Orange County Jewish Organizations Urge UC Irvine to Act

There is an old saying that begins something like this. “There were three Jews the room and there were five different opinions……” At times, it is hard for Jews to agree on something, anything. This is not one of those times. Four different groups, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Hillel Foundation of Orange County, Jewish Federation Orange County and the American Jewish Committee issued a joint statement today regarding the latest news from an anonymous source regarding the Muslim students arrested in February.

Here is their joint statement.

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Orange County Jewish Organizations Urge UC Irvine to Act

(Irvine) — A number of organizations and individuals have received information from an anonymous source regarding the disruption of Israeli Ambassador Michel Oren’s February 8, 2010 speech at the University of California, Irvine.

The evidence and allegations in the packet, if accurate and authentic, are deeply disturbing. They point to a well-planned, highly organized, premeditated effort to disrupt Ambassador Oren’s speech. The shocking details contained in these materials would clearly establish that MSU leadership and members deliberately deceived University officials about their planned protest and expressly instructed participants to deny that the MSU was involved.

The contents of the packet, if true, constitute disturbing evidence that members of the Muslim Student Union at UCI were willing to engage in egregious and intimidating behavior in an effort to deprive Ambassador Oren of the opportunity speak freely and openly in a forum provided by the university. The packet’s contents also suggest this disturbing tactic may be part of a larger national effort to engage in similar disruptive acts.

We urge the University to investigate the contents of the packet thoroughly and expeditiously. If the information is genuine, it points to serious violations by individual students as well as the Muslim Student Union of acceptable standards of public discourse and UCI’s own student code of conduct.

Because we cannot verify the source or authenticity of the material in the packet, we have turned it over to law enforcement for their investigation.

Rabbi Marc S. Dworkin

Executive Director

American Jewish Committee, Orange County

Shalom C. Elcott

President & CEO

Jewish Federation Orange County

Jordan L. Fruchtman

Executive Director

Hillel Foundation of Orange County

Dr. Kevin O’Grady, Ed.D.

Regional Director

Anti-Defamation League, Orange County/Long Beach Regional Office