Saturday night, an event was held at Rutgers University entitled, "Never again for anyone" hosted by a group called BAKA, whose message is to compare the Holocaust to Israeli policies vis-a-vis Palestinians. A large group of Jewish students and community members arrived at the event, which was advertised as open. They were refused entry unless they agreed to pay an entrance fee, which had previously been announced as a suggestion donation. Here is a statement by the Jewish advocacy group (which I support) Stand With Us.
http://www.standwithus.com/app/iNews/view_n.asp?ID=1740
It appears that admission was free and open to the public with a suggested donation. When a large Jewish contingent showed up, they tried to change admission for them to $5.00. What also needs to be investigated is the allegation that organizers asked campus police to keep out those wearing kippas.
Here is a YouTube video of campus police handling the situation.
In addition, Atlas Shrugs has several videos of the incident at
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/01/barring-jews-at-rutgers-university.html
and also a website called Challah hu Akbar (whatever that means) has videos as well as the flyers for the event.
http://challahhuakbar.blogspot.com/2011/01/rutgers-university-event-bans-jewish.html
This is pretty much par for the course when anti-Israel events draw a large turnout of Israel supporters. I applaud the protesters who turned out to expose the hypocrisy of the pro-Palestinian activists. Forunately, things didn't get out of hand. I just wonder when these universities will recognize that these events require a strong campus police presence.
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3 comments:
This casts an interesting light on the Supreme Court case about the Christian Legal Society at UC-Berkeley that was denied recognized organization status because they did not want to admit as voting members students who did not adhere to what the group considered to be a Christian life style, i.e., sex only within marriage between a man and a woman. (They did not, however, seek to exclude others from attending meetings.) In general, freedom of association includes the freedom to define who not to associate with.
The whole notion of a "designated protest area" is kind of silly too. But clearing the lobby, either move into the auditorium and sit down or step outside to picket, is a reasonable measure.
Fundamentally, comparing Israeli policy to the Churban Europa is absurd, as are most political analogies, such as comparing Roe v. Wade to Dred Scott v. Sanford. Frankly, I would favor some kind of economic sanctions against Israel for the specific purpose of putting on pressure to get the more intrusive settlements OUT of the West Bank, and get on with a land swap for the rest. Any boycott or divestment should focus on changing specific policies, not on the existence of Israel.
And yeah, the sudden imposition of a $5 entrance fee is blatantly manipulative. Anyone with the courage of their convictions should be able to maintain their position even if outnumbered four to one. It's healthy debate. That's why I keep coming back to Fousesquawk, and I presume why Gary doesn't summarily bar me from coming back.
Of course if the students who supported Israel disrupted the presentation with chanting and songs... purely speculative since they didn't get in... well, we all know what Gary has said about such tactics being employed by Muslim student associations, and its suppression of free speech no matter who does it.
Siarlys,
I attend numerous MSU events. I listen then present my question. I am not a disrupter. Had the Jewish students been allowed to enter, I would have expected them to do the same. It is when people like Daniel Pipes and the Israeli ambassador come to speak on a campus that we can expect disruptions. That kind of tells you which side is right.
Gary, I didn't call you a disrupter. You come off very well on videos of you posing questions. I referenced your criticisms of the tactics of the Muslim Students Association. I speculated on whether, had large numbers of them gotten inside, the dissident pro-Israel bloc might have interrupted the program, as you describe various students interrupting the ambassador. Whether they would have I don't know. It's one angle to watch when tempers are flaring.
But, as you have since posted, this wasn't a campus event by a campus organization at all. So the reference points are totally different.
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