Jewish UC Berkeley students hold campus demonstration over violent pro-Palestinian counter protest
Jewish students held a demonstration at the UC Berkeley campus Monday that organizers said was in response to a violent counter protest during an event last month.
The Jewish students said on Feb. 26, they were attacked by a pro-Palestinian mob at the Zellerbach Playhouse and prevented them from holding their event which was set to feature an Israeli speaker.
Students said pro-Palestinian protestors broke down and shattered the glass door to the venue, leading to the Jewish students being evacuated. In the days that followed, university officials announced they were investigating the incident as a hate crime and slammed the protest as "unacceptable."
The demonstration appears to have been organized by a student group Bears for Palestine. In a Facebook post the day before, the group called on people to protest the event, which was sponsored by three Jewish organizations.
Sharon Knafelman, a 19-year-old Jewish UC Berkeley student who was at the Feb. 26 event, said she feared for her life.
"I saw a girl get grabbed by the neck and shoved, I saw my friend get spat at, and I saw just how much anger and hatred they had towards us at this moment," she recalled.
Knafelman said the mob became violent, forcing her and her friends to evacuate through an underground exit.
"I'm just thinking, 'Why is this happening? Why is it that we, just like any other group, can't simply have our private event peacefully?'" she said.
The Jewish student activists gathered late Monday morning at the Zellerbach Playhouse before proceeding to Sather Gate. They said they are fighting for their right to freedom of speech and called on the university to protect them.
On Monday, counter protesters put up a banner in front of Sather Gate. It read, "Today is the first day of Ramadan. Israel and the U.S. are starving 2.2 million. Gazans have nothing to break their fast with."
CBS News Bay Area reached out to UC Berkeley for a response. Campus officials sent a statement that said the administration is concerned about rising tensions on campus and are seeking to reduce those tensions through dialogue. Officials additionally said that UC Berkeley "takes the exact same approach to policy enforcement with any and every group. All nonviolent protest is responded to in the exact same way. All violent protest is treated in the exact same way. We do not, as a matter of law and principle, take into account the perspectives of those who might be violating campus policies."
The full statement issued by the university appears below.
Members of the campus administration are in contact with both the organizers of the existing protest at Sather Gate and those of the planned counter-protest. The administration is aware of and is concerned about rising tensions on campus. Through dialogue, we are seeking to reduce tensions, so as to reduce the risk of conflict and violence on our campus. We recognize and are responding to the unavoidable challenges that arise when groups with strongly held and conflicting views exercise their First Amendment rights—rights that we are compelled to uphold. We are well aware that speech protected by the Constitution can be deeply disturbing and offensive
While we support the exercise of free speech rights, the campus also seeks to enforce its time, place, and manner restrictions. For that reason, we have been making efforts to end those aspects of the nonviolent protest at Sather Gate that violate those restrictions. We are doing so following established protocols that seek to avoid the involvement of law enforcement to address nonviolent protest except as a last resort. Our experience convinces us that following those protocols is the best way to end this sort of nonviolent civil disobedience. Use of force against this form of rule breaking frequently results in turmoil and escalation, often to everyone's detriment.
As stated in the "UC Safety Plan": The University will prioritize deterrence and violent crime prevention over the enforcement of non-violent offenses.
We call on our community members to adhere to our Principles of Community, and to the principles of nonviolent protest.
