----- Original Message -----
From: <justiceinpalestine@hotmail.com>
To: <justiceinpalestine@hotmail.com>
Sent: Monday, April 29, 2002 5:12 PM
Subject: April 29th Dispatch from Students for Justice in Palestine
***** PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY *****
April 29th Dispatch from Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Berkeley
Today, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) set up a literature table,
like we have hundreds of times before. Only this time, it was in defiance
of the University's restrictions on SJP's free speech rights. Last week, we
received a notice from the administration with this warning:
"Please be advised that pending the investigation of this complaint, your
organization's group privileges are hereby suspended. These privileges
include (but are not limited to) reserving facilities, holding or
advertising activities on campus, or tabling on Sproul Plaza."
So, we decided to set up our table and to let people know what is happening
in Palestine and what is happening on campus. And we did this in defiance
of what we believe to be an unjust restriction on SJP's rights to speak,
distribute literature, and assemble.
So about thirty or forty of us came out today to stand by the table. Other
groups also had tables out with signs that read "we are all Students for
Justice in Palestine" in a show of solidarity against the administration's
restrictions on our rights. It was truly an inspiring scene. Especially on
a day when the crimes against Palestinians continue to mount, when Israel
re-invaded Hebron and Dura and stopped international monitors from
investigating the crimes in Jenin.
But in response to our table, the administration has upped the ante. Within
an hour of setting up the table, Student Judicial Affairs Director Neal
Rajmaira hand-delivered a letter to our group that threatened us with
"further and additional" sanctions if we continued to table.
The letter is attached below. Its nebulous and vague language is clearly
designed to threaten and confuse. And at its heart lies a vicious rationale
that the University continues to maintain - that organizing for Palestine
and speaking out about the University's investments in Israel constitute a
threat to the academic mission.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. It is only when the University
criminalizes and restricts activism and speech that it turns from being an
academic institution to an ossified ivory tower, that it transforms itself
from a place of learning and debate and discussion into a place of fear,
complacency, and quietude. That is what we fear the Chancellor is doing at
Berkeley by restricting SJP's rights to free speech and assembly.
And today, at Berkeley, in one fell swoop, the campus administration has
turned back the clock and has begun to act in the draconian traditions of
ex-President Clark Kerr, who also banned political tabling on campus. A
campus that was the home of the Free Speech Movement has now become the
scene for some of the most outrageous attacks on free speech.
And the real danger is not that they have singled out pro-Palestinian
activists for these kinds of restrictions (which they have) but that the
policy under which they are prosecuting the group, the Chancellor's
so-called "zero tolerance" policy, makes it impossible for any group to know
when their activism might make them subject to the same kinds of sanctions.
The suspension of the "privileges" of the group is one thing, but the
University continues to investigate and prosecute students who peacefully
sat-in on April 9th, 2002. Those students are still facing criminal charges
and may be facing suspension from school. The fact that this is happening
at all should be cause for concern. That it is happening at Berkeley should
be cause for outrage.
We plan on being visible and organizing on campus. We plan to defy these
restrictions on speech because we feel that it is the only way that we will
get serious change in this University's policies. We continue to demand
that the Chancellor publicly rescind the "zero tolerance" policy, that the
University drop all charges against the protesters arrested on April 9th,
that the University lift the suspension on Students for Justice in
Palestine, and the UC Regents divest from all their holdings in Israel.
Today we must proudly and defiantly say that we are all Students for Justice
in Palestine.
Snehal Shingavi
Students for Justice in Palestine - UC Berkeley
Letter from Student Judicial Affairs to SJP Berkeley
-----------------------------------------------------------
Student Judicial Affairs
326 Sproul Hall #2434
Berkeley, CA 94720
(510) 643-9069
Students for Justice in Palestine
c/o Mr. Snehal A. Shingavi
Re: Suspension of Student Group Privileges
Record #4815
Dear Mr. Shingavi:
Please be advised that your organization's student group privileges have
been suspended pending the investigation of a complaint filed with this
office that alleges numerous violations of the Berkeley Campus Code of
Student Conduct ("CSC") arising from a rally and protest that your group
sponsored on April 9, 2002. That event allegedly culminated in the
"occupation" of an academic building (Wheeler Hall) and resulted in several
arrests by the UCPD.
As my April 18, 2002 letter to you indicated, the ability of Students for
Justice in Palestine ("SJP") to table on Sproul Plaza is also currently
suspended. Accordingly, if SJP chooses to disregard this prohibition, be
advised that the group faces further and additional disciplinary action by
the University.
If you should have any questions regarding the suspension of SJP's student
group privileges, please contact Marcia Gee Riley in the Office of Student
Life.
Sincerely,
Neal S. Rajmaira, Esq.
Director
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at
http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.
