects of life are regulated for those living in a legal system based on Islamic principles of jurisprudence and for Muslims living outside the domain.  Sharia deals with many aspects of day-to-day life, including politics, economics, baking, business, contracts, family, sexuality, hygiene, and social issues.

Crucifixion in the Qur’an

The Qur’an mentions crucifixion several times.  In Surah 7:124, Firaun (Arabic for Pharaoh) says that he will crucify his chief wizards.  A

Also, Surah 12:41 mentions Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) saying that the king (the current ruler of the land he was stranded in) would crucify one of his prisoners.

‘And the wizards fell down prostrate, crying:  “We believe in the Lord of the Worlds, The Lord of Musa and Harun”.  Firaun said:  “Ye believe in Him before I give you leave!  Lo!  this is the plot that ye have plotted in the city that ye may drive its people hence.  But ye shall come to know!  Surely I shall have your hands and feet cut off upon alternate sides.  Then I shall crucify you every one.”’ - Surah 7:12-124

‘O my two fellow-prisoners!  As for one of you, he will pour out wine for his lord to drink; and as for the other, he will be crucified so that the birds will eat from his head.  Thus is the case judged concerning which ye did inquire.’ – Surah 12:1

In Surah 5:33, the Qur’an mentions crucifixion as a form of punishment for those who fight Allah and his messenger.

‘The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land:  that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.” – Surah 5:33  Because of this verse in the Qur’an, crucifixion is still one of the Hadd punishments in the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran’s Islamic Criminal Law, Article 195)[33]

OTHER NEW LAWS

As found on Al Arabiya [English Translation]

The language of the law proposes “primary and secondary” laws.  Primary laws include:  “Koranic laws, blood revenge, lashes, crucifixion, and execution…”  The text stresses:  “These punishments will not be cancelled or pardoned … except if pardoned by the victim himself.”

Article 59 of the draft stipulates that “punishment of death will be enacted on any Palestinian who intentionally does one of the following: Raised a weapon against Palestine on behalf of the enemy during war, was appointed to negotiate with a foreign government on a Palestinian issue and negotiated against Palestinians' interest, performed a hostile action against a foreign country in a way that endangers Palestine in war or in harming political relations, served a foreign army in time of war, advised or helped soldiers to enlist in this army, weakened the spirit or the force of resistance of the people, or spied against Palestine especially during war."

Article 84 stipulates that “all who drinks wine, owns or produces wine are subject to 40 lashes if he is a Muslim … and those who drink in public or angers another person [with wine], or causes him distress when drinking wine in a public place, or goes to a place while drunks [public intoxication] will be punished no less than 40 lashes and imprisoned for at least three months.

OLD LAW

While the Palestinian Authority today operates under a set of largely secular laws, it does regularly mete out the death penalty to those who aid Israel in its war on terror.  Under an old Jordanian law still in effect, selling land to Jews is also currently punishable by death.

No, it was not Obama, although he has pushed “change” and “sharing the wealth”.  It was Rev. Wright, the pastor of the church that Obama went to for 20 years, as noted on an archived version of the Trinity United Church’s website from 2004 via the Internet Archive.

On Obama’s website “Fight The Smears” under “The Truth About Barack’s Faith” it states, “Barack Obama is a committed Christian.  He was sworn into the Senate on his family Bible.  He has regularly attended church with his wife and daughters for years.”  I have to show you a cached copy, because the website “Fight The Smears” seems to have disappeared now, from yesterday to today, with a message of “Database unavailable.”  I’m curious to see why this has happened, especially in light of the entire Obama/Biden agenda “disappearing” within four days of the site going live with the explanation that it was being “revised” and then appearing missing a few things.

But for about 20 years, Obama and his family attended Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ.  This is the same church that Obama states he “found” his Christianity, where he was married, where his daughters were baptized, and whose pastor, the Rev. Wright, gave him the title of his book, The Audacity of Hope.  In a 1995 Obama interview, Obama states that Rev Wright represents “best” black church has to offer. 

At the church’s website, at one time which has now been removed, but brought back to light via the Internet Archive from Jan 2007 (and archived as far back as 2003), contained the “Black Value System” written in 1981.

“We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologically Christian… Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent.  We are an African people, and remain “true to our native land,” the mother continent, the cradle of civilization.  God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism.  It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation.”

“We believe in the following 12 precepts and covenantal statements.  These Black Ethics must be taught and exemplified in homes, churches, nurseries and schools, wherever Black are gathered.  They must reflect on the following concepts:

1.  Commitment to God
2.  Commitment to the Black Community
3.  Commitment to the Black Family
4.  Dedication to the Pursuit of Education
5.  Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence
6.  Adherence to the Black Worth Ethic
7.  Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect
8.  Disavowal of the Pursuit of “Middleclassness”
9.  Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the Black Community.
10.  Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting Black Institutions.
11.  Pledge allegiance to all Black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System
12.  Personal commitment to embracement of the Black Value System

Also on the church’s website at one time, was their “mission” page, which again has come back to light thanks to the Internet Archive, from 2004.

Trinity United Church of Christ has been called by God to be a congregation that is not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that does not apologize for its African roots! […]

We are called out to be “a chosen people” that pays no attention to socio-economic or educational backgrounds. 

The fortunate who are among us combine forces with the less fortunate to become agents of change for God who is not pleased with America’s economic mal-distribution!

W.E.B DuBois indicated that the problem in the 20th century was going to be the problem of the color line.  He was absolutely correct.  Our job as servants of God is to address that problem and eradicate it in the name of Him who came for the whole world by calling all men, women, boys and girls to Christ.

But when certain sermons that were given by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright came to light, such as one in from 2003, when Obama was regularly attending the church, when Wright made statements [VIDEO] such as “God Damn America” and “…and they will not only attack you, if you try to point out what’s going on in white America, US of KKK-A”, has referred to Condoleezza Rice as “Condemnesia” and stated that 9/11 was America’s fault with their chickens coming home to roost.  Rev. Wright retired in April of 2008.

Obama at first defended the church saying “I don’t think my church is particularly controversial” and “Rev Wright was like an old Uncle, who sometimes says things I don’t agree with.”  Then due to the negative media, also in April of 2008, Obama’s family resigned their membership with the church.

It has been reported that Obama was an infrequently churchgoer on the campaign trail, though he did make a series of appearances in the pews and pulpits of South Carolina churches ahead of that heavily religious state’s primary.  And during the campaign, on Father’s Day, Obama chose to attend the South Side’s Apostolic Church of God to give a speech aimed at the black community on the importance of fatherhood and family.

Now, since Obama’s election he has opted for Sunday morning workouts three weeks in a row over attending church, much unlike his predecessors. 

According to Politico, when a transition aide was asked about this, the person “noted that the Obama’s value their faith experience in Chicago but were concerned about the impact their large retinue may have on other parishioners.”

“Because they have a great deal of respect for places of worship, they do not want to draw unwelcome or inappropriate attention to a church not used to the attention their attendance would draw,” said the aide.

Politico notes that “Both President-elect George W. Bush and President-elect Bill Clinton managed to attend church in the weeks after they were elected.”

“In November of 1992, Clinton went to services in Little Rock, Ark., on the three weekends following his election, taking pre-church jogs on the first two and attending on the third weekend a Catholic Mass with the Rev. Jesse Jackson,”.

“In the weeks after the contested 2000 election, Bush regularly attended services at Tarrytown United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas, and Al Gore was frequently photographed arriving at and leaving church in Virginia.”

For some reason, the word hypocrite is suddenly coming to mind.  And now I know where Obama gets his “change” from.  The “wonderful” Rev. Wright, who was Obama’s pastor for 20 years, as it is stated on the church’s old Mission page from 2004, “The fortunate who are among us combine forces with the less fortunate to become agents of change for God who is not pleased with America’s economic mal-distribution!”  Hmm.. change and “share the wealth” suddenly come to mind.

And is not a church racist if it only caters to blacks?  And is it not racist if it reinforces that there are differences between whites and blacks using God’s house, scripture and name?  And if it is a church for all as with the statement of “who came for the whole world by calling all men, women, boys and girls to Christ, “ would a white person be welcome in that church?  Because I thought God didn’t care what color your skin was, last time I checked.  Sounds to me more like a suicide mission than a pilmigrage.

FAITH

Although the “faith” page has disappeared from the Change.gov website, the topic still appears on the Change.gov forums and it still appears on the Obama/Biden Election site.  So what did the “Faith” part of Obama’s old Change agenda page say?

RECONCILING FAITHS AND POLITICS

“(Obama’s speech on faith) may be the most important pronouncement by a Democrat on faith and politics since John F. Kennedy’s Houston speech in 1960 declaring his independence from the Vatican…Obama offers the first faith testimony I have heard from any politician that speaks honestly about the uncertainties of belief.”

--E.J. Dionne, Op-Ed, Washington Post, June 30, 2006

In June of 2006, Senator Obama delivered what was called the most important speech on religion and politics in 40 years.  Speaking before an evangelical audience, Senator Obama candidly discussed his own religious conversion and doubts, and the need for a deeper, more substantive discussion about the role of faith in American life.

Senator Obama also laid down principles for how to discuss faith in a pluralistic society, including the need for religious people to translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values during public debate.  In December, 2006, Senator Obama discussed the importance of faith in the global battle against AIDS.

The speech that is noted is Obama’s “Call to Renewal” speech at the Call to Renewal’s Building a Covenant for New America.  During this speech Obama talks about his own personal faith.   His speech borderlines ending the separation of church and state and basically implies that the “reason a gang-banger shoots indiscriminately into a crowd” is because there “a hole in that young man’s heart – a hole that the government alone cannot fix.”  That religion will fix everything.  And that we as a nation of different religions and nonbelievers have to come to a “compromise” on what is ethical and moral across the board on a political level.  The speech borderlines on the “S” word……What is good in one religion that is good in another religion, is good for all religions. 

And there is man’s law and God’s law, if man’s law goes against God’s law, it is our duty to follow God’s law and not man’s. 

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” – Romans 13:1

“We must obey God rather than men.” – Acts 5:29

All I have to say on the matter is this.  If I want or need more God in my life, I have the option of going to a church.  I don’t need government telling me that I need more God in my life.  And I don’t need a government telling me that there is only one book that can be followed and all other are trash?  That is a Constitutional right that I have, via the First Amendment.  Personal responsibility for personal  morality and personal ethics are the responsibility of each individual, not the government.  If all religions have a “compromise” then what separates those religions anymore?  And that we need to think in terms of “thou” and not just”I”, when it comes to religion.  And does all that not brush on State or National Religion?:

“Amendment 1 – Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble; and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

So unless Obama decides to change our Constitution, he’s out of luck.  Additionally Obama keeps calling Abraham Lincoln a genius, which he may have been when it came to many things, however obviously he is not completely knowledgeable about Lincoln since Lincoln stated the following:

“The Bible is not my book and Christianity is not my religion.  I could never give assent to the long complicated statements of Christian dogma.”

Excerpts are below with the entire video so that the Obamabots can not say that I am taking things out of context,which admittedly I am however, I am ‘highlighting’ certain statements to prove a point.  You are a human with a mind, and can watch the entire video for yourself, to determine whether you think I am correct, or form your own conclusion.

“At best, we may try to avoid the conversation about religious values altogether, fearful of offending anyone and claiming that – regardless of our personal beliefs – constitutional principles tie our hands.”

“But in the long haul, I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in people’s lives – in the lives of the American people – and I think it’s time that we join a serious debate about how to reconcile faith with our modern, pluralistic democracy.”

“You need to come to church in the first place precisely because you are first of this world, not apart from it.  You need to embrace Christ precisely because you have sins to wash away – because you are human and need an ally in this difficult journey.”

“More fundamentally, the discomfort of some progressives with any hint of religion has often prevented us from effectively addressing issues in moral terms.  Some of the problem here is rhetorical – if we scrub language of all religious content, we forfeit the imagery and terminology through which millions of Americans understand both their personal morality and social justice.”

“I believe in keeping guns out of inner cities, and that our leaders must say so in the face of the gun manufacturers’ lobby – but I also believe that when a gang-banger shoots indiscriminately into a crowd because he feels somebody disrespected him, we’ve got a moral problem.  There’s a hole in that young man’s heart – a hole that the government alone cannot fix.”

“But what I am suggesting is this – secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square.”

“Moreover, if we progressives shed some of these biases, we might recognize some overlapping values that both religious and secular people share when it comes to the moral and material direction of our country.  We might recognize that the call to sacrifice on behalf of the next generation, the need to think in terms lf “thou” and not just ”I, resonates in religious congregations all across the country.  And we might realize that we have the ability to reach out to the evangelical community and engage millions of religious Americans in the larger project of American renewal.”

“Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific values.”

“And if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? … Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy?  Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is ok and that eating shellfish is abomination?  How about Deuteronomy, which suggest stoning your child if he strays from the faith?  Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount – a passage that is so radical that it’s doubtful our own Defense Department would survive its application?”

“Now this is going to be difficult for some who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, as many evangelicals do.  But in a pluralistic democracy, we have no choice.  Politics depends on our ability to persuade each other of common aims based on a common reality.  It involves the compromise, the art of what’s possible.  At some fundamental level, religion does not allow for compromise.  It’s the art of the impossible.”

“Finally, any reconciliation between faith and democratic pluralism requires some sense of proportion.”

“But a sense of proportion should also guide those who police the boundaries between church and state.  Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation – context matters.  It is doubtful that children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feel oppressed or brainwashed as consequence of muttering the phrase “under God.”  I didn’t.  Having voluntary student prayer groups use school property to meet should not be a threat, any more than its use by the High School Republicans should threaten Democrats.  And one can envision certain faith-based programs – targeting ex-offenders or substance abusers – that offer a uniquely powerful way of solving problems.”

“A hope that we can live with one another in a way that reconciles the beliefs of each with the good of all.  It’s a prayer worth praying, and a conversation worth having in this country in the months and years to come.”

Last week, there was a concert promoting Israel Liberation Week and was sponsored by the Zionist Freedom Alliance student group.  Around 5:30 PM three members of Students for Justice in Palestine hung up two Palestinian flags on the building above where the concert was going on.  The students said they were responding to the anti-Palestinian lyrics they heard.

Three individuals, which included one who was a performer at the concert, went up to the balcony where the flag was being displayed.  All three men were Jewish.  A fight broke out.

ASUC officials who witnessed the fight said the three men interrupted ASUC meetings on the second floor in order to reach the balcony.  They added that the fight prompted about four members of the audience to run up to the second floor.

“I went up to the second floor because the message they were sending was an abomination to our national rights,” said Gabe Weiner, ASUC former senator.  Weiner was handcuffed and later cited with battery by UCPD.  One additional student and one non-student were cited for battery, with both of them also being Jewish. (Gabe can be seen in the middle in an unrelated picture.)

Witnesses said that the Arab students shouted anti-Semitic curses and epithets throughout the incident, calling the Jews “Nazis” and “dogs,” and threatening to kill them.  According to one witness, as many as 20 anti-Israel students participated in the fight.

Husam Zakharia, said the rap lyrics he heard spurred him to hang up the Palestinian flag.  “We’re going to go up and we’re going to put up our Palestinian flag in silent protest-exercising our freedom of speech to say we’re here and we exist,” he said, adding that he was surprised by the reaction.  Zakharia was hit in the face during the altercation.

Both groups Zionist Freedom Alliance and Students for Justice in Palestine released statements on the incident.

BACKGROUND, NOT THE FIRST TIME.

According to blogger who states he has taught part-time at UC for 10 years, “the entire UC system has been plagued for some years by tension between Jewish and Muslim students due to the Israeli-Palestine issue.”   Pro-Israel students at UC Berkeley have complained of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic harassment.

In a September incident, a poster promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace on a bus stop outside Eshleman Hall was vandalized with anti-Semitic marks and symbols.  The Berkeley Police Department was investigating the incident as a hate crime, which Berkelely Police Officer Andrew Frankel said was “unusual.”  [Frankel must not have worked at UC-Berkeley when four years ago, Chancellor Berdhal announced a 30-member task force to tackle hate crimes.]

At the time, the Dean of Students Poullard said he hoped the incidents [of hate related vandalism] would make students more conscious of preventing incidents of hateful speech.  “I think it’s a reminder to all of us what we must be vigilant to create a safe space,” he said.  “I think something good will come out of this.”  [Yea, like what happened last week?]

 In early September  SJP claimed that one of their boards had been vandalized.  The board “displayed an image of the apartheid wall that Israel is constructing in and around the West Bank, as well as a caricature of Handala, a famous cartoon of a Palestinian refugee by cartoonist Naji al-Ali.”  One Jewish member of the SJP has argued that there is no such thing as a Jewish nation and that Jews have no claim to any territory anywhere.

Below however, in early October, ASUC Senator John Moghtader and Weiner lead a disruptive protest by Tikvah Students in October at a lecture titled “Israel, Palestine, and the Rule of Law:  A Discussion on The Rights and Wrongs of Israel’s Occupation of Palestine.”.  Because of this incident, the Jewish Student Union (JSU), student-led body that oversees 15 Jewish student groups, placed Tikvah: Students for Israel on probation.

The president of the JSU told Tikvah that if they issued an open letter to Students for Justice in Palestine apologizing, they would be taken off probation.  Moghtader said it wasn’t going to happen.  (In 2002, Students for Justice protested a Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration where 79 pro-Palestinian protestors were arrested.  SJP was put on suspension so no one is innocent here.)

Additionally, as for how long this has been going on, lets take a look at a few months in 2002 on UC campuses alone regarding anti-Semitism.

■  Feb 7, 2002 – Pro-Palestinian students staged a protest at the UC-Berkeley calling Israel an “apartheid state” and Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a war criminal.  Demonstrators also staged a skit, during which cardboard models of “Palestinian homes” were crushed by students holding photos of Prime Minister Sharon in front of their faces.

■  Feb 16-18, 2002 – A nationally promoted conference at the UC-Berkeley served as the kickoff for a student-led campaign to encourage universities to divest themselves of stock in corporations that do business with Israel.

■  March 27, 2002 – The UC-Berkeley Hillel Center was vandalized with anti-Israel and anti-Semitic graffiti and the glass front door was smashed in with a cement block.

■  April 6, 2002 – A construction site for new dormitories at UC-Santa Barbara was defaced with anti-Israel/anti-Semitic graffiti including the phrases:  “Anti Zion/Nuke Israel,” “God Hates Jews,” and “Burn the Torah.”

■  April 9, 2002 – Campus police at UC-Berkeley arrested 79 pro-Palestinian protestors who had stormed into a classroom building in an attempt to disrupt a Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration.  In the aftermath of the incident, the university suspended the student organization, “Students for Justice in Palestine,” pending an investigation.

■  April 9, 2002 – A “National Day of Action in Commemoration of Massacre of Village of Deir Yassine April 9 1948” was held at UC-Davis, to coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day activities.

■  April 12, 2002 – At UC-Riverside the Muslim Student Union sponsored a rally and protest for Palestine that concluded with a march to Riverside’s City Hall.

■  April 15, 2002 – Muslim student groups at UC-Berkeley and UC-San Diego posted fliers featuring fabricated, distorted and out-of-context quotations from the Talmud and other rabbinical literature.  Samples include:
  - “A Jew is permitted to rape, cheat and perjure himself, but he must take care that he is not found out, so that Israel may not suffer.”
  -  “A Gentile girl who is three years old can be violated.”
  -  “The Jews are human beings, but the nations of the world are not human beings but beasts.”

■  April 15, 2002 – Al Kalima, the Muslim newsmagazine at UC-Irvine, jointly published a highly anti-Israel publication entitled “Zionism: the Forgotten Apartheid.”  The magazine publicly lauds and promotes both Hamas and Hizbullah as legitimate and noteworthy resistance movements.  The magazine has also been distributed at UC-San Diego.

■  April 24, 2002 – The Muslim Student Association at UC-San Diego sponsored a talk by Hatem al-Bazian, a speaker whose anti-Semitic and anti-American views were challenged by Hillel members, who placed fliers around campus that featured al-Bazain’s quotes.  Muslim students who witnessed what Hillel members were doing began to scream and taunt the Jewish students:  one allegedly made threats of physical harm.

■  May 2, 2002 – Following the rejection of a divestment resolution before the UC-Berkeley student government, a group of 500 protestors gathered to object to the University administration’s suspension of the Students for Justice in Palestine group.

■  May 7, 2002 – The Muslim Student Association at UC-San Diego distributed filers on campus titled, “The Jenin Massacre.”  At the same time, fliers appeared on campus with an anti-Semitic diatribe written by the right-wing extremist and former Klansman David Duke.

■  May 14, 2002 – At UC-Irvine, an anti-Israeli demonstration featured the display of mock “body bags” of Palestinians “murdered” by the Israeli army.

As for this year, it seems the trend is down, as prior to the above incident, only four cases of bias-related crime has been reported on UCPD this year.  Want more examples?  How about another?  Or another?  Or another?  There are way too many to list here, and against Jews. 

And in 2005 when there was to be an anti-terror rally at Berkeley, that included the wreckage of Jerusalem Bus #19, that was destroyed in a suicide bombing that killed 11 and wounded 45, it almost never took place due to a crowd of 300 pro-Palestinian, and Socialist group protestors.  In their protest, the expressed their outrage that Jews, Christians and other supporters of Israel and America had dared to gather and speak out against terrorism.  About 40 pro-Palestinian college students waved Palestinian flags and used bullhorns to chant “Down with Israel!” and “Down with the U.S.A..” 

RANT:

Obviously the UC system endorses anti-Semitism on their campuses as they continue to let it occur.  And remember, I don’t take sides however, it seems that those who are pro-Palestinian are getting away with way too much and when pro-Israel students attempt something, the pro-Palestinian students make their lives miserable based upon the information I have found. 

However, I do believe that those groups or individuals on campus that have repeatedly been put on probation or suspension due to basically what should be called hate crimes, should be suspended permanently.  What is it going to take before this is addressed on UC campuses?   Or is UC-Berkeley turning into a pseudo “war zone” like Israel and Palestine, where there has been fighting since the beginning of time, and thus this kind of activity will continue on also?

When a student can not even walk out of their dorm without fear of having to defend themselves because of their religion, then that school is not worth the paper the diploma is printed on.  No student should have to defend themselves to get an education.

This is not the West Bank, this is not Palestine, this is the United States.  If you want lines, go to to Israel, as there will be NO LINES of “my area” and “your area” as its “our area” as in WE THE PEOPLE here in the United States and that is what this country is based on.  If you don’t like it, then leave it. No one is making you stay here.   You want to fight for your religion, then go to Israel.  Don’t like what I have to say?  Hmm.. FIRST AMENDMENT, thank you.  Because I really don’t care what you believe when it comes to God, as long as you aren’t pushing it down my throat, or blowing up or killing people because they aren’t “your” religion.

ADDITIONAL SOURCES:

• DAILYCAL, DAILYCAL
• Israel National News