Gaza.

University of California suspends Muslim Student Union for demonstrating against Israeli ambassador

The video above is of a visit by Israeli ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, to the campus of UCI.  It shows several members of the crowd standing up to protest the presence of Michael Oren on the campus.

The first protestor is clearly heard to say:

Michael Oren, propagating murder is not an expression of free speech

and the demonstration continued in this style with individuals standing up at various points during the Oren’s speech.  What was noteworthy was the politeness of the whole event.

…despite the constant interruptions, there was also a strange routine to the disturbances.

A student would stand up and yell his statement followed by both cheers and jeers from the crowd. Then, as if on cue, he would make his way to the aisle where waiting police officers led him out of the room.

A total of 11 individuals were arrested, “cited for disturbing a public event” and held in a nearby room before being released after Oren had finished his speech.

The Muslim Student Union of UCI protested in advance of Oren’s visit, making a statement which begins by making the following assertion:

We resent that the Law School and the Political Science Department have agreed to cosponsor a public figure who represents a state that continues to commit human rights violations, thereby breaking international law and law of Israeli accord. We strongly condemn the university for cosponsoring, and therefore, inadvertently supporting the ambassador of a state that is condemned by more UN Human Rights Council resolutions than all other countries in the world combined.

A fair point, most would think.  And additionally, after the event the point was made that the demonstration was “not put on by MSU, but by students acting on their own”.

Imagine the surprise, therefore, when the decision was taken to suspend the Muslim Union for one year, and to require the MSU membership to collectively complete 50 hours of community service.

Home of the brave, perhaps, but land of the free? Not if you go to UCI.