Intifada Against College Republicans

Author: Lee Kaplan
Publication: FrontPageMagazine.com
Date: November 2, 2004
URL: http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=15779

San Francisco, November 1, 2004- A mob of Arab students at San Francisco State University attacked a group of College Republicans on the San Francisco State University campus at noon today during a "Turnout the Vote" event in front of the campus student union building.
 
Derek Wray, President of the SFSU College Republicans, told Front Page Magazine that an angry mob of Palestinian students attacked the club's table, as well as individual members of the Republican club who were handing out pro- Bush/Cheney campaign materials. According to  Wray, campus police were nearby, but "just stood around watching and, instead of protecting the College Republican students from the mob that was pouring drinks on our table and materials, and even physically assaulting our members, only suggested that the campus Republicans leave rather than arrest those responsible for the violence."
 
 Wray said the incident began when four Palestinian women from the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) on the S.F. State campus approached the CRs' table and began a verbal tirade. "You and the Jews want to kill all the Muslims!" one screamed at Wray. "You and Ariel Sharon want to kill innocent Palestinian babies." A larger crowd of male Arab students then joined in creating a threatening mob in front of the table.
 
"When one of the Republican students asked one of the women that if she hated America so much, why she didn't leave, she screamed at him 'I have some pride. I would strap a bomb on myself and blow myself up as a suicide bomber rather than call myself an American,'"according to  Wray. He said the woman also ranted that terrorists are "freedom fighters."
 
"One woman said she'd blow up the College Republicans on campus," Wray continued. "They began throwing food at us and even tried to tip over our table." The campus police did nothing. Instead of separating them from our table, they kept pulling me aside and asking if we were willing to leave."
 
One of the Arab women even began hitting one of the male college Republicans who deflected her blows with his arms. "She got right into his face screaming and trying to hit him. When he deflected one of her blows she then yelled to the male Arabs present that the Republican student was hitting a woman." This is a tactic used frequently in demonstrations lately, where pro-Palestinian demonstrators send women in to physically assault demonstrators from opposing groups then claim that women are being attacked when they are physically stopped by victims.
 
The GUPS on the S.F State campus wield considerable political control over the student government there. They have had a private office in the Student Union building on campus with a PLO flag painted on the door for the last fifteen years while other campus clubs go begging for office space. In addition, Jewish groups have been completely shut out from having any presence in the student union building, let alone office space. Several years ago, a mural painted on the side of the student union building contained a Star of David dripping with blood. It was eventually taken down after a furor from the Jewish student body and alumni as well as the general public.
 
The GUPS have attacked Jewish students and groups before on the S.F.S.U. campus, but this is the first time they attacked a group of conservative students, most of whom are not Jewish, because of their political views. Over a year ago, Jewish students had to be physically escorted off campus by 25 San Francisco city police officers during a pro-Israel rally on campus because of threats of violence by Palestinian and Muslim students there. Tatiana Menaker, one of the Jewish students involved, was later expelled by the administration for five years for hurling an epithet during the attack on the Jewish students, a sentence dropped by the administration after Front Page Magazine reported on what occurred on her situation. In addition, Hatem Bazian, a history professor at UC Berkeley who recently called for an "Intifada" in America was a former member and officer of the GUPS.
 
The Intifada againt Israel by Palestinians in the Holy Land has resulted in 25,000 terrorist attacks against Israelis since it began in the year 2000 with over 1,000 Israelis murdered in cold blood. Bazian was an officer and member of the GUPS on the Bay Area campus before he graduated and attended U.C. Berkeley. The most troubling aspect of such an attack is if it foretells similar activity and behavior by pro-Palestinian students on campuses throughout the U.S. and comes on the heels of the national Palestine Solidarity Movement Conference held at Duke University two weeks ago. Following that event, an anti-Semitic editorial titled "The Jews" appeared in the Duke Chronicle, the campus publication.
 
The SFSU Palestinian student attack on non-Jewish students who support Israel suggests the potential for a ramping up of attacks on college campuses by pro-Palestinian groups. Jewish students on U.S. campuses are feeling increasingly threatened by Arab groups on campus, and now the question comes up if the same can be said of conservative students who are not Jewish.
 
The campus Chief of Police was in meetings and unavailable to comment, and SFSU President Robert Corrigan's Office declined to comment referring this reporter to Ellen Griffin, a campus media coordinator. Ms. Griffin stated an investigation is actively under way.
 
Derek Wray has stated the campus Republican group has photos of the perpetrators.
 
The "Turnout the Vote" event was organized by students representing all political points of view and featured San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome and other local candidates.
 

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