SANTA ANA – Emails detailing plans by Muslim Student Union (MSU)members to interrupt a speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren last year were entered into evidence Monday in the misdemeanor trial of 10 University of California, Irvine students.
The emails outline how the group actively developed a plan to silence the Israeli ambassador, while dishonestly maintaining that the organization had no involvement. “We will be staying for the majority of the program and disrupting it throughout the whole time,” one email said.
Witness Rhoda Harris, a Holocaust survivor, described a scene of chaos as the students interrupted the speech multiple times. Oren could not be heard over the cheering that followed each disruption, she claimed, shutting down the event an hour before scheduled. Continue reading →
(JTA) — Dozens of faculty members at the University of California, Irvine, have asked that criminal charges be dropped against 11 Muslim students who disrupted a speech by Israel’s U.S. ambassador.
Five deans are among the 100 faculty members who signed a letter asking the Orange County District Attorney’s Office to drop the charges filed last week against the nine Irvine students and two students from the University of California, Riverside. Arraignment is set for March 11 in Santa Ana, Calif. Continue reading →
KPCC has learned that the Orange County grand jury is investigating the Feb. 2010 disruption of an Israeli diplomat’s speech at UC Irvine.
Members of UCI’s Muslim Student Union have been called to testify before the grand jury about the organization’s role in the disruption of a speech by Michael Oren, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S.
Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Irvine’s law school, says he does not believe the students who disrupted Oren’s speech should face the risk of criminal charges.
The Orange County District Attorney’s office says the law prevents it from confirming or denying any activities related to the grand jury.
UC Irvine officials have taken the rare step of recommending that a student organization be suspended for a year. A campus investigation into the Muslim Student Union’s alleged role in disrupting a Feb. 8 speech at UCI by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren concluded that the MSU not only planned, instigated and orchestrated the ruckus, but also lied to officials about its hand in that unpleasant and unnecessary turn of events. Continue reading →
The University of California, Irvine (UCI) is the second youngest campus in the California state university system. UCI has made its mark[1] among prestigious American universities, steadily rising in the U.S. News & World Report ratings of “America’s Best Colleges.” Following the al-Qaeda terror attacks on September 11, 2001, however, the prestigious and relatively subdued Orange County campus began drawing attention and earning a reputation as a breeding ground for anti-American, anti-Israel, and anti-Semitic sentiment. Continue reading →
At UC Irvine, Campus Rules and the First Amendment
“UC Irvine wants to ban a Muslim student group for orchestrating a plan to shout down the Israeli ambassador during a speech on the campus. Would a ban violate the students’ rights to free speech and association? What if they lied to university officials about their role in advance planning….?”
UC IRVINE MSU APPEALS RECOMMENDATION TO SUSPEND MSU
(Irvine, CA – 6/14/10) — The Muslim Student Union (MSU) at the University of California, Irvine, announced today that it has filed an appeal to the recommendation by the Senior Executive Director of Student Housing to revoke the student group’s charter for one year, following allegations that the MSU violated sections of University policy. Continue reading →
It’s been more than a week since the Investigative Project on Terrorism revealed emails that, if authentic, show that the UC Irvine branch of the Muslim Student Union coordinated the disruption of the February campus speech of Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren. The emails also show that the MSU coordinated the subsequent cover-up, in which both the MSU and the arrested demonstrators denied any MSU involvement in the planning or execution of the demonstration. (See “More evidence that UC Irvine MSU lied about not planning disruption of Israeli Ambassador’s talk.“) Continue reading →
The attached letter, copied to the OCITF and dated April 9, 2010 to UCI’s Chief Campus Counsel Diane Fields Giocaris was received today. To read the letter click here
At Wednesday’s senate meeting, senators voted on two resolutions, including the controversial Freedom of Speech resolution.
The Freedom of Speech resolution concerns the group of students now known as the Irvine 11. The people in this group, three of whom are students from UC Riverside, were arrested on Feb. 8 after they continually shouted over the speech being made by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. Continue reading →
New evidence allegedly shows that the University of California, Irvine Muslim Student Union orchestrated the repeated disruptions of a speech given by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren earlier this year. Continue reading →
Despite claims to the contrary, internal emails from the University of California, Irvine’s Muslim Student Union (MSU) show that the group orchestrated the repeated disruptions of a speech given on campus by Israeli ambassador Michael Oren February 8. Continue reading →
The O C Human Relations Commission letter of commendation cited U C Irvine Police Chief Paul Henisey for among other things: having prevented “violence which was brewing just under the surface as tempers ignited over the organized and systematic disruption of the speech. “
March 12, 2010
Paul Henisey, Chief
UCI Police Department
Irvine, CA 92657
Dear Chief Henisey:
….At the March 11, 2010 meeting the Commission and Board of Directors voted to officially commend you and the administration of UCI for your handling of the recent disruption of the speech of the Israeli Ambassador by Muslim student protesters. Including your leadership and action to: Read The letter here:
Faculty at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), joined voices at UC campuses statewide in support of 11 students arrested for heckling Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren during his Feb. 8 speech at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Continue reading →
The campus at UC Irvine has become a hotbed of tension between Muslim and Jewish students, divided along the always-contentious debate surrounding Israel and Palestine.
The latest major incident occurred Feb. 8, when a raucous group of 11 students, mostly from UCI and including the president of the UCI Muslim Student Association, repeatedly interrupted a speech being delivered by Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren. Protesters in the audience stood up and shouted barely understandable tirades, condemning Israeli policies, in general, and the ambassador, in particular, while he was attempting to address 500 attendees at UCI’s Pacific Ballroom, according to news reports and videos (see videos at our blog, ocregister.com/orangepunch.) Continue reading →
IRVINE — A spokesman for UC Irvine’s Muslim Student Union today accused Assemblyman Chuck DeVore of pursuing “censorship” after he called on the UCI chancellor to ban the Muslim Student Union from campus. Continue reading →
Along with the Department of History, Middle East Studies Student Initiative (MESSI), LeVine was involved in bringing a member of the Cairo Based Muslim Brotherhood to UCI on October 8, 2008.
LeVine, a UC Irvine Professor of modern Middle Eastern history, culture, and Islamic studies, defends the “Irvine 11″and blasts Israeli Ambassador Oren’s visit to UC Irvine.
Excerpts:
“Without a clear ban in place beforehand on the type and style of protest in which they engaged, it is hard to see how they could fairly be subject to severe punishment by the university for their protest, never mind arrest and potential prosecution….”
“…However, from the Israeli side Ambassador Oren’s appearance at UCI was part of an extremely sophisticated, well funded and self-described “propaganda”– campaign-known by the Hebrew term “hasbara”–directed by the Israeli government and major American Jewish organizations with the goal of presenting Israel in the most positive light possible on campus…”
“…Indeed, against such a powerful bloc of forces, we can ask how already marginalized Muslim students should be expected to protest against the Ambassador’s appearance?..” Mark LeVine
College campuses, especially at public universities, are places where all ideas should be expressed and debated. No speech ever should be stopped or punished because of the viewpoint expressed. Of course, there must be rules to regulate the time, place and manner of such expression to preserve order and even to make sure that speech can occur. Continue reading →
One doesn’t want to invoke George Orwell lightly. But there is something positively Orwellian about defending, in the name of freedom of speech, a gang’s attempt to shut down a speech.
The facts are these:
Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, was invited to speak at the University of California Irvine. The invitation came from the Law School and the Political Science Department. Now, UC Irvine has an active–some would say, aggressive (others would say, obnoxious)–chapter of the Muslim Student Union. The UCI MSU has a, shall we say, controversial history, ranging from allegedly fundraising for Hamas to hosting virulently anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic speakers.
Enter the double standard. The MSU feels perfectly free to bring to campus speakers that Jews, friends of Israel, and others consider absolutely repulsive. And it has the right to do so (aside from providing material support to terrorists, which is forbidden by federal law). But when the MSU considers a speaker not to be kosher (as it were), it seeks to disrupt his appearance. Continue reading →
“…But despite continual complaints from the Orange County Task Force on Anti-Semitism and other concerned UCI stakeholders, the tenor and frequency of speakers at the MSU’s lurid hate-fests continue unabated, seemingly with the tacit approval of the university administration…” Richard Cravatts Ph.D
Director of Boston University’s Program in Publishing
2010-02-11 Orange County Register
Of the many intellectual perversions currently taking root on college campuses, perhaps none is more contradictory to what should be one of higher education’s core values than the suppression of free speech. With alarming regularity, speakers are shouted down, booed, jeered, and barrage with vitriol, all at the hands of groups who give lip service to the notion of academic free speech, and who demand it when their speech is at issue, but have no interest in listening to, or letting others listen to, ideas that contradict their own world view. Continue reading →
IRVINE, Calif.—A prominent Muslim group is calling on UC Irvine to investigate the arrests of 11 students during a raucous lecture where Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren spoke about U.S.-Israel relations earlier this week.The Muslim Public Affairs Council sent a letter Wednesday to UC Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake saying it is unclear what laws the students broke.
The group says schools should not discourage students from expressing their First Amendment rights.
Oren’s speech was interrupted by shouting and protests multiple times Monday night.
Eleven students were cited for disturbing a public event and released.
Earlier, the UCI Muslim Student Union issued an email condemning Oren’s appearance. It was not clear if the arrested students were members of the group.
Eight UC Irvine students and three UC Riverside students were arrested and detained Monday by campus police.
By Tom Ragan
Daily Pilot
Student protesters who were arrested by campus police for disrupting a speech at UC Irvine by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren could face a host of academic repercussions — from simple warnings, suspensions or all out expulsions, a spokeswoman for the university said Wednesday.
The university, which released the names of the 11 protesters, said that Monday night’s incident, in which the protesters repeatedly interrupted Oren at the UCI Student Center, will now be forwarded to the Orange County district attorney’s office for possible prosecution.
The protesters were cited for “disturbing a public meeting,” said Cathy Lawhon, UCI’s director of media relations.
Campus police ended up detaining them for about an hour before releasing them. No bond had to be posted, Lawhon added.
“I think everybody is entitled to free speech, but this was not that,” said Lawhon of the incident. “In the end, they were preventing him (Oren) from exercising his right to free speech.” Continue reading →
UCI School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky. Photo courtesy of UCI.
Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Irvine School of Law and an internationally-renowned expert on the Constitution, says that the students who yelled at Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren during a campus lecture Monday were suppressing free speech. (Coverage of protest.)
Eleven students — eight from UCI, three from UC Riverside — were arrested by campus police and cited for disrupting a public event. The arrests occurred while Oren was trying to discuss U.S.-Israel relations before an audience of 500 people in the UCI Student Center.
“They shouted him down,” Chemerinsky said. “Imagine if they had brought their own speaker and that person had been shouted down. There would be no free speech. There is no right to a ‘heckler’s veto’ “. Continue reading →
In trying to silence Oren, Muslim campaigners made a mockery of UC-Irvine’s commitment to freedom of speech.
In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful… The members of the Muslim Student Union at the University of California, Irvine, condemn and strongly oppose the presence of Michael Oren on our campus… Oren personally participated in the Israeli Defense Force in wars that took place in Lebanon and Palestine…Oren and his partners should only be granted a speakers platform in the International Criminal Court…
In the name of demonizing the Jewish state, intimidating its supporters and making it ever more difficult to present Israel’s case, Muslim campaigners and their allies at the UC-Irvine campus on Monday repeatedly disrupted a talk by Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren. Eleven of the louts were detained, issued summonses and released.
In trying to silence Oren, they made a mockery of the university’s commitment to freedom of speech and treated its dedication to respectful dialogue with downright disdain. Yes, they probably discomfited our ambassador, but they shamed UC-Irvine and its alumni. Continue reading →
Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism 