New U: Up the ‘Wall’ with Palestine Awareness Week

By Maisam Alomar

As I stood at the Muslim Student Union table on Ring Mall last week, I noticed a young boy standing with his mother at the mock apartheid wall. David was 5 years old, and he carried a stuffed animal in his hand. As I approached them, his mother said, “I am usually at work at this time, but I just wanted my son to see this. I know it’s too much for a young child, but I want him to know that not everyone comes home at night without worrying that their house might have been destroyed or that their family may have been killed.” This year’s Palestine Awareness Week, “Never Again? The Palestinian Holocaust,” was an opportunity to educate both young and old people about the urgent humanitarian crisis and historical injustice in Palestine.

The mock apartheid wall, situated on Ring Mall from May 12 through May 15, was perhaps the main attraction of the event. Curious passersby stopped to read about Palestine, often realizing that they should investigate the issue before trusting the biased, limited and often plainly inaccurate image of the situation presented by the mainstream media. The change of heart came easily to many people because aside from the fact that Israel’s genocidal activities should be cause for concern, they discovered where $10 million of our tax dollars go every day.

Hundreds of people from many different backgrounds came to hear the eight speakers at the event. The speakers all agreed that Palestinian suffering and subjection to injustice had to end, but offered a slightly varied set of solutions. They demonstrated that people working for freedom for the Palestinians should unite, no matter how they think this freedom should be attained. The MSU stressed that the source of a problem must always be examined before a solution can be found. Therefore, while the MSU acknowledged the deaths on both sides, it reminded its audience not to ignore the historical and political context of the situation. The problem began with the theft of Palestinian land and the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. This is why, as Rachel Corrie’s mother stated, there is no balance of power, and as Ilan Pappe stated, this is not merely a “conflict.”

Overall, the week succeeded in providing facts and historical background about the issue. However, it did not escape criticism. The most popular criticism of the MSU’s Palestine Awareness Week is that it is anti-Semitic, or more accurately, anti-Jewish. The MSU went the extra mile to clear up any misconceptions and to draw a distinction between the racist, genocidal Israeli apartheid and the Jewish faith. Four of the eight speakers were Jewish. In fact, a whole panel of the wall was dedicated to this distinction, acknowledging that the week’s events were not comprised of hate speech, but rather the truth about the injustices that Israel continues to perpetrate in the Holy Land.

In the very first lecture of the week, “What’s the Fuss? Is Criticism of Israel Anti-Semitic,” Norman Finklestein argued the same position to an audience of nearly 600 attendees. It is puzzling that people continue to insist that the Jewish faith would advocate Israel and its atrocities, but this insulting misrepresentation of Judaism is not supported by the MSU.

The two Muslim speakers also had unique criticism. It is interesting to note that while all eight speakers had a similar message, the Muslim speakers were accused of expressing “thinly-veiled hate speech” or being “radical.” However, the messages from the Jewish speakers were only labeled as “dramatizations.” The speakers were referred to as “misled” or “misinformed activists” with good intentions. Even more interesting is that Anna Baltzer had already predicted these criticisms. When Baltzer was asked how she handled criticism of her work, she said that she considered it “the light version of harassment.” She explained that people claimed she was just a naïve and misinformed young girl, whereas the hatred and criticisms that Muslims endure are much worse.

What about raising cultural awareness? The Palestinian people don’t have too much time to focus on that, as they’re too busy dying and being expelled from their homes. As David’s mother taught him, the world is not always a happy place. Besides, since Anteaters for Israel so thoughtfully took care of raising awareness about Arab culture by presenting the campus with Arabic food and Arabic music during this year’s iFest, MSU decided to focus on politics.

Why don’t we focus on what Muslims are doing around the world, instead? The MSU does not stand by the un-Islamic activities of self-proclaimed Muslim leaders, which is exactly what we ask of the Jewish people. Just as there is no Islamic country in the world today, Israel does not represent Jewish people. Although no oppressed people in the world today are as ignored or as directly affected by American foreign policy as the Palestinians, MSU also holds activities to help other oppressed people. For example, this year’s “Fashion Fighting Famine” event collected money to send to Darfur as humanitarian aid, and the “Fast-a-thon” was a fundraiser for all those hurt by the African Food Crisis.

Due to the awareness that the campus gained from this year’s Palestine Awareness Week, it is important to remember the wise words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” Using this as a guideline, people around the world can start to come together to work for true peace in the Middle East, finally ending what is often considered a never-ending conflict.

Help End "Israeli" Apartheid!

The UC Divestment movement against the apartheid state of "Israel" is picking up momentum, be a part of it NOW!

To UCI Administration:

We, the undersigned, are appalled by the human rights abuses against Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli government, the continual military occupation and colonization of Palestinian territory by Israeli armed forces and settlers, the forcible eviction of Palestinians from their homes, and the demolition of Palestinian dwellings, neighborhoods and towns.

We categorically condemn the loss of any innocent life, Israeli or Palestinian. We therefore call on UC Irvine and the UC system (1) to use its influence--political and financial--to encourage the United States government to suspend its military aid and arms sales to Israel, and (2) to divest its $54 million in investments from Israel, from all companies that manufacture arms and other military hardware sold to Israel, and from companies that sell such arms and military hardware to Israel, until these conditions are met:

• Israel is in compliance with United Nations Resolution 242 which notes the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war, and which calls for withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from occupied territories.
• Israel is in compliance with the United Nations Committee Against Torture 2001 Report which recommends that Israel's use of legal torture be ended.
• In compliance with the Fourth Geneva Convention ("The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into territories it occupies"; Article 49, paragraph 6), Israel ceases building new settlements, and vacates existing settlements, in the Occupied Territories.
• Israel acknowledges in principle the applicability of United Nations Resolution 194 with respect to the rights of refugees, and accepts that refugees should either be allowed to return to their former lands or else be compensated for their losses, as agreed by the Palestinians and Israelis in bilateral negotiations.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

http://www.petitiononline.com/UCI2008/petition.html

Official MSU Statement Regarding Palestine Week

Every May, the Muslim Student Union, along with a coalition of other progressive student groups, puts on a week long series of events about the Palestinian-Israeli issue. This year our events spans over two week and began last Wednesday with a lecture by renowned political scientist Norman Finkelstein. The event, which addressed whether criticism of the state of Israel is anti-Semitic, drew close to six hundred students and community members, with a lively and humorous talk by the professor followed by an interactive question and answer session.

As the MSU, our goal in organizing these events is to promote a better understanding of the conflict, and to open doors for discussion and critical thinking. Furthermore, we hope that by empowering students with a better understanding of the conflict, students will become actively involved in promoting a just solution in the region. As such we invite students, faculty and the community at large to attend our programs with an open mind ready to listen, understand and question. As a campus community, we feel this is the best way to create dialogue around issues which are sometimes considered taboo.

A university serves as the free marketplace of ideas; in this spirit, we invite you all to attend our week on Palestine. May 14, 2008 marks 60 years since the beginning of the Palestinian tragedy, commonly referred to by Palestinians as the Nakba (Catastrophe). 60 years of dispossession, statelessness, and ethnic cleansing have created the largest group of refugees in the world; has left thousands of innocent men, women and children dead; and has shattered the livelihood of millions of people facing the scourge of the longest, most brutal occupation in modern history. This week, we will tell their story, we will mourn their suffering, and we will honor their resistance. This week, we will stand with them.

Our title asks whether another holocaust is on the horizon for the natives of Palestine, as the Israeli deputy of defense threatens. Attend our events to hear our perspective, independent of media bias and negative stereotypes that you may have seen. Furthermore, we invite you to question what you hear, do your own research and formulate an opinion on the issue. The truth speaks for itself.

The real issue about the crisis of Palestine should not get lost in campus politics. We owe it to the people suffering in that region to educate ourselves; especially since our own government helps support many of the policies in place in Palestine. To that end, we have flown in world-renowned Israeli historian Ilan Pappe from the United Kingdom to speak about the history of the region on the anniversary of the Nakba. As an Israeli, he will provide a balanced perspective that sheds light on both sides of the issue.

Cindy and Craig Corrie lost a daughter to the conflict; as Americans who know all to well the costs of the occupation, they will discuss on Tuesday evening why it is important for us to understand the experience of Palestinians and advocate a just solution as their daughter did, before she was brutally murdered by an Israeli soldier. Rachael stood in front of a Palestinian home and tried to stop it from being illegally demolished through non-violent action. Her death stands as a witness to the brutal injustice practiced by Israeli Armed Forces.

Anna Baltzer is a Jewish American Columbia graduate, Fulbright scholar, and the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. She is a three-time volunteer with the International Women's Peace Service, where she documented human rights abuses in the West Bank and supported the nonviolent movement against the Occupation. Her acclaimed presentation, Life in Occupied Palestine: Eyewitness Stories & Photos, will be presented on Wednesday afternoon.

For more information on the entire week of events, please visit www.msu-uci.com. As a concluding thought, a clarification should be made: Judaism is a religion that is respected and upheld within the Muslim faith, as Moses is a distinguished prophet in the Holy Qur'an. For centuries, Muslims and Jews have lived together in peace and still do live together in peace, even at UC Irvine. Zionism, however, is a political movement that has twisted biblical and historical truths to justify the illegal occupation of Palestine. It is a philosophy that has bred violence over the past 60 years; it has also created inequality and prejudice against innocent Palestinians to make them live as strangers in their own homeland. We draw a clear distinction between the world faith that is Judaism, and the political ideology that is Zionism.

We hope to see you all this week!

Moron Humiliated by Finkelstein @ UCI

Never Again? The Palestinian Holocaust

May 14, 2008 marks 60 years since the beginning of the Palestinian tragedy, commonly referred to by Palestinians as the Nakba (Catastrophe). 60 years of dispossession, statelessness, and ethnic cleansing have created the largest group of refugees in the world; has left thousands of innocent men, women and children dead; and has shattered the livelihood of millions of people facing the scourge of the longest, most brutal occupation in modern history. This week, we will tell their story, we will mourn their suffering, and we will honor their resistance. This week, we will stand with them.

Gaza Protest in LA

This past Saturday, hundreds of students across Southern California took a stand and told the nation that the Gaza atrocities that took place last week will not go silently ignored. The demonstration was held outside of the Apartheid “Israeli” Consulate in Los Angeles and was organized by the Muslim Students of Southern California.

A handful of pro-Zionist supporters organized a counter-demonstration across from the consulate, but we did not waste any time with them. Rather, we turned our backs to them and focused our chants and signs towards the consulate.

Some pictures below..

New U- Prison Break: Gaza Wall vs. National Will

By Ilgiz Khisamov

The news that the Palestinians broke the wall between Gaza and Egypt should be considered one of the largest prison breakouts in world history. For the first time in their lives, 750,000 Palestinian inmates could venture outside the Gaza strip, which is like the largest open-air prison in the world. This event demonstrates the resilience of human beings who are brutally denied their basic rights and forced to survive in a hostile environment. Although the Israeli government tried everything to extinguish the resistance of the outnumbered and outgunned Palestinians, it has utterly failed. Oppressors can only offer methods that, at their best, are simply inhumane.

Recently, the Israeli government imposed a total blockade on Gaza, cutting off the supply of essential foodstuffs, fuel and desperately needed medical supplies. The best minds in Israel schemed so that the inmates would revolt against their government, Hamas, and beg the Israelis to give them reprieve. As an additional incentive, Israel launched scores of missiles and air raids, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians.

If such conditions were imposed on any other nation in the world, such as the United States, Serbia or China, their populace would probably break down and sue for peace. Not that Americans are cowards, or that Palestinians are different from the rest of us. Instead, their resilience comes from the fact that for three generations, they have had to live and fight one of the most oppressive regimes in the modern world. They continue to survive violence which, if revealed in all its ugly reality, would spur citizens to demand their governments to intervene and stop this genocidal oppression.

Yet this does not happen, for the true image of suffering is not shown in American media. Rather, Israel is given carte blanche by the U.S. government to deal with the Palestinians however they choose. Thankfully, Palestinians learned long ago that they cannot count on world powers to alleviate their suffering. They have learned to rely only on themselves.

Thus, when Israel blockaded the tiny strip of land called Gaza in hopes of crippling its will, Palestinians found a powerful yet simple answer. Just like the Berliners, who stormed and toppled their wall in 1989, the Palestinians leveled this symbol of oppression and division in one exuberant stroke of national will. Though Palestinians were able to taste the sweet air of freedom, they still remain in prison and are still encircled by walls of indifference and neglect.

Once again, these imprisoned, impoverished and oppressed people have proven their resilience in retaining their human dignity. They showed Israel that its military cannot extinguish their quest for freedom. The oppressive state of Israel should recognize that it is impossible to impose its will by sheer force, and that it needs to recognize Hamas as a legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Only then will it be possible to start productive peace talks to resolve this bitter conflict. However, if we are to judge from past Israeli actions, the future does not look bright.

Pipes Back at UCI with Hate

Daniel Pipes, a leading Islamophobe, visited the UC Intifada for a second time.

Below is an excerpt of the question and answer session from his lecture, where the Muslim Student Union's Spokeswoman Mariam Moustafa challenged his hateful message:

Mariam: What if Muslims do not accept your modernized versions of Islam?

Pipes: The war goes on.

Mariam: For how long?

Pipes: Until they do. We are fighting a defensive war…Which is worse, being attacked by terrorists, or being afraid of being perceived as a terrorist?

Mariam: So because I’m a Muslim, people should be afraid of me?

Pipes: I’m afraid so. [Applause]

Read on at: Muslamics

MSU Headlining OC Weekly

'Against the Wall'
Praying, eating and bowling with the most hated student group at UC Irvine

With a brief red flash, the sun disappears behind the trees at Aldrich Park in the center of the UC Irvine campus as I pray.

“Pray as if this is your last prayer,” instructs a man standing in front.

I place a digital recorder on the ground. A dark-skinned man at my side says, “Follow my lead.” We bow and then lie prostrate on cooling cement. I stand at the end of a row of 30 men, shoulder-to-shoulder. Behind us, another row has nearly the same number of women. All the women wear hijabs, or scarves over their hair and neck. We bow in unison.

The man at the front is named Kareem Elsayed; he’s 21. He leads the prayer with a musical and mournful verse. His cracking voice invokes an abysmal melancholy. I have no idea what he’s saying, but the suras—chapter of the Koran—flow meditatively, centering and calming the Muslim Student Union (MSU) of UCI. Suddenly, familiar words: “Allahu Akhbar.” Followed by several beats of silence. “Allahu Akhbar.”

God is Greatest.

The phrase, in its most reverent use, is a parallel of the Judeo-Christian “Hallelujah” (Praise to God). But the words “Allahu Akhbar,” repeated melodically, strike a cold chord. A simple statement of belief that has become, to many non-Muslims, synonymous with extremism, a jihadist battle cry. Much like the group that now utters it, the phrase has become indelibly linked in many minds with intolerance.

The prayer ends. I dust off, feeling content and serene. I haven’t prayed in months. The Muslim prayer seems as good as any other, I guess.

It’s dusk, and the students begin ambling toward a picnic table near Ring Road, a narrow walking and biking road encircling the park. They are hungry. It is late September, and the holy month of Ramadan is in full swing. The students break their sun-up-to-sundown fasting regimen—no food, water, sex—with a sweet date.

I eat a date, too; it’s good. Elsayed tells me that dates are high in glucose, providing an instant rush of energy and potassium for rehydration. The perfect appetizer for a thirsty, starving Muslim.

The women and the men of the group eat at separate tables. It’s part of tradition, one of the students tells me. Like the conservative dress of the women, eating separately is a way to avoid the distractions of physical attraction so one can focus only on God.

I pile delicious lamb and some kind of spicy rice on a plate and move to a table full of solemn faces. “Mind if I sit down?” I ask with a smile.

They neither object nor invite. They barely look at me, instead staring at their plates. Three thin freshmen and a man in his 40s who looks like an Arab Tony Soprano sit at the table. Not a word is said for several minutes. One of the young men is somewhat sloppily eating with his hands; the rest use plastic cutlery.

“So,” the Soprano look-alike asks me, “how long have you been a Muslim?”

“I’m not a Muslim,” I answer.

He raises his eyebrows and turns his attention back to his food. He seems to regard me suspiciously, not surprising considering the MSU is likely the most hated––and feared––student group at the university.

Complete Article

Reply to UCI-Chancellor's Message on British Boycott

On June 15th, the Chancellor of UCI, Michael Drake, published a message regarding the recent boycott of the apartheid state by the British University and College Union (UCU).

Instead of honoring the brave stance that the UCU is taking against a country that openly practices apartheid; he voiced his contempt against their actions.

Chancellor's Message on British Boycott

Below is a response from a UCI Alumnus.

Dear Chancellor Drake,

I am writing in response to your message published June 15th 2007 strongly opposing the recent vote by the British University and College Union (UCU) to propose an academic boycott of Israel. In my opinion, your message was one-sided and misleading.

First, your statement accusing the UCU of attempting to "shun an entire community of scholars based on what appears to be political opposition to the policies of the incumbent government" is a distortion of the truth.

The boycott movement against Israel , including UCU's recent proposal, is not based on a political position, rather it is based purely on moral and ethical grounds.

Contrary to your above quoted statement, the boycott movement is not a reaction to the policies of a particular government, past or incumbent. Rather, the boycott campaign is targeted at those who support and justify an illegal occupation, one which has been going on for decades and which violates international law and universal principles of human rights. This is stated clearly in the Palestinian Civil Society's (PCS) call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) in June 2005, which initiated the recent world-wide campaign of non-violent resistance against illegal Israeli policies and practices.

Furthermore, the academic boycott is not directed at the entire community of Israeli academics, as you mention. The academic boycott is aimed only at those institutions which openly support and justify Israel's illegal occupation and inhumane policies. In its call on June 2005, the PCS extended its hand to Israelis and invited conscientious Israelis to support them, "for the sake of justice and genuine peace".

Second, I do agree that an intellectual and open discussion is essential to arrive at a better understanding of any situation, particularly one that is as charged as the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. However, to establish a meaningful dialogue, there needs to be a minimum level of understanding between all parties; a common grounds or reference to which all parties agree. In the case of the Palestinian/Israeli issue, no meaningful or effective dialogue can occur without all parties agreeing to stand against any group or government (Israeli or Palestinian) which violates international law and universal principles of human rights.

We may differ on how effective an academic boycott may be in terms of ending injustice and supporting the oppressed. However, one who views the current academic boycott movement in support of the basic human rights of Palestinians as oppressive to Israeli scholars clearly does not have a good understanding of the reasons behind the movement or the goals it aims to achieve.

Sincerely,

Huda Shaka`
UCI alumni

OC Register: UCI deals with claims of Anti-Semitism

A very nicely written article appeared in the OC Register yesterday. The article was titled, "UCI deals with claims of anti-Semitism."

Anti-Semitism is a term that has been thrown at the MSU for many years now. Some people (Zionists) claim that many of the programs put on by the MSU target the Jewish faith and Jews in general.

This is obviously a complete fabrication.

The MSU has explained countless times that their criticisms are of the apartheid state of "Israel" and the political ideology of Zionism. Zionism is a 19th century political ideology that supports the establishment of a Jewish state on Muslim Palestine by any means necessary.

Now, criticizing this movement is clearly not criticizing the Jewish faith. The issue is with the ideology of Zionism and the apartheid system that is being enforced in occupied Palestine under its banner.

In one part of the article, Clown (rabbi) Yonah Bookstein says, "I am a constant voice to point out injustice and hatemongering."

How can a person who cannot even recognize the obvious and blatant injustice against the Palestinians be a source "to point out injustice" anywhere?

This was the same Clown that was cheering and clapping when Rabbi Weiss described the burning of his synagogue in New York.

The article goes on to describe how the numerous claims of anti-semitism on campus turn out to be completely false and made up.

Below is an excerpt:

"Sometimes, officials said, the stories of anti-Semitism are simply fiction.

A young man reported to his father in 2004 that he was being harassed and assaulted for being a Jewish UCI student, leading the infuriated dad to e-mail campus authorities and castigate them for doing nothing.

"My son has been assaulted both physically and verbally on campus," the father wrote in an e-mail, adding that "it appears campus security takes no action."

On further investigation, concerned UCI officials had to report to the boy's father that he wasn't a harassed student, in fact, he wasn't a UCI student at all. He was not then, nor had he ever been, enrolled at UCI. Campus officials were surprised, however, to learn that the young man has now applied to enroll at the campus for fall 2007.

Max Gibson, the San Diego resident who marched in a turban around UCI, e-mailed a campus administrator on May 22 that he was "at UC Irvine campus, and as a young Jewish Republican, I am so, so, so enraged."

Gibson went on to say that he had "been spit on, received death threats and been insulted heavily this last week."

In an interview with the Register, Gibson, who is not a UCI student, repeated his allegations that he was spit on and threatened.

Campus police have a different version of the tale, saying that Gibson recanted when asked to discuss the threats.

According to a memo in which Assistant Police Chief Jeff Hutchison recalled the conversation, Gibson said, "I'm really sorry, but I
embellished a bit"

"He said that no one had actually threatened his life, but four MSU students told him they would have their friends take care of me,"
Hutchinson reported that Gibson told him. "I said, "So you do not believe your life is in danger or that anyone is planning to kill you?"
Mr. Gibson replied, "No, no. Not at all." I asked Mr. Gibson about the spitting incident and he said that the spit from the MSU student's
mouths, who he argued with, would land on him as they argued. I asked him if he wished to file a formal crime report on any of these
incidents. He declined to do so."

*Swastika incident*

According to the campus police, a widely reported incident where swastikas were sprayed on campus was actually a protest against
university police who broke up a loud party.

The swastikas were sprayed from a paint can found near the party site, and vulgar expressions that accompanied the swastikas made it clear they were directed toward the "fascist" actions of the university, not a
racial slur, police chief Paul Henisey said."

Muslim-Jewish Tensions at UC Irvine

KCET on Muslim-Jewish Tensions at UC Irvine

The Muslim Student Union at UC Irvine’s political events are distorted and out of context, which leads to people judging the Muslims on campus out of fear or prejudice, rather than listening objectively to what we have to say. One of our goals is to show people what Islam is all about.

This means that we will try to educate students on campus about issues that we feel we need to stand for. The Muslim Student Union has no "feud" with Jewish students at UC Irvine.

The MSU does not agree with the racist political ideology of Zionism. This is greatly at odds with how we see Judaism, however; we believe Judaism is a rich, beautiful faith that is rooted in the Abrahamic traditions.

Jews, as well as Christians, are considered our "brothers and sisters of the book" in Islam, and we are taught to treat them with respect. If we were to be anti-Semitic, it would go against the very ideals that our religion preaches. The conflict on this campus is over politics, not faith.

Marya Bangee
Spokesperson MSU-UCI

'Sailing to Gaza'

A group comprised of about 50 internationals is sailing to the Gaza Strip in an attempt to visit the most densely populated area in the world. Israel withdrew from Gaza and left it under the control of the Palestinian Authority, but yet it controls every one of its entrances.

A member of the group, Greta Berlin:
"We tried to enter Palestine by ground. We tried to enter by air. Now we are going to go by sea.

We must do everything we can to bring to the world's attention to the fact that Israel's military blockade is causing death to the people of Gaza.

Israel has no right to prevent us from going. So we're going. International law says that we have the right to visit Gaza. Remember, in July 2005, when Israel told the entire world that Gaza was no longer occupied? If it's no longer occupied, why shouldn't we go?"

'According to international law, the waters of Gaza for all 40 kilometers of its coast belong to the Palestinians, and Israel has no right to control those waters. Even the Oslo agreements state that the coast of Gaza belongs to the people who live there.'

Click Here For More Information

Note:

One of the internationals embarking on the trip is Hedy Epstein, a Holocaust survivor who recently gave a lecture at UCI during the MSU's "Holocaust Memorial Week."

The week was dedicated to the remembrance of the many Holocausts that have occured throughout history. Hedy Epstein enlightened us about the European Holocaust, Imam Abdel Aleem Musa lectured on the African Holocaust, and Professor Ward Churchill ended the week discussing the American Holocaust.

UCI College Republicans sponsor "terrorists"

By Mohamad Abdelfattah

After attending a wonderful ceremony celebrating and affirming religious tolerance at UCI, I decided to check out an event being put on by the College Republicans featuring three self-proclaimed former terrorists. I was disturbed to find out that the event was completely dedicated to demonizing the religion of Islam and its followers. It was the furthest thing from the spirit of the ceremony I had attended earlier that morning.

The alleged former terrorists Walid Shoebat, Zak Anani and Kamal Saleem each discussed their supposed radical Islamic lives of the past. The first to speak was Kamal, who described his intense childhood. He claimed, "at 7 years of age, I went on my first mission into Israel…we went through an underground tunnel with 50 kg of TNT on my back." I find it difficult to believe that at seven years of age this guy held 110 pounds of explosives on his back, when my own seven year-old brother has difficulty carrying his backpack to school everyday. Kamal's story seemed to be staged as part of a play – he kept referring to his notes and would raise his voice at certain times to dramatize his act.

Next up was Zak Anani who who told us that he grew up in Lebanon and at age thirteen joined a radical Islamic movement. Interestingly, his biography on Shoebat’s website indicates his level of “religiosity”: he refused to pray and actually killed a fellow Muslim for asking him to pray the early morning prayer! Yet, he claimed that his religion inspired him to kill hundreds – by the age of eighteen, he was allegedly personally responsible for the deaths of 223 people. By the way, he does not provide the context. Apparently his activities occurred during the civil war when most factions, Muslim and non-Muslim, were all busy killing each other; yet, somehow his actions committed as a Muslim stand out and indict the entire religion.

His hatred of Islam is intense. He said, "There isn't really radical Islam, they're either Muslim or non-Muslims.” In other words, our fight terrorism is in reality a war against all Muslims. The neo-con mantra “You’re either with us or you’re against us” has been translated into “You’re either Muslim or you’re non-Muslim.” Talk about religious intolerance.

The final person to speak was Walid Shoebat, a self-professed ex-PLO fighter. Walid claims to be Palestinian. He also makes the claim that he used to be a terrorist with the PLO, but provides absolutely no documentation or proof that would support his claims.

I will spare the readers the details of the terrorists’ stories and why I think they are mostly lies and fabrications. The more important issue is the point behind “touring” those three self-proclaimed terrorists around US college campuses. Even if the stories told by the speakers are true, it is obvious that such events are staged by intolerant right-wing groups to promote Islamophobic sentiments and justify the discrimination against Muslims in America and abroad.

Members of the Muslim Student Union (MSU) are always accused of being hypocritical in that they organize events attacking Zionism and Zionists yet criticize events against Islam or Muslims. To rational human beings, the difference should be obvious.

Unlike Islam, Zionism is not a religion but a man-made political ideology (just like socialism or capitalism). An attack on Zionism is an attack on its racist ideas and the oppressive practices of its subscribers, not an attack on a specific religion or its followers.

On the other hand, events such as the one recently sponsored by the College Republicans that equate Islam, one of the three Abrahamic religions, to terrorism promote religious intolerance, to say the least. Had the College Republican event targeted political parties or groups (PLO, Hamas, Hizbullah for example) the situation would have been different and I may have considered some of the arguments presented. However, their speakers chose to misrepresent the whole religion of Islam and its 1.5 billion followers worldwide. That is straight up Islamophobia.

As an Muslim American I have had the opportunity to meet and get to know Muslims from all over the world, but I have yet to meet a "radical Muslim". Yes, we have all seen them on CNN and FOX News, but I am yet to see one in person. I am yet to meet a Muslim who declares "jihad" on innocent civilians or vows to kill every “infidel”. I am yet to see the avocation of killing Americans along with the "death to America" cry that our media portrays of every other Middle Eastern man with a beard or woman with a scarf.

I went to the College Republican event hoping to get a glimpse of what I have so often heard and read about. I must say I was disappointed. The speakers at Monday night’s event are well-overpaid. I could easily find ten people with Middle-Eastern accents to put on a more convincing act. And if their stories are indeed true, why aren’t these people rotting in Guantanamo?

'Apartheid Resurrected' Speaks Truth to Power

For the past two weeks the New University has printed a number of articles criticizing the Muslim Student Union's "Israel: Apartheid Resurrected" week, calling it anti-Semitic, extremist, and uninformative. However, unfortunate as it may be to those who made the previously mentioned claims, the week did not embody any of those characteristics.

Alex Chazen was right when he said that someone would come forth correcting the statement that equates anti-Zionism with anti-Judaism. Zionism, as it is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary, is "an organized movement of world Jewry that arose in Europe in the late 19th century with the aim of reconstituting a Jewish state in Palestine. Modern Zionism is concerned with the development and support of the state of Israel." Zionism, by being a movement which supports the development of a nation, is thusly not in any way the same as Judaism. Judaism is a way of life derived through the scriptures given to humanity by God. Simply because a significant group of Jews support the political idea of Zionism does not make it the same as the religion of Judaism itself. To learn about a religion, look to its scriptures, not to its followers.

The "Israel: Apartheid Resurrected" week was thus aimed not to coerce a desire to "kill a few Jews" but to expose the state of Israel for what it truly is: a land that practices apartheid, not peace. The evidence is irrefutable. If simply "showing off the beautiful culture of the [Palestinian] people" were enough to put an end to the typical student's apathy, I am sure a different approach to the week could have been taken. However, the fact of the matter remains that Israeli forces are causing destruction to Palestinians every day, and people are still in denial of the fact that Israeli forces are occupying the land of the Palestinians and murdering them without reason.

Sadly people like Alex Chazen need more information than this in order for the Palestinians to "earn them [his] respect or concern." I guess the fact children are being brutally oppressed, that Palestinian houses are being razed and destroyed to make more room for Israeli settlers, that the apartheid wall forces some people to carry up to three permits every day simply to get to work, is not enough reason to have respect for human beings. Perhaps he agrees with Rabbi Yaacov Perrin that "one million Arabs are not worth a Jewish fingernail," or maybe he agrees with former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Maier when he said, "There was no such thing as a Palestinian people…It is not as if we came and threw them out and took their country. They didn't exist." This would, of course, make perfect sense as the Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated pieces of land in the world today.

Reut Cohen claims that MSU members to whom she has spoken "don't support a two-state solution," and implies that this means they "want Israelis out [of Palestine]." However, supporting a one-state solution is not the same as "wanting Israelis out." The land of Palestine should be returned to its rightful owners, and a democratic state should be established in which all those residing on the lands of Palestine can live in freedom, equality, and peace. If Israel were truly a democracy, perhaps these goals would have been achieved.

Cohen goes on to claim that MSU members have "harassed and intimidated" those who are Jewish or pro-Israel, where this is not the case in the slightest. Many of these "incidents documented on [their] cameras" are not harassment nor were they committed by MSU members. Perhaps they were more random idiots like the "young male wearing a head scarf covering his face and holding a sign reading: 'Death to Israel--Death to America.'" Although this student was not a member of the MSU, teacher Gary Fouse and his colleague unfortunately bought into that poor man's ruse to discredit the Muslim Student Union, just as Cohen tries to do by falsely accusing MSU members of intimidation.

While certain people like Chris Kilpatrick believe that "MSU harbors extremists that support ideas similar to those who seek the destruction of humanity," the truth is quite the opposite. If speaking out against the oppression of massive amounts of people is not a humanitarian cause, I'll be honest and tell you that I don't know what is. "Israel: Apartheid Resurrected" week was dedicated to further the voices of the oppressed Palestinian peoples. When one disregards the horrific circumstances of millions of people in order to further their own political gain, I would consider that to be pretty extremist and destructive to humanity. To do that would be up to par with ignoring the Jewish Holocaust. So what is the FBI really investigating here? The MSU does not harbor extremism nor does it support anti-Jewish sentiments. It seems that these calls for investigations are only in efforts to suppress one thing: the truth.

Zoya Ahmad

Media Campaign Against MSU

Recently, in the media you have seen many Zionists speaking about UCI and their views on the events the MSU has organized this past spring.

You had a clown for a rabbi appear on a local radio station and address his "concerns" about UCI. He claims our week was designed at "creating an atmosphere of hate on campus" and that "MSU's only goal is to intimidate Jewish students."

Complete lies and fabrications.

The MSU's goal of the "Israel: Apartheid Resurrected" week was to inform and educate the campus about the oppression of millions of people in Palestine at the hands of Israel with the full backing of our government.

If our true goal was to intimidate Jewish students on campus, why not then dedicate our entire campus events towards this goal? We put on events all year long, addressing many different issues.

Have we ever organized events in which we demonized Judaism or the Jewish people? NO, quite the contrary, we even brought a rabbi to speak about the differences between Judaism and Zionism.

In our programs, you will hear us criticizing Zionism, not Judaism. Zionism is not a religion but a man-made political ideology (just like socialism or capitalism). An attack on Zionism is an attack on its racist ideas and the oppressive practices of its subscribers, not an attack on a specific religion or its followers.

You also had an AFI member who appeared on FOX News with Walid Shoebat, a self-proclaimed ex-terrorist. Walid claims that he used to be a terrorist with the PLO, but provides absolutely no documentation or proof that would support his claims.

He says, "MSU is a group that openly gives funds for terrorism, openly calls for the toppling of the United States of America, and openly raises funds for terrorism."

His claims have absolutely no basis. There is absolutely no evidence to back these claims because they are complete LIES, which is not surprising coming from Walid Shoebat, who makes a living off lies and deceiving the masses.

This same AFI member documents almost all of the MSU events, so please provide some evidence to support these absolute ridiculous claims.

If the media was really interested in why the MSU does what it does, why not ask the MSU to explain for themselves? Why bring some off campus rabbi or MSU-hater to answer these questions?

It is clear that there is a certain agenda that the media is trying to push along.

AFI Supports Terrorists

It was very amusing to watch Anteaters for Israel's Co-President, Emilya Shaaya, publicly declare her club's support to the work of the 3xTerrorists, during the Q&A session of last night's program.

Don't you guys understand who your supporting?

Walid Shoebat and his goons are Evangelical Christians, who believe that the state of Israel must be established before Jesus Christ can return. According to Evangelicals once Christ returns, the Jews of Israel have two options; either to convert to Chrisitianity or to be killed.

Moshe Katz says the following about Shoebat:

"He claims to be Palestinian but nobody in the territories has ever heard of him. He says he was a former PLO fighter but strangely enough he doesn't have any documentation or proof to back up his claims.

Have you ever heard the phrase ‘never trust a man who sells out his own people’. That sums up Shoebat. He is too right wing in his rhetoric. He claims to be a former Moslem who now embraces Christianity and loves Israel. Well, how can you love Israel if the only road to salvation is through Jesus Christ? How can you proclaim your admiration for the Jewish people if you feel they are lost in not accepting Christ as the Messiah?... Shoebat is a former Lebanese militiaman who was brought over to Israel after the Southern Lebanon fiasco. He then set out to proclaim himself a Palestinian. In the end he is a former member of the Christian Phangist (Fascist) party who's making a living telling Jews what they want to hear. I'm one who will plant a tree in Israel before I give this man a dime.”

I guess they just take whatever support they can get.

New University- ‘UC Intifada’: Anti-Zionism Is Not Racism

‘UC Intifada’: Anti-Zionism Is Not Racism
Commentary
By Alaa Alomar

Alex Chazen, president of Hillel:The Jewish Student Union, was clever to assume in his article “MSU Hypocritical, Not Educational,” featured in last week’s New University, that someone would write a counter-article to respond to his false claims as well as those of many others. So if you are courageous enough to hear the point of view of a “racist” group that does more than give out free cupcakes to promote its causes, then keep reading this article.

The bigger and better Muslim Student Union’s anti-Zionist weeks become, the more Hillel and Anteaters for Israel try to convince everyone that MSU is anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish. To begin with, the accusation that MSU is a racist group is illegitimate. Racism is defined as the belief that due to differences in human character a particular race is superior to others, and Zionism (a movement that arose in the late 19th century which sought to reestablish a Jewish homeland in Palestine) is not a race. The speakers Amir Abdel Malik Ali, Rabbi Dovid Weiss, Lenni Brenner and Imam Mohammad Al-Asi all came to speak against Zionism, which as I have stated above is a movement and not a race, and this makes none of them racist.

The scaled representation of the apartheid wall featured facts and statistics – almost all of which came from the United Nations – about the oppression of the Palestinian people and the devastation that they live with, which again is not racist.

Having said this, let me continue by discussing an analogy used by Chazen, in his article which equates Christians with Jews and an imaginary “Christianland” to Israel. Chazen says, “Let’s say … my club puts on a week of events that I claim aren’t anti-Christian, but demonize the population and government of Christianland, saying that they don’t have the right to exist as a nation and they must be destroyed by any means necessary. … I doubt that many of you would say that I wasn’t being anti-Christian.”

The problem here is that MSU does not claim that Israel does not have the right to exist as a nation; MSU only claims that Israel does not have the right to steal the Palestinian people’s land to create a nation of their own, massacre the existing Palestinian population and then claim that “it was a land without people.” If it was “a land without people,” then who were the Israelis fighting against during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948 over this piece of land that created about 726,000 Palestinian refugees? Themselves? I don’t think so.

Of course, many other false accusations were made about the MSU’s anti-Zionist week. One such accusation made by Reut Cohen in her article “UC Intifada Circus Demonizes Israel” (New Univeristy, May 28, 2007) featured in last week’s paper was that the wall featured propaganda and false information. Cohen claims that the story of Muhammad Al-Durra, a 12-year-old boy who was shot by the Israel Defense Forces and died in his father’s arms, adding fuel to the events of the Second Intifada, never happened and was staged. The Israeli army destroyed most of the physical evidence at the site soon after the incident, including the wall that contained bullet holes indicating that the boy and his father had been fired upon. Why would the Israeli army find any need to do this if the evidence proved their innocence? Furthermore, Talal Abu Rachmeh, the cameraman for France 2 Television who got the incident on tape, said that the boy and his father were shot at during a sustained half-hour bombardment from the Israeli side, which means that the bullets were not from the Palestinians. I would appreciate it, as I’m sure many others would, if claims like Cohen’s could be supported with real evidence.

Cohen also mentions that speaker Amir Abdel Malik Ali said, “And we will not stop until we are either victorious or until we are martyred,” which she found sickening. Let me begin with some definitions. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, victorious is defined as “being the winner in a contest or struggle” and a martyr is “one who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause or principle.” I don’t see what is sickening about wanting to win a war – people do not fight to lose – nor do I see what is so horrible about fighting and struggling for a cause you believe in. There is a war going on between the Palestinians and Israelis. It is reasonable to assume that there are killings on both sides. However, it is not reasonable to ask the Palestinians to sit in their homes and do nothing while F-16s from the Israeli side drop bombs on Palestinian cities like rain.

Lastly, Chazen states in his article that Hillel promoted Israel by giving out free food and T-shirts while MSU brought racist speakers. Of course, if you look at it from another perspective, one could say that while MSU dedicated an entire week to informing students about the oppression of the Palestinian people, a supporter of Hillel and AFI brought a clown to pass out balloons during the middle of the lecture, disturbing the audience.

Alaa Alomar is a first-year psychology major.

The UC Intifada: How You Can Help Palestine

The final lecture of our week by Amir Abdel Malik Ali.

Terrorists, Freedom Fighters, and The Holy Land

Amir Abdel Malik Ali speaking at the flagpoles at UCI on the fourth day of our week-long event titled "Israel: Apartheid Resurrected."

The Zionists tried whatever foolishness they could think of to distract the crowd that was listening to Amir Abdel Malik Ali. You see some of this in the footage.

Note: The banner in the background that states "Death to Apartheid" was first used by the South African people in their struggle against apartheid.