The parade of radical, hateful speakers brought to UC Irvine this week by the Muslim Student Union were of the most extremist variety. Their insults included “Israel the 4th Reich,” “Holocaust in the Holy Land,” “Apartheid Israel” etc. Statements made by speakers included historical mythology that continuously demonized Israel with a steady drum beat. StandWithUs staff were there, all week, supporting the local community of students, faculty and community members who chose to stand up to the hatred and misinformation. We were proud to stand with other concerned organizations, including AJ Congress, ZOA, Hillel, Federation, and the ADL. We collected photos and video footage.

Click Here for Video of Anti-Israel Week @ UCI – Speech by Malik Ali

And there was so much misinformation promoted by those who held the microphones! Within the next week, we will share UNBELIEVABLE portions of the speeches that were made at UC Irvine near an “apartheid wall” structure complete with fake aggressive Israeli soldiers harassing passers by. All for the sake of creating hatred against Israel. The scene was incredible.

StandWithUs salutes the Jewish and non-Jewish faculty, students and community members that attended the various hate fests and held clear signs with opposing messages, like “Israel we Stand With You,” and “Suicide Bombing is Mass Murder.” We also salute Rabbi Yona Bookstein who led the pro- peace, pro-Israel attendees in songs like “We shall overcome”, “All We are Saying is Give Peace a Chance” and “”Oseh Shalom.”

Determined attendees helped the greater student body understand that there are TWO sides to this complicated story, and that demonizing one side is completely unhelpful. Not only is this kind of hateful incitement counterproductive to creating a civil society at UC Irvine, but it is unhelpful to the greater goal of bringing peace to a troubled region.

More on this week’s event can be found at: http://standwithus.com/news_post.asp?NPI=820