Palestine Legal Tries to Get SJP of UC Irvine off Probation

Below is a letter written by some outfit called Palestine Legal to UC Irvine protesting the placement of Students for Justice in Palestine on two years probation for their May 10 disruption of a pro-Israel event. As previously reported, I attended the event and videotaped the disruption.

And it was a disruption.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/548748b1e4b083fc03ebf70e/t/59d508f0268b96ae9a008040/1507133680771/Palestine+Legal+letter+on+student+conduct+appeal+-+Redacted+%281%29.pdf

You may note if you get through the entire letter, which was probably written by some law student, that Yours Truly is mentioned and described as, "a known agitator".

It strikes me that the person who wrote this went to a whole lot of work to put this thing together just to get the little rascals at SJP off of two years probation. As I have previously reported, when the May 10 incident happened, the SJP chapter at UC Irvine had already been punished with a warning ,letter after they disrupted a pro-Israel event on May 18, 2016. In short,  SJP should consider themselves lucky that they have not been permanently thrown off campus as they should have been. Over and over again they have shown that they do not respect the free speech rights of others.

And yet, this dopey letter talks about the free speech rights of the SJP (to disruprt).

I don't want to spend a lot of time rebutting this letter. That is for UCI to concern themselves with. But a few comments are in order.

"Israeli soldiers traveled to UCI to counter AntiZionism Week2 and spent four days verbally harassing students using racist and sexist language, and physically intimidating them. For example, the soldiers called the students terrorists, told a Jewish student that he is not a real Jew and does not deserve to be Jewish due to his support for Palestinian freedom, made a sexually threatening comment to a female student, shoved a student, and pushed students’ signs during protests, hitting one student in the face."

I was present on two of the four days of SJP activities during anti-Israel week, which comes to UCI every May. That is in addition to the May 10 evening incident which I videotaped. I saw nothing of the kind when I was present. That includes the alleged "shoving" of a young male protester by a female member of the Israeli group (not a reservist). I have reviewed my videotape as well as Palestine Legal's edited videotape. Due to others blocking the camera's view from the two protagonists in question, you can't tell if one shoved the other or whether there was slight incidental contact.

"On their way back to campus, the students decided to attend an event featuring the Israeli
soldiers,
11 which was scheduled for 6-8 p.m. that night.12 They gathered with allies on campus
briefly before attending the soldiers’ speaking event.
13 Together they decided that although they
had missed a majority of the event, they would attend the Q&A portion at the end of the event.14
Prior to the event, students spoke with xxxxxxxxxxx, a legal observer from the UCI Law chapter
of the National Lawyers Guild.
15 xxxxx asked them about their plans, and they explained that
they were going to have a silent demonstration and then ask the soldiers challenging questions.16
Just before entering the room, the students told xxxxx that they did not plan to disrupt and that
they knew there would be student conduct consequences if they did so"

Yes, indeed. As I have previously  pointed out, there is a direct link between SJP and the National Lawyers Guild chapter attached to the UC Irvine Law School. I personally spoke to the young lady in question from NLG on May 11, and she refused to tell me who she had been retained by. It was SJP. Members of the same NLG/UCI Law School "coalition", if you will, were present at the May 18, 2016 disruption demanding that the Jewish students allow the SJP protesters (who were banging on the doors and trying to force their way in according to reports) to enter. And where did they "gather with allies on campus briefly before attending the soldiers' speaking event"? I would bet the farm it was at the Cross Cultural Center, which for years now has been their staging area when disrupting events.

Why is there this working arranging between the UC Irvine Law School and the National Lawyers Guild, a radical legal organization founded in the 1930s as a legal arm of the Communist Party USA? The plain fact is that the UC Irvine Law School has been complicit in disrupting two Jewish events from May  2016 to May 2017. Former Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky has never been held accountable for this abuse of his law school. He is now happily ensconced at the UC Berkeley Law School.


"At around 7:50 p.m., an audience member and known agitator24 named Gary Fouse posed a question to the students about whether they had engaged in military service.25 One student expressed outrage at the question.26 A camerawoman with the Israeli soldiers then began"

 10 See xxxxxxx, supra note 7. 11 Id. 12 See SSI and Reservists on Duty flyer, attached to decision letter. 13 See xxxxxxx, supra note 4. 14 Id. 15 See xxxxxxxxxx, Witness Statement, attached to decision letter. 16 Id. 17 Id. 18 See xxxxxxx, supra note 4. 19 Id. 20 Id. 21 See Email of Edgar Dormitorio to Rameen A. Talesh, Event Report: SSI - 051017, Woods Cove, UCI Student Center, May 11, 2017, attached to decision letter. 22 See Transcript of HD0284, attached to decision letter; Transcript of IMG0475.MOV, attached to decision letter. 23 See Transcript of IMG0475.MOV. 24 Since 2007, Mr. Fouse has written a conservative blog “Fousesquawk”, often tracking UCI students with whom he has political disagreements. See Fousequawk, http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/. 25 Transcript of IMG0475.MOV. 2"

"shouting at the student and tried to push her way toward the student.27 In the process, she shoved one student before being restrained by Mr. Dormitorio and others.28 This camerawoman had also been present on campus for the previous three days harassing and threatening students at the mock wall, as described above. Students responded to the assault by clapping and chanting in an effort to provide an outlet other than physical confrontation.29 They left the room after about four minutes, and the event continued for another half an hour, ending at about 8:30. 30 " 

As for the agitator business, all I can say to that is one man's agitator is another man's activist. I am an activist, but what occurred on May 10 is typical of what I do. I attend events and participate in the q and a. UCI campus police and officials will confirm, I am sure, that I always follow the rules and the protocol. I have never disrupted an event. If others go over the edge in reaction to one of my questions, that is on them. They can call me an agitator if they like, but I have never disrupted any events as they do. I have exercised my own First Amendment rights in a legal and peaceful manner.

As for tracking UCI students with whom I disagree, that is a misleading statement. It is true that I have written many uncomplimentary articles about SJP and the UCI Muslim Student Union, in particular their speakers. When I was  a part-time teacher at UCI, I made it a practice not to engage in arguments with students or even to videotape them if at all possible-as opposed to their invited speakers. The exception has been when they engaged in disruptions on the UCI campus, for example, the May 10 disruption and the past two years I(srael) Fest celebrations which they disrupted. Only recently have I posted the name of a student with whom I disagree and that was just a couple of days ago. That involved the woman who was the main participant in the May 10 disruption (leading the chants) and speaking on May 11 during the SJP/MSU anti-Israel events in the afternoon. She is now listed according to the LA Times news article I cross posted as a UCI graduate. Prior to that I had never mentioned her name.

"The Sanctions Are Too Harsh"

This statement is laughable on its face. To repeat, after SJP disrupted a Jewish event on May 18, 2016, they received merely a letter of warning. Now, after the May 10 incident, they receive two years probation. That is too harsh?

I invite the reader to view the videotape of the May 10 incident as well as the video of the following day's protest. Ask whether the chanting on May 10 was "spontaneous". Ask whether the person leading the chants was feeling "vulnerable". After throwing f-bombs at the reservists, she even gave a signal to her followers that it was time to walk out of the room. In viewing the May 10 video, ask whether this was disruption or a legitimate exercise of the SJP's own free speech rights.

I am not an attorney, but even I can tell that this letter is a joke.