News

Okay, so this is what I got out of this article:

A massive crowd gathered outside of Wheeler Hall at 5 p.m. Monday chanting so loudly that students inside told Sobkin they couldn’t hear their professors. The event shifted to Zellerbach Playhouse, and the university sent what officials thought would be enough police to protect attendees.

That seems to be factual, and there was no mention of violence. From the University itself:

UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof confirmed that about 200 student protesters mobbed Zellerbach [Playhouse], but could not substantiate injuries. He urged anyone who was hurt to report the incident to UC police and to the school’s Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination.

So the University currently has no information or evidence of injuries, and hasn't said anything about specific antisemitic incidents.

And, in closer reading of the article, all the allegations of antisemitism and violence are currently coming from one person -

Danielle Sobkin, one of the organizers

I'm not saying that these incidents didn't happen. I am saying that it's a little odd that (so far as has made it to my corner of the internet) no one filmed the antisemitism or violence; that the University hasn't mentioned anything about any of the incidents maybe being caught on security cameras or (if they wear them) police bodycams; and that, as one of the organizers who is presumably trying to gin up support for Israel, Danielle Sobkin may have a motive to exaggerate any incidents that may or may not have happened.

I'm also willing to change my initial opinion based on security video, bodycam footage, cellphone recordings, or additional corroborating accounts from additional witnesses or bystanders. However, for now, I'm treating this account of antisemitism and violence with scepticism.

This is not the way to voice displeasure over what’s happening in Israel

This kind of behavior is particularly tricky to manage. While numerous social and political movements ( and even regime changes such as in Eastern Europe in 89 ) started with student protests, violence is, in my opinion, not the answer.

The power of students should come from their perspective outside of the current "box" (whichever system of social and political standards are the norm in a given area at a given time) which can educate the rest of the population. At the same time, I understand that at a certain point, people can feel so unheard, ignored, and suppressed by the norms that they see lashing out violently as their only option left.

So, it is very hard to strike a balance between enforcing the peace and preserving the existence of grassroots student movements. Doubly so in cases like this.

My only suggestion is to moderate yourself and those around you, lest we fall to radicalization.

Fucking terrorists.

dict terrorism
1 definition found

From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
 
 terrorism
    n 1: the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence)
         against civilians in order to attain goals that are
         political or religious or ideological in nature; this is
         done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear
         [syn: {terrorism}, {act of terrorism}, {terrorist act}]

Unconscionable. The university should make an example of people who engaged in this kind of anti-Semitism to send a message that prejudice, hatred, and violence won't be tolerated.