Tag Archives: State: California

Religion Clause Blog: “Today’s Daily Californian reports on a lawsuit filed in a California federal district court by a UC Berkeley graduate against Berkeley and the University system over a series of anti-Semitic incidents.”

Christian Post: “Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill seeking to ensure that recent changes to Texas’ social studies curriculum in no way affect California’s. In his veto message Tuesday, the governor said he was returning [Senate Bill 1451] without his signature because it ‘is duplicative and unnecessary.’”

NPR: “Catholics have Notre Dame, Jews have Yeshiva University and Evangelicals have Wheaton College — but until now, Muslim Americans didn’t have their own liberal arts college. And then there’s the appeal of the two founders, Imam Shakir and Sheik Hamza Yusuf, who are celebrities by preaching an Islam that resonates with young Americans . . . [Co-founder Sheik Hamza Yusuf] says Zaytuna has a deeper motive than just making the students feel at home. He wants to tease apart the religion of Islam from the customs and ideas of the Middle East. He’s learned this from personal experience. He says that during his 10 years studying abroad, he imbibed ideas that had nothing to do with Islam, such as anger at U.S. foreign policy.”

Associated Press: “The University of California, Irvine has upheld its decision to suspend a campus Muslim group after some of its members disrupted a speech by the Israeli ambassador at a campus event.” For background information see this ADF Alliance Alert compound tag: http://www.alliancealert.org/tag/state-california+topic-education+topic-islam/

Family Security Matters: “Zaytuna College, which has attracted applications from Muslims throughout the world and substantial financial support from Saudi Arabia, is located in Berkley, California. With the motto ‘Where Islam Meets America,’ Zaytuna upholds the goal of cultivating Islamic scholars. What kind of Islamic scholars? The examples have been set by the three Islamic radicals, who serve as founders of the college.”

Reut Cohen writing at Pajamas Media: “UCI’s administration made an unprecedented decision to suspend the MSU for a full year. The decision was made after a school investigation found that the organization planned disruptions during a February speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. The decision to suspend the group was not so much about the fact that the MSU disrupted a speech, but that the group later lied about its intentions and actions. … The move to suspend the MSU over this recent incident has been welcomed by some in both the UC and wider Jewish communities.”

ADF Attorney Joe Martins writing at Speak Up Movement / University: “”[UC-Irvine's] is just the latest in a long line of campus incidents in which student organizations have disrupted or even assaulted speakers to silence their message. . . . What has not been characteristic of such disruptions however, is an appropriate university response. . . . But UCI distinguished itself by actually disciplining the Muslim Student Union for its planned and coordinated disruption of Ambassador Oren’s speech. UCI suspended the group for a year and imposed fifty hours of community service. In doing so, UCI sent a message that it will not tolerate a ‘heckler’s veto’ on free speech. The Muslim Student Union has—as do all student groups— the right to counter speech it abhors at an appropriate time, place and manner. But that right does not include the ability to disrupt and intimidate others into silence.”

Eugene Volokh writing at the Volokh Conspiracy: “So reports the Orange County Register, pointing to this decision letter.”

Europe News: “A Muslim student at the University of California at San Diego last week endorsed a new genocide of Jews. Although one can only imagine the media hue and cry had a conservative student said this, the liberal media has not found Jumanah Imad Albahri’s statement fit to print.”

Mike Adams writes at Townhall: “Muslim students are not always cowards. But the Muslim Student Union (MSU) is often the least tolerant and most cowardly student group on a given college campus. The gulf between the speech they prevent and what they practice with administrators’ consent is enormous. What follows is a summary of a recent, and increasingly typical, incident. I have included links to video of the incident for verification. I have also included the chancellor’s complete contact information so that ‘infidels’ can express disgust with unchecked Muslim bigotry and intolerance on our nation’s campuses . . . Readers of this column need to watch this five-minute video . . . ”

“A group of students at UC Irvine, apparently all members of the Muslim Students Union , decided to try to stop the speech.”