Israel and Palestinian backers scuffle at UC-Berkley student government meeting
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — A vote on a resolution condemning a display by a pro-Palestinian student group at the University of California, Berkeley, by a student government committee was postponed after scuffles broke out between group members and pro-Israel students.
The Associated Students of the University of California Senate’s University and External Affairs Committee met on Tuesday night to discuss student Senator Milton Zerman’s resolution titled “Condemning Bears for Palestine for Their Display in Eshleman Hall Glorifying Violent Terrorists.”
The display included photos of what the group called “Palestinian leaders” Fatima Bernawi, Rasmea Odeh and Leila Khaled, who all were convicted of terror attacks in Israel. The resolution calls on Bears for Palestine to “significantly alter” or remove those photos.
The meeting was moved to a larger venue to accommodate the 110 students who signed up to comment and observe, The Daily Californian student newspaper reported.
Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel students heckled each other during the comments.
The committee adjourned the meeting early without finishing the speakers’ list, completing the agenda or voting on any bills following an argument between pro-Palestinian members in the crowd and Zerman, according to the newspaper.
“Yesterday wasn’t just a harassment of Palestinian students. Every marginalized group on this campus was threatened, and ASUC chose to adjourn the meeting before each of those threats was accounted for,” Bears for Palestine posted on Facebook. “Anxiety is running high among all the Palestinian students and allies on campus, but we know yesterday was a win for us.”
A Facebook post by Tikvah: Students for Israel said that “Jewish students were repeatedly harassed, heckled, and threatened with physical threats of violence … Jewish students should never feel threatened and should NEVER fear for their safety while on campus.”
The committee reportedly will vote on the resolution next week.
The post Israel and Palestinian backers scuffle at U of California student government meeting appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
