So Much for Free Speech
2/12/11 – President Obama – Yesterday you spoke about the events in
Egypt. You talked about free speech. You said, “ And above all, we saw
a new generation emerge — a generation that uses their own creativity
and talent and technology to call for a government that represented
their hopes and not their fears; a government that is responsive to
their boundless aspirations. One Egyptian put it simply: Most people
have discovered in the last few days…that they are worth something, and
this cannot be taken away from them anymore, ever.”
Eleven students who disrupted Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren's speech
at the University of California, Irvine in February 2010 were charged
with one count of misdemeanor conspiracy to disturb a meeting and one
count of misdemeanor disturbance of a meeting last Friday.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas claims this is an issue
that extends beyond free speech. "These defendants meant to stop this
speech and stop anyone else from hearing his ideas, and they did so by
disrupting a lawful meeting." We cannot tolerate a pre-planned
violation of the law, even if the crime takes place on a school campus
and even if the defendants are college students."
The defendants are Mohamed Mohy-Eldeen Abdelgany; Khalid Gahgat Akari;
Aslam Abbasi Akhtar; Joseph Tamim Haider; Taher Mutaz Herzallah; Hakim
Nasreddine Kebir; Shaheen Waleed Nassar; Mohammad Uns Qureashi; Ali
Mohammad Sayeed; Osama Ahmen Shabaik; and Asaad Mohamedidris Traina.
They were simply stating their views. They were non-violent. They were
expressing their displeasure at Israel's continuing illegal occupation
of Palestine. To paraphrase your own words, they are a generation that
uses their own creativity and talent and technology to call for an
Israeli government that represented their hopes and not their fears; a
government that is responsive to their boundless aspirations.
This is clearly a case of racial profiling driven by the outcries of a
handful of Zionists organizations. It took DA Rackauckas nearly a year
to file these ridiculous charges.
I urge you and the Justice Department to immediately intervene in this
totally unjust case before Rackauckas and his Zionist supporters are
able to ruin the lives of these free speech seeking students.
http://www.investigativeproject.org/2566/irvine-students-charged-with-disrupting-oren
Thomas Daly
Retired California Newspaper Publisher
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