The Free Beacon’s Jessica Costescu draws attention to the recent speaker (via video) at Berkeley Law School:
The University of California Berkeley law school’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter hosted a convicted Palestinian terrorist who detonated a car bomb that burned an Israeli police officer, an event a spokesman for the school told the Washington Free Beacon is “Constitutionally protected expression.”
Israa Jaabis, who was freed from prison early as part of an Oct. 7 hostage exchange, thanked the group for making her feel “there is someone who cares about us.”
Jaabis, left disfigured from the explosion, joined a video call as part of a Monday event titled “Teach-in: Palestinian Political Prisoners Day,” which the SJP chapter hosted in a Berkeley Law classroom, the Jerusalem Post first reported.
Supporters of those who proclaim the murder of Jews a sacred cause seem to point the direction of the Democratic Party’s future.
Costescu sought a statement from a spokesman for the school:
Berkeley Law spokesman Alex Shapiro said the school “has a non-discretionary obligation to abide by and support the First Amendment in a completely content neutral manner.”
“We do not have the legal ability to sanction or censor Constitutionally protected expression,” he told the Free Beacon. “However, as UC Berkeley has repeatedly informed the student body, if any campus community member feels threatened, they [sic] are encouraged to contact the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination. OPHD provides support to those harmed, investigates all allegations, and the campus takes appropriate steps following any findings.”
This raises the question whether the school disapproves of the speaker or her speech. If so, is it beyond the bounds to say it? Indeed, Costescu raises the question in her own way:
The event is the latest example of UC Berkeley’s SJP chapters promoting figures and symbols tied to terrorism—activity the university has repeatedly said falls under free speech protections. UC Berkeley, for instance, allows its SJP chapter to include an inverted red triangle—a symbol Hamas uses to denote Israeli targets—in its logo, which is displayed on an official university webpage for the group and is permitted to appear at its sanctioned events on campus. Berkeley’s online “Free Speech FAQ” says incitement to “commit acts of violence” is not protected, and terrorism experts said the Hamas triangle is “absolutely” an example of such incitement, the Free Beacon reported.
Support for terrorists whose professed goal is to murder Jews certainly makes me “feel” a little queasy tending toward personally threatened:
UC Berkeley’s SJP Chapter regularly expresses its support for terrorist organizations, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and promotes violence against Israelis. The group posted a video of Iranian rockets flying through the night sky on March 3 with a caption that read, “Children of Gaza are chanting, ‘O Allah, guide and make their aim accurate,’ after watching the Iranian missiles strike Israel.” On Easter Sunday, the group celebrated the lynching of Israeli soldiers. Two days later, it posted “Death to Israel.”
Costescu also raises the question whether there are limits to the school’s neutrality regarding speakers:
On March 19, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law reached a settlement with Berkeley Law barring student organizations from excluding speakers based on protected characteristics, including support for Israel or Zionism. Shortly thereafter, Brandeis accused law school dean Erwin Chemerinsky of misrepresenting the agreement by telling the student body that the bylaws must change, but restrictive speaker policies could remain.
As of Thursday afternoon, the constitution and bylaws for Berkeley Law’s SJP chapter state that the group “will not invite speakers that have expressed and continued to hold views or host/sponsor/promote events in support of Zionism, the apartheid state of Israel.”
Berkeley law professor Steven Davidoff Solomon accused the chapter of “regularly harass[ing] me and other Jewish students and faculty” and called for Chemerinsky’s termination.
I have omitted the many links in Costescu’s story from the quotes above. Read the whole thing here.
