UC Berkeley Allows Monument to Palestinian Terrorists but Discriminated Against Conservatives
The University of California, Berkeley is under fire for showcasing a shrine glorifying Palestinian women involved in terrorist attacks on Israel, according to The Algemeiner.
The controversy follows a string of free-speech-related issues involving conservatives speaking on campus in recent years.
The jihadist exhibit was put together by a student group called Bears for Palestine in a location at the student union sponsored by UC Berkeley’s student government.
It was brought to the media’s attention when senior Milton Zerman blasted the shrine on social media.
In a Facebook post Dec. 13, Zerman wrote that the group “put up a shrine in their ASUC-sponsored Eshleman Hall cubicle glorifying the actions of violent Palestinian terrorists who killed innocent Jewish people (in one case two Jewish college students).”
The post includes a photo of Leila Khaled holding an AK-47. She was involved in the 1969 and 1970 hijackings of two European flights, TWA 840 and El Al 219.
https://www.facebook.com/milt4senate/photos/a.303150497049543/445185239512734/?type=3&theater
While the university has no issue displaying jihadist affiliates and terrorism, the school apparently has had an issue with allowing conservatives to come and talk to students.
As The Washington Post noted in 2017, several conservative speakers, including Ann Coulter and Ben Shapiro, ran into roadblocks when attempting to speak on campus.
Events were canceled, security fees were curiously raised and venues were constantly booked despite plenty of advanced notice.
“Using ridiculous pretexts to keep conservatives from speaking is unsurprising but disappointing. We’ll find a way to get this event done, and UC Berkeley has a moral and legal obligation to ensure we do so,” Shapiro said in a statement, per The Post.
The chain-yanking by Berkeley was enough for the president of the United States to chime in.
If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view – NO FEDERAL FUNDS?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017
Following the various controversies, the Berkeley College Republicans and the Young America’s Foundation filed a free-speech lawsuit that ended up costing the university $70,000 in legal fees and resulted in UC Berkeley changing its discriminatory procedures surrounding conservatives.
While having a conservative speaker appears to be a major concern for Berkeley, celebrating women such as convicted terrorist Rasmea Odeh doesn’t seem to be a problem.
According to Judicial Watch, Odeh and other women showcased in the campus display were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, recognized as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.
Odeh was convicted and imprisoned after being found guilty of a 1969 terrorist attack in a Jerusalem supermarket that killed two college students, Leon Kanner and Eddie Joffe. In 2017, she was deported from the U.S. to Jordan for lying on her immigration papers.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine carried out several suicide bombings over the years that have killed over 100 people including women and children. The terrorist group was responsible for the 2014 synagogue massacre that killed five civilians and one police officer in Jerusalem.
Zerman took a stand against the glorification of these terrorists by leaving signs on the exhibit.
“Your display glorifying Jew-killers makes you complicit,” read one.
Another said, “From New Jersey to Jerusalem, we demand justice for our Jewish brothers + sisters” — a reference to the recent anti-Semitic shooting at a Jersey City supermarket that killed three people as well as a police officer, according to The Algemeiner.
Zerman, an Associated Students of the University of California senator, also sponsored a resolution asking the ASUC to denounce and step away from the Bears for Palestine exhibit and to acknowledge that the student union space should not be used to support or magnify terrorism.
This resolution, which will be considered at an upcoming ASUC Senate hearing, is expected to face strong opposition, according to The Daily Californian.
The student newspaper reported that Sarah Abdeshahian, president of the Cal Berkeley Democrats, said in an email that Zerman’s resolution is “absolutely unfair” and Bears for Palestine should be allowed to “celebrate Palestinian activists.”
Shelby Weiss, an ASUC senator, also cited concerns about violating students’ First Amendment right to free speech, The Daily Californian reported.
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