Monday, October 13, 2008
Oh my. This should be interesting. Talk about walking into the lion's den. Multiple video-cameras, please. Lee Kaplan emails:
Walid Shoebat and Kamal Saleem will be speaking at UC Berkeley on Wed. October 29th at Wheeler Hall at 7:15 pm. Doors open at 6:45 pm and tickets are free on a first come first served basis. Limited advance tickets are available by emailing me at leekaplan@dafka.org
Shoebat and Saleem are both former PLO terrorists who left the PLO and have become peace activists who support America and Israel in the War on Terror. Both men have appeared at all major campuses in the USA and were recently recommended by the FBI to speak on terrorism to the United States Marine Corps Academy.
UC Berkeley is an important venue as it is the starting campus for the boycott campaign against Israel and has a large MSA and Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.
Good speeches. Thanks for posting this. And thanks to Lee Kaplan for the reserved ticket.
- Elliot Temple
It went surprisingly well. Over 700 seats were filled- hundreds more were turned away at the door.
I suspect a lot of people came expecting a sideshow, but Students for Just Us in Palestine have been experimenting with allowing free speech on campus. This notice went out weeks before. (Interestingly, similiar notices went out at many campuses- do ya think they are getting told what to do from a higher source????)
Dear SJP members,
In the next few weeks, other campus organizations will be sponsoring vitriolic anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian speakers, including Daniel Pipes and Walid Shoebat.
While we are deeply offended by the racist logic and arguments that these speakers present, we would like to emphasize that disruptions are not a productive use of time. If you feel pressed to attend one of these events, please do so, but do so in a manner that is respectful of student organizers who have spent their time putting these events together, and also other audience members who do want to hear the speakers.
If the fact that these people are so blatant with their racism makes you angry, then you have every right to feel that way, but consider writing an op-ed, Facebook note, blog post, starting a Facebook group, or coming to the next SJP meeting instead, as a constructive alternative. The time to make opposing arguments is during question and answer sessions, and by setting up alternative events or passing out flyers-- not by creating loud disruptions or preventing the speakers from talking.
Thanks to those who attended our successful event tonight with Professors Norman Finkelstein and John Dugard. During the event, members of another student organization loudly and rudely disrupted the speakers and began to yell obscenities at them. You can see the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNkFwb4MS6Q
The video speaks for itself, but let it also serve as a reminder to all of us in our activism: before you do anything, imagine what it might feel like to see yourself doing it on YouTube first. If it still seems like a good idea, go for it. But if you're going to look like a moron, try not to.
-yaman