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Berkeley Archives
By Alan D. Miller
I am reminded by the last posting:
When I was a student in Berkeley, Zionism had a bad reputation on campus. It was considered a dirty word, an "-ism", like racism, sexism, imperalism, and Judaism.
By Alan D. Miller
Apparently Bus 19, destroyed by suicide bombers on January 29, 2004, was brought to Berkeley on January 16. Apparently this exhibition was met with a pro-Palestinian counter protest. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the protestors' chants included: "Two, four, six, eight, we are martyrs, we can't wait." Photos are available here and here. People who have not lived in Berkeley may find them shocking. Former and present Berkeley residents will probably find them routine.
By Alan D. Miller
There is a good article in today's East Bay Express, "Berkeley Intifada," about antisemitism at U.C. Berkeley. Heavy emphasis is placed on the role of Dr. Hatem Bazian. (see the Berkeley Archive)
The article would benefit from some additional historical perspective. While some details are provided, such as the synopsis of the March 1996 rally in support of suicide terrorism, others are left out. The article does not note, for example, that Dr. Bazian appeared on television as a spokesman for that rally. Nor does it mention that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion has a history of its own in Berkeley, having been distributed on campus by the Muslim Students Association in 1983, and having been sold at a conference organized by Dr. Bazian in 1997.
By Alan D. Miller
I received a copy of the following letter sent to UC Berkeley Chancellor Berdahl by San Francisco State University alumnus Alex Horovitz. In general, I agree with the letter, with one caveat: I am not sure that Hatem Bazian is qualified for every position he holds at UC Berkeley, irrespective of his recent comments. (For example, the Chancellor should never have made a supporter of suicide terrorism a member of his "Special advisory committee on Iraq-related matters.")
I'm not exactly sure what job Dr. Bazian holds at Berkeley.* I sent an email on April 16 to the Near Eastern Studies deparment inquring about his position; so far, that e-mail has gone unanswered.
I should note that Chancellor Berdahl came to Berkeley as a strong supporter of the State of Israel, and I have no reason to believe that his position has changed. (See the post directly below this one.)
Here is Alex Horovitz's letter:
Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl
Office of the Chancellor
200 California Hall #1500
Berkeley, CA 94720-1500
Telephone: (510) 642-7464
Chancellor Berdahl,
Let me say at the outset that I find the things that Dr. Bazian tends to promote to be, for the most part, beyond the pale of what civilized people encourage from each other in a free exchange of ideas. I was a student at SFSU with him in the late 80's and he went so far as to ensure that I was prevented from being confirmed as an appointee to the Student Judicial Council. He did so on the grounds that I supported the state of Israel. As a supporter of Israel I was therefore a Zionist; and, because I was a Zionist I was therefore a racist. Needless to say, I am not Dr. Bazian's biggest fan.
That being said, I urge that you continue to allow Dr. Bazian to promote his views unfettered by the University without any consideration whatsoever to the contents of his speech. Berkeley has a long and proud tradition of promoting the free expression of ideas and certainly it would be wrong bow to public pressure of the moment, no matter how strong, and curb the free and unfettered expression of an individual.
By way of example, people seem to be very upset about a speech he gave at a rally in San Francisco on April 10th of this year. Dr. Bazian in addressing the crowd can be heard saying the following:
Are you angry? [Yeah!] Are you angry? [Yeah!] Are you angry? [Yeah!] Well, we've been watching intifada in Palestine, we've been watching an uprising in Iraq, and the question is that what are we doing? How come we don't have an intifada in this country? Because it seem[s] to me, that we are comfortable in where we are, watching CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox, and all these mainstream... giving us a window to the world while the world is being managed from Washington, from New York, from every other place in here in San Francisco: Chevron, Bechtel, [Carlyle?] Group, Halliburton; every one of those lying, cheating, stealing, deceiving individuals are in our country and we're sitting here and watching the world pass by, people being bombed, and it's about time that we have an intifada in this country that change[s] fundamentally the political dynamics in here. And we know every-- They're gonna say some Palestinian being too radical -- well, you haven't seen radicalism yet!
[ http://users.lmi.net/zombie/sf_rally_april_10_2004/movies/SF_4-10-4_Hatem_Bazian1.avi ]
That Dr. Bazian clearly calls for an uprising here in the United States should have no bearing on his constitutional right to promote his ideas. I have always believed that people, especially people in a University environment, should have the freedom to explore and promote any idea. We should not care about the idea itself for the marketplace of ideas will sort out the strength or weakness of the idea in time.
I ask that you trust the many reasonable people who will counter the views of Dr. Bazian. Their criticism will be far more effective than any policy or action the University might come up with in checking the views of Dr. Bazian. When we allow people the freedom to speak, we also allow them the freedom to be criticized for their speech. No further checks or balances are needed nor would they benefit us in the future when other unpopular ideas (and perhaps even important and just ones) arise.
Thank you for your consideration,
Alex
Alex Horovitz
Chief Technical Officer &
V.P. Software Engineering
Brookeside Group, Inc.
524 Main Street
Acton, Massachusetts 01720
www.brookeside.com
EDIT: * On June 14, 2004, the Near Eastern Studies department at UC Berkeley replied to my e-mail, explaning that a technical error caused much of the Department's email to go to an account that was not in use. Dr. Bazian is a lecturer.
By Alan D. Miller
Today is Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's independence day. Israel is fifty-six years old today. (Technically, Israel's Birthday was yesterday (the fifth of Iyar), but it is being celebrated a day late this year.) I am reminded of the text of an advertisement I wrote in Berkeley for Israel's fiftieth in 1998. The text was changed before it was published in the campus paper, but before that point, it was signed by the a number of student leaders, as well as Chancellor Berdahl.
To the Jewish Nation:
We congratulate you on the fiftieth anniversary of your freedom.
We congratulate you on the accomplishments of Zionism, the most
successful revolutionary movement of the twentieth century.
We congratulate you for having fulfilled for fifty years the inalienable
right of the Jewish People to political self-determination in the Land of
Israel
We salute the vibrant democracy which has for fifty years truly served as
a center for Jewish civilization, culture, religion, history, and thinking.
We look forward to celebrating another fifty years of your independence.
Happy 50th, Israel.
Hatem on the O'Reilly Factor
By Alan D. Miller
Hatem Bazian (see here, here, here, and in the Berkeley Archive) appeared on the O'Reilly Factor on Monday. Click here for a transcript.
Bazian claimed to never have said "The Day of Judgment will not happen until the trees and stones will say, ‘O Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him[,]" a quote is attributed to him in Steve Emerson's book American Jihad.
Bazian claimed that he was calling for a non-violent political intifada in his speech.
Bazian claimed to "condemn terrorism throughout" and to "condemn all acts of violence that were targeted at civilians, regardless of who does it" although he seemed to refuse to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah by name. Likewise, he claimed to have condemned al-Qaida after September 11th, although he did not mentioned the name, and quickly changed the subject.
I wouldn't believe a word of what he said.
American Intifada: Update
By Alan D. Miller
Can someone explain to me why Dr. Bazian is on the UC Berkeley Chancellor's "Special advisory committee on Iraq-related matters"?
Should someone who advocates the use of terrorism be advising the Chancellor?
By Alan D. Miller
A story has broken recently on Little Green Footballs and WorldNetDaily about Dr. Hatem Bazian, a UC Berkeley lecturer who alleged called for an uprising against the United States modeled on the Palestinian Intifada. From WorldNetDaily:
"Well, we've been watching intifada in Palestine, we've been watching an uprising in Iraq, and the question is that what are we doing? How come we don't have an intifada in this country?
Because it seem[s] to me, that we are comfortable in where we are, watching CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox, and all these mainstream ... giving us a window to the world while the world is being managed from Washington, from New York, from every other place in here in San Francisco: Chevron, Bechtel, [Carlyle?] Group, Halliburton; every one of those lying, cheating, stealing, deceiving individuals are in our country and we're sitting here and watching the world pass by, people being bombed, and it's about time that we have an intifada in this country that change[s] fundamentally the political dynamics in here.
And we know every – They're gonna say some Palestinian being too radical – well, you haven't seen radicalism yet!"
Little Green Footballs has a link to a video of Dr. Bazian's speech.
The following is a previously unpublished column that I wrote a few months after September 11th. I think that these recent events only serve to confirm my point.
"Our Army Loves Death More Than Life."
This wasn't another of Osama Bin Laden's videotaped rants against the United States. This was a sign held by protestors at a rally in support of suicide terrorism... at the University of California, Berkeley.
The date was March 8, 1996; less than a week after the end of a spate of suicide bombings in Israel which killed more than sixty people. The protestors, a group of Muslim students at UC Berkeley, were declaring their support for HAMAS, the Palestinian terrorist group that carried out the brutal attacks. One student, speaking from the microphone, declared his willingness to become a suicide bomber
"We are Hezbullah," read another sign. Prior to September 11, Hezbullah had killed more Americans than any other terrorist group. Its leaders grace the State Department's most wanted terrorists list. And in Berkeley, students were showing their support for these murderers.
This was all over five years before the horrific events in New York and in Washington. What are those students saying today?
Hatem Bazian, the spokesman for those protestors back in 1996, has been particularly vocal in the wake of September 11. He wants people to know that Islam does not condone acts of terrorism carried out against civilians. "The (attacks) do not represent the Islamic faith. Rather, it is isolated individuals that are taking these acts."
A few years ago, however, he was using Islam to justify acts of terrorism against civilians. At a fall 1996 lecture he questioned the faith of Jordanian Muslims who do not harm Israeli tourists visiting their country.
With all his new found opposition to terrorism, Bazian isn't supporting the war against bin Laden. "Being a patriot does not mean you have to believe in war," Bazian said at a recent Berkeley rally. A reasonable position, perhaps, but given his past support of groups that share bin Laden's ideology, is it reasonable to believe that he has changed? Has the tiger really changed his stripes?
Bazian is not the only American Muslim leader to have changed his tune after September 11. And some, it seems, haven't changed their tune. Take the case of Salam al-Maryati, the director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles, who suggested that the State of Israel be put on the suspect list for the September 11 attacks.
What distinguishes September 11 from suicide terrorism in Israel? Can we say that the problem with bin Laden is not his methods but only his choice of target? That had his attacks been carried out on civilians in Tokyo, Tel Aviv, or Riyadh they would have been legitimate? This is exactly what those who distinguish between terrorism against Americans and terrorism against Israelis are saying.
Of course, this isn't only about Israel, and this brings us back, once again, to Hatem Bazian. The line between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism has been blurred at the Berkeley rallies, with speakers condemning both Zionists and Jews generally. Rally participants have held signs with slogans such as "Zionism is Nazism" and "Zionism is anti-Semitism," and one of the pillars of the Nazi propaganda trilogy, The International Jew, was distributed at a 1997 Islamic conference which Bazian organized.
A telling sign of Bazian’s vision is found in one of his post-September 11 statements. “Here at Berkeley, we have Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim students all co-existing peacefully together,” Bazian said. “If we can do it, so can the rest of the world.” There is no place for Jews in his vision of peace.
By Alan D. Miller
Dear Mr. Kaplan,
I assume that by "multitudinous archives" you are referring to your "News and Commentary" section. I did not find the links to the kahanist organizations in that section, but on your "Rogues Gallery" page, which is accessible from the sidebar on your homepage. See http://www.dafka.org/Gallery.asp.
A search of your "News and Commentary" section for "masada2000.org" (a Kahanist site) uncovered eight articles. Two of these articles seem to have been added very recently, after you sent me the message, below, to which I am replying. One of these articles, entitled "The Treasonous Left" (http://www.dafka.org/NewsGen.asp?S=4&PageID=579), is reminicent of the incitement that preceded Rabin's assassination.
That article, in turn, links to a page entitled "Yitzhak Rabin (swinging from the gallows in Hades)". See: http://www.masada2000.org/yitzhak.html. That page has the following to say about Rabin's murderer: "A good Jewish life is a terrible thing to waste... especially when he looks a bit like Jerry Seinfeld! The gunman, Yigal Amir, was a 25 year old third year law student at Bar-Ilan University. And now that single gunshot to Yitzhak's chest undoubtedly has cut short a promising legal career. We need more good Jewish lawyers... and I don't mean the William Kunstler and Stanley Cohen types who defend Arab murderers of True Jewish Heroes like Rabbi Meir Kahane!"
If I expect Muslim organizations to distance themselves from HAMAS and Islamic Jihad, I must also expect Jewish organizations to distance themselves from the memory of Rabbi Kahane, yemach shemo. From what I can see on your website, it does not appear that you have done so. Removal of these links and an unequivocal condemnation of Kahanism would be much more persuasive than an equivocal denial of affiliation with the Kahane movement.
With regards to your claim that DAFKA is student-led: I wrote only that it would be appropriate to deny DAFKA affiliation if it is not led by students, but gave no opinion as to whether those charges were true. You claim that the accusations of non-students running things are false. So perhaps we can agree that it is appropriate for Hillel to deny affiliation to groups led by non-students. But why is it that you, and not the student leaders of DAFKA, have been the one most actively protesting Hillel's decision?
From: "Lee Kaplan"
To: questions@zionist.org
Subject: Your comments on DAFKA
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 12:26:54 -0800
Mr. Miller;
As an attorney you of all people should know better than base accusations on hearsay. Your comments about why you think DAFKA should not be part of Hillel,
that it is run by "non-students", are not true. The group has always been run by students at Cal. The accusations of non-students running things were started by leftists within Hillel in order to stifle the active opinions of DAFKA students with whom they did not agree. DAFKA was removed from the Hillel website, and DAFKA students were never even queried about the false accusation before being removed. Had the leftist students in Hillel asked DAFKA's student members about their assertions they would have found them false.
In addition, your accusations of Kahanist influences is both ignorant and also based on innuendo. The fact you found a link in our multitudinous archives to a Kahanist article does not mean we ourselves are part of the Kahane movement or Kach. But if we were, as an attorney I find your attempt to limit someone else's right to an opinion different from yours, particularly a group of Jews supporting Israel's safety from terror and absolute right to exist, particularly fascist. The only one committing an insult to the Jewish community is yourself, not DAFKA or its members, and you owe all of us at DAFKA an apology.
DAFKA is now being reinstated in Berkeley Hillel. The Jewish community rose overwhelmingly to our defense because they understood the group was removed by a bunch of radical kids who wanted to keep other kids from supporting Israel in a pro-active manner that did not fit their way of doing things, as well as a leftist group that quietly works with the Palestinians on campus to weaken Israel's ability to protect itself. Get your facts straight next time. The same clique that removed DAFKA also denied ZOA the right to join Berkeley Hillel. Now both proIsrael groups are back in. Some "Zionist" you are, siding with those who want to silence
proZionist groups. You can verify my comments by speaking to Julie Sager, campus coordinator at ZOA.
As a professional, I would expect you to run this reply to your slanderous and ill-informed comments about our group.
Lee Kaplan
National Director
DAFKA
Dafka / JSU / Berkeley Hillel
By Alan D. Miller
As a former UC Berkeley Israel Activist and as a former JSU treasurer involved with decisions as to whether groups should be funded, I feel the need to comment on the issue of whether Dafka should granted Hillel membership. (see here, here, and here.)
In my view it would be entirely appropriate to deny Dafka funding and hillel membership on two bases: (1) that the group is not student-led (if this is indeed the case), and (2) the group's Kahanist political orientation.
(I am not familiar with the decision in this case and can not comment on whether it was consistent with decision made regarding other groups. I do not see a basis for denying funding to a student led group with political views similar to those of the ZOA, at least to the extent that I am familiar with that organization.)
The Dafka website contains links to at least two Kahanist organizations. The two websites linked two are: http://www.jdl-ny.org and http://www.masada2000.org. I found these links at http://www.dafka.org/Gallery.asp at about 7:45 am on 11/6/2003.
The page also refers to Michael Lerner as a "Kapo." While I consider Michael Lerner's politics to be outside the Zionist consensus and generally have a lot of other negative things to say about them, labelling him as a "Kapo" is strictly unacceptable by the standards of Jewish communal discourse.
Kahanism is a far greater danger to Jews than is the progressivism of Michael Lerner and the Tikkun community. While Tikkun seeks to deprive Israel of its strength; the Kahanists threaten our very soul. Our community must make every effort possible to oppose Kahanism in all of its forms.
By Alan D. Miller
A U.C. Berkeley student has accused a Near Eastern Studies lecturer of promoting The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion in class.
See the story here:
http://www.dailycal.org/article.asp?id=12327
Six years ago, The International Jew, Henry Ford's literary version of the Protocols, was distributed at U.C. Berkeley conference organized by another Near Eastern Studies lecturer.
You can see the article I wrote on this subject in 1997 here: http://archive.dailycal.org/archive/03.20.97/oped/miller.html
And the response, here:
http://archive.dailycal.org/archive/04.01.97/oped/letters.html
The conference was organized by Hatem Bazian, a graduate student in Near Eastern Studies.
The story gets more interesting. The student making the accusation allegedly dressed up as a suicide bomber and spat on a student during a pro-Palestinian rally last fall. The student said that she felt threatened when physically restrained from walking through Sproul Plaza.
Students dressed as suicide bombers are not a new phenomenon at U.C. Berkeley. On March 1996, Muslim students dressed as suicide bombers to demonstrate their support for a string of Hamas suicide bombings which killed sixty people in Israel in the previous two weeks. Hatem Bazian appeared on television as a spokesperson for the organizers.
Spitting allegations aren't new, either. In 1998, Near Eastern Studies Professor Hamid Algar allegedly told Armenian students that there should have been a genocide of Armenians during World War I. The Armenians also alleged that Professor Algar spit on them, although the latter claim was not found to be supported by evidence according to a U.C. Berkeley panel which reviewed the incident.
You can read about this story at:
http://archive.dailycal.org/archive/1999/2/24/decision.html
Statement on the Death of Marla Bennett, z"l
By Alan D. Miller
Last week, seven people were murdered when Palestinian terrorists exploded a bomb at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Among the victims was Marla Bennett, who I knew well from my time as a student activist in Berkeley. All those who knew Marla will remember her for her kindness, her integrity, and her devotion to the nation and the land of Israel. Words cannot express my shock at Marla's death.
Matthew Eisenfeld, Sara Duker, Alisa Flatow, David Boim -- the names of these young American victims of Palestinian terrorism have long been seared in my memory. I am familiar with their stories. In law school I studied their families' cases against Iran and Hamas. I assisted in one of the lawsuits. And I have felt sadness and anger over each of their tragic fates. But now that Marla Bennett is added to the list, the anger and sadness turns to grief and shock. Whereas I would once have had the strength to discuss politics and ideology after such an attack, I now lack that strength, and am unable to concentrate on anything but the victim, who is no longer a story to be imagined in my mind, but a flesh and blood memory.
I believed that Marla made the proper decision when she chose to remain in Israel. My view has not changed. But the shock of Marla's death shattered the confidence I needed to express that view. Only when the shock lifts will I be able to begin to put together the shards of that confidence.
I do have enough confidence left, however, to know one thing. Those responsible for Marla's death must be held accountable. The murder of American citizens is a crime under American law. The United States must demand the extradition of all those who are legally responsible: those who carried out the attack, those who planned it, and those who provided material support.
Nor can we forgive those who bear moral responsibility. Less than two weeks after Matthew Eisenfeld and Sara Duker were murdered, along with two dozen others, when terrorists bombed the number eighteen bus in Jerusalem, a rally was held in Berkeley which called for more murders of Jews. A tenured professor attended that rally. We can not forget that within our midst there are people who support terrorism, and we must bring this to light.
In April a petition was published which called for a boycott of ties with Israeli Academics. Over one thousand academics have signed it or similar petitions. Then, a month ago, two board members of an academic journal were fired for the sole reason that they were employed by an Israeli University. These attempts to de-legitimize contact with and incite hatred against Israeli Universities cannot be viewed as isolated from the bombing of the Hebrew University. Those who signed and those who supported these petitions bear a degree of responsibility for Marla's death, and this we may not forget.
May he who brings peace in the heavens bring peace upon us and all of Israel.
Alan D. Miller, Esq.
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