The National Lawyers Guild and the MSU

R-L, James Lafferty, unidentified, unidentified, Che Guevara


During last quarter's Muslim Student Union week-long events at UC-Irvine (May 2008), one of their sponsored speakers was James Lafferty, Executive Director of the National Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles Chapter. Lafferty's appearance may have been lost in the shuffle of speakers since more flamboyant figures were on the schedule, such as Amir Abdel Malik Ali. Yet, Lafferty's presence at this event should not escape notice. It shows that once again, the MSU's choice of associates and speakers is open to question.

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG)was founded in 1937. According to "Discover the Networks.org", NLG's earliest predecessor organization was MOPR, a Russian acronym for International Class War Prisoners Aid Society, founded in 1922 under the auspices of the Communist International (Comintern). The NLG (according to Discover the Networks.org) was founded in 1937 by attorneys for the Communist Party USA. During the period of the Cold War, the organization consistently allied itself with the pro-Soviet agenda. It labels itself as a "progressive" legal body of lawyers and activists that involves itself in issues of civil rights, human rights, etc. On the surface, its agenda, when taken in a general context (civil-human rights), might appear laudable.

Yet, the organization over the years has allied itself with virtually every far left-wing cause imaginable-anything that would paint the US in a bad light is fertile ground for this group. Indeed, over the years, their critics have understandably accused them of being little more than a communist front group.

In recent years, this group has taken up the banner for people like Lynne Stewart, the convicted attorney for the "Blind Sheikh", Omar Abdul Rahman who passed terrorist communications from Rahman to his terrorist associates and Jamal Abu Mumia, the convicted Philadelphia cop killer on death row, Sami al-Arian, ex-terrorist fugitive Sara Jane Olsen and Leonard Peltier of the American Indian Movement (AIM), who was imprisoned for the murder of two FBI agents. In 2005, the Guild floated a resolution equating Zionism with racism.

Quite a record. In Lafferty, this is another example of what UCI's Muslim Student Union brings to our campus as a featured speaker.

During his UCI speech (in which I was present), Lafferty went through the usual litany of complaints, condemning Israel, the US Government and the Bush Administration for all the problems of the world. In answer to a question about the solution to the Middle East problems, he stated that "Jews should leave Palestine."

He also made this rather ominous statement: He said that just prior to his talk, someone (presumably at UCI) had informed him that there was not a level playing field at UCI for those expressing their opinions about the (Israel-Palestinian) issue. He then added that he and his organization were going to see what they could do to provide such a level playing field. (I am paraphrasing.)

So here we have yet another example of how the MSU aligns itself with radical, far-left and anti-American voices. As they say, you are known by the friends you keep. Nevertheless, the MSU will still complain and wonder why so many Americans view them with suspicion. Maybe the National Lawyers Guild and CAIR can file a lawsuit on behalf of the MSU forcing Americans not to view them with so much suspicion.

*http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6162