Islam Awareness Week 2011

Source: islam.ucsd.edu

MSA UCSD Denounces UCI for the Suspension of the Muslim Student Union at UC Irvine

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(La Jolla, CA 9/15/2010) The Muslim Student Association (MSA) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) condemns the University of California Irvine (UCI) administration’s suspension of the Muslim Student Union (MSU) following a July recommendation to penalize the organization for its alleged involvement in the disruption of Israeli ambassador Michael Oren’s speech on February 8, 2010.

Chancellor Michael Drake maintains that freedom of speech is “among the most fundamental, and among the most cherished of the bedrock values our nation is built upon.” We agree: freedom of speech is an intrinsic value of our society, but not as the Chancellor seems to believe, a condemnable offense. Nor do we believe such “bedrock principles” should be sacrificed to further the agenda of off-campus special interest groups. We find it alarming that the university, an institution established to promote free thought and open discussion, cannot tolerate even eleven voices of opposition. We rightly recognize UCI administration’s unwarranted methods as a draconian attempt to silence dissent in the UCI community as well as in the student bodies of other academic institutions. Therefore, MSA UCSD calls for a reversal of the decision to suspend the MSU until December 31, 2010, as well as the decision to sentence the MSU to two years probation and its members to 100 hours of mandated community service.

UCI administration’s verdict raises legitimate concerns for the status of religious freedom on campus. The MSU organizes religiously mandated daily and weekly congregational prayers for both members and non-members.  The MSU also functions as a support system for all Muslim students residing in a hostile campus and national climate.

In addition, the MSU’s events, such as the annual Islam Awareness Week, help dispel rampant misconceptions of Islam both on and off-campus. Muslims have been the targets of hate crimes since September 11; however the recent surge of violence in such incidences is cause for alarm. The bombing of a Jacksonville Mosque this past May, the stabbing of a Muslim New York cab driver in August, the arson of the construction site for a Murfreesboro mosque mere weeks ago, are all indicative of the hostile political climate that is now spilling onto campuses across the nation.

Such Islamophobia is not limited to the masses; politicians across the country speak of revoking the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of Muslim-Americans, and vocally oppose the construction of an Islamic community center in Manhattan in clear violation of the free exercise clause.

The suspension of the MSU will collectively punish all Muslim students at UCI, leaving them vulnerable to hostility and alienation, as well as reinforce the country’s rampant anti-Muslim sentiments by closing channels of dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims.

It is worth noting that the political nature of the controversy surrounding MSU UCI raises questions of whether the UCI administration is bowing to pressure by off-campus interest groups.

Regardless, MSA UCSD finds UC Irvine administration’s actions unacceptable. We demand the administration repeal its decision and apologize to the Muslim-American community for this display of blatant discrimination and intolerance. We call upon the entire UCI community as well as student groups across the nation to stand in solidarity with the MSU.

Contact: pr[at]msaucsd.org

Professor Jorge Mariscal
UC San Diego
May 16, 2010

“I was asked by one of my students to participate in the Justice for Palestine events organized by the Muslim Students Association. I gladly accepted primarily because the conflict between Palestine and Israel is mostly covered from a pro-Israeli perspective in US mainstream media. In addition to being an observer of the conflict, I am also a specialist in human rights politics in Spain and Latin America. Thus, I was asked to speak about the connections between human rights abuses in the Gaza strip and similar situations in Latin America. The point of the entire “speak up” was to provide a different narrative, one that it is rarely heard in North American society. I could see that some pro Israeli students were uncomfortable with this perspective. I could also see first hand that MSA students were extremely respectful of these students and that they handled disagreements and emotional responses with an extreme degree of maturity and tolerance.

In addition to the “speak up”, I also attended the talks given by Professors Hatem Baziam and Angela Davis. Both were extremely enlightening and thought provoking. Both insisted on the fact that the Palestinian people live in an untenable situation of apartheid and colonial occupation. One can certainly disagree with this view, but no one can question the intellectual honesty and capacity of Professors Davis and Baziam to shed light on the Israeli/Palestine conflict.

As I mentioned before, several pro-Israeli students were clearly uncomfortable with the narrative of the conflict provided by professors Davis and Bazian or with my own account of human rights abuses in Palestine. However, the entire point of academic freedom is not to make students feel comfortable, or to reaffirm what they already believe, but rather to challenge their beliefs even if this makes them uncomfortable. This is the core function of critical thinking and the bedrock of academic freedom. In this regard, the activities programmed during the “Justice for Palestine week” provided UCSD students with an amazing intellectual forum to understand this important conflict from a different perspective. Therefore, far from being questioned, the students of the MSA and their supporters should be rewarded for organizing a set of activities that challenge “common sense” beliefs about the Middle East, while opening new venues to resolve the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza strip.

For all of these reasons, I strongly encourage the UCSD administration and the community at large to support the MSA students. If anything these students should be rewarded for enticing debate and critical thinking about peace, justice and equality for all of the people who live in Israel and Palestine.”

Professor Luis Martín-Cabrera
UC San Diego
May 16, 2010

“I came to UCSD in 2003 and in the seven years I have been teaching here, I have never been as inspired by a group of students as I was last week at the conclusion of Justice in Palestine Week. From the speak-out on Library Walk and the presentations by the invited guests, to the construction of the mock Wall that anchored the week’s festivities, the entire event was not only impressive, but provided an exceptional laboratory of learning. Admittedly, the issue of Palestine is replete with controversy and often difficult to present to American audiences, even on university campuses. Organizers of the week’s events revealed extraordinary skill and professionalism in reaching out to different constiuencies and presenting perspectives on the conflict often unheard and silent. I was proud and honored that many of the organizers were students in my classes. Those students behind Justice in Palestine Week made me appreciate once again why university teaching can be so fulfilling.“

Professor Gary Fields
UC San Diego
May 18, 2010

“Hats off to the MSA! Last week’s series of events put on by the MSA obviously generated a great deal of student interest; seldom have I seen such a broad spectrum of students genuinely interested in becoming informed and hearing diverse opinions on complicated and controversial issues in which we all have a stake. There was a lot of planning, coordinating and hard work behind all those events, and the students of the UCSD MSA have to be recognized for all their efforts. University students –and all of us– thrive in a stimulating environment. Thanks to you all for providing the campus with a thought-provoking week of speakers and events. Adelante.”

Professor Beatrice Pita
UC San Diego
May 18, 2010

“I want to congratulate the MSA for a fantastic week of presentations and discussions. A university campus like ours should be a forum to hear expressions of opinion from all sides and the MSA made it possible for us to enjoy some powerful and enlightening talks. Information and controversy make us stronger and are what the university is all about. Clearly the MSA students worked hard at creating the apartheid wall, developing the videos, recruiting the speakers, making the presentations, and setting up booths. I was much impressed, especially with the great turnout that you had for your speakers. The campus as a whole benefited from what turned out to be one of the best attended and stimulating events on this campus this school year. Keep up the good work.”

Professor Rosaura Sanchez
UC San Diego
May 18, 2010

As you are all well aware, I am the one who spoke at the David Horowitz event this past Monday May 10, 2010.

Allow me to begin by stating that I do NOT condone murder, I do NOT condone genocide, and I do NOT condone racism under any circumstance whatsoever against Jews or anyone else. These accusations are lies that I refuse to allow David Horowitz and his allies to perpetuate in their irresponsible and hateful smear campaign against those who disagree with or differ from them.

On April 19, 2010 I volunteered to speak at the Racism/Genocide Holocaust Event last April only because of my strong convictions against genocide like the Holocaust. I was there every step of the way during the protests denouncing racism on campus last quarter—from the very beginning to the very end. Never have I uttered a negative syllable towards or about any person because of their ethnicity or religion on campus or otherwise, Jewish or otherwise. Regardless of my participation in these events, for Mr. Horowitz to insinuate that I am anti-Semitic is ridiculous; I am a Semite.

I attended the event as an individual, not as a representative of any organization, least of all the MSA. My presence was solidly founded in my academic and personal quests to hear diverse viewpoints. Unfortunately, Mr. Horowitz is a seasoned polemicist whose intent is not to encourage academic discussion by expounding his arguments or even supporting his positions with hard facts, but to excite the passions of an audience. Mr. Horowitz spent an hour indiscriminately attacking liberals, students, Arabs, Muslims, and Palestinians, utilizing verbiage that completely departed from an academic tone and delved into hate speech—especially labeling groups and individuals that support Palestinian rights “terrorists.”

Insofar as my references to Hitler and the Nazi Youth programs: it was Mr. Horowitz who spent a substantial amount of time referring to the MSA as the “Hitler Youth” and its Justice in Palestine Week as “Hitler Youth Week”— pejorative titles that as a human being, a student of history, and a person of faith, I find disgusting. I uttered them in a sarcastic manner only to point out the ridiculous and slanderous nature of Mr. Horowitz’s labels—Nazis sought the extermination of anyone who was not “white,” and this racial category excludes the vast majority of the Muslim population.

I asked Mr. Horowitz to explain the purported connection between UCSD’s MSA and “Jihadist Terrorist Networks.” His pamphlet did not mention the organization; rather it focused on other groups like UCI’s MSU and Berkley and LA’s MSA chapters, and offered supporting grounds that can be characterized as shaky at best, with sources that had little credibility. He chose not to engage my question (his opening arguments were the verbatim generalizations made in the pamphlet, though my question asked for specifics) but instead decided to subject me to an interrogation because of my headscarf and Palestinian kuffiyeh. The fact that Mr. Horowitz claimed on a respected national cable news network that the MSA receives forty thousand dollars to put on Justice in Palestine Week, speaks volumes to his status as a gross exaggerator who should not be trusted to deliver opinions on anything. The information can be found here on UCSD’s official website http://as.ucsd.edu/finance/sofr_view_program.php?id=710.

Towards the end of the exchange, I became emotional. I could no longer hear Mr. Horowitz speaking and so did not even hear his injection of Hezbollah’s credo of “rounding up” Jews in his last tangent. I could no longer contain my anger at being implicitly and improperly labeled a terrorist, an anti-Semite, and a proponent of genocide. The answer I was coerced into giving grossly misrepresented my beliefs and ideologies.

My answer, “for it,” in the context in which it was said does NOT mean “for” genocide. I was referring to his initial question that asked me for my position on Hamas, a topic that for his own political reasons he was relentless in pursuing. “For it” was not a legitimization of Hezbollah’s or anyone else’s credo for that matter that Jews should be exterminated. In fact, Mr. Horowitz’s intent was to entrap me with his barrage of questions so that he could avoid answering my question, and construe any answer that I would provide as anti-Semitic, genocidal hate speech in order to further his political agenda.

I am not a member of Hamas, nor have I ever given support to Hamas, nor do I agree their actions or stances wholesale, but I refused to offer Mr. Horowitz a blanket condemnation of Hamas that night. I felt that doing so would be a blanket condemnation of the Palestinian cause. I refused to throw the baby (the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people) out with the bathwater (Hamas.) In addition, Mr. Horowitz asked me to condemn Hamas as a genocidal organization; which to my limited knowledge on the subject, is another unsupported claim made by Mr. Horowitz.

My opinion of Hamas is not as simple as condemn or condone, “for it” or “against it.” I firmly believe that the killing of civilians, even as “collateral damage” regardless of creed, politics, sexuality, nationality, or ethnicity is one of the highest crimes in the eyes of God and is morally reprehensible and abhorrent. But I condone Hamas in its ambition to liberate the Palestinian people. I condone Hamas as the duly elected representative government of the Palestinian people granted governance in an election overseen by our ex-President Jimmy Carter; and characterized as fair, open, and fully democratic. I condone Hamas in its desire to end the inhumane siege of the Gazan people. I condone Hamas in its struggle to free the 10,000 Palestinian men, women, and children unjustly locked away in Israeli prisons. It seems that in Mr. Horowitz’s logic, my support of freedom, peace, and justice makes me a “terrorist.”

David Horowitz can try to erase my history, the history of my grandparents, the history of the Palestinian people, he can call me a terrorist, he can mischaracterize my faith as bloody, and my God as false, but I will NOT allow him to vilify me as a racist or a proponent of genocide and remain silent.

For Peace, For Love, For Justice,

Jumanah Imad Albahri

Muslim Student Association
University of California, San Diego

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(La Jolla, CA 5/14/2010) The Muslim Students Association of UCSD would like to clearly define its stance on the issue of which organizations and groups it condemns and condones, to ensure that no one else attempts to define our stance for us. The MSA at UCSD condemns all groups or organizations, whether state or non-state actors, who target civilians or target a civilian population to impose collective punishment. We are instructed with a valuable truth enshrined in the Qur’an – that ‘if anyone kills a human being unjustly, it is as though he or she has killed all humanity, and if anyone saves (even) one life, it is as though he or she has saved all humanity’ (Holy Qur’an 5:32). It is for this very reason that MSA has organized events such as our annual Justice in Palestine Week.

No single member of our student organization can speak exclusively on behalf of our MSA or other MSAs across the United States. The mission of the UCSD MSA is clear: to provide an environment of understanding that would foster the principles of community between Muslims and non-Muslims through education. We strive towards creating a community that promotes justice and equality for all people, regardless of religion, race, gender, or ethnicity.

This week the MSA has hosted Justice in Palestine Week 2010 at UC San Diego, dedicated to raising awareness about the apartheid crisis in Palestine. The crisis is at its core a humanitarian issue, and as such we, the Muslim Students Association, condemn the labeling of this human rights effort as a “Hitler Youth Week” in the words of a recently invited speaker. We will forever uphold the Qur’anic commandment to ‘stand out firmly for justice as God’s witnesses, even if it be against our own selves’ (Holy Qur’an 4:135). We thus condemn the loss of all innocent lives, as well as all groups, whether state or non-state actors, that advocate and perpetuate the killing of innocent civilians. Specifically, we condemn all Palestinian factions that have rejoiced in the killing of innocent Israeli civilians just as much as we condemn the indiscriminate murder of hundreds of innocent Palestinian civilians during Israeli military aggression. We reject the current apartheid system in Palestine-Israel that discriminates against people based on their ethnicity and race. We believe that Israel has a due right to be in accordance with international law, which demands an end to occupation in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, ensures the complete security and full equal rights of all Israel’s citizens, whether Jewish or Arab, and guarantees a just settlement concerning the return of displaced Palestinian refugees.

As the civil rights activist Malcolm X once said, “I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”

Contact: ucsdmsa@gmail.com