Rabbi Nachum Shifren challenges Univ of Cal Irvine decision to prohibit Dr. Terry Jones from speaking

The University of California at Irvine has earned a reputation for the radical, anti-Israel activities of Muslim advocacy groups, particularly the Muslim Student Union. They host an annual anti-Zionist, Israel Apartheid Week. Their conspiracy to disrupt a speech by Israel's Ambassador Michael Oren in 2010 resulted in a convictions and a banning of the MSU on campus for a semester. Events they have organized bring radical Islamists who have incited "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" and contribute to an uncomfortable climate for Jews and Zionists.

A pro-America and Israel "Stand Up America Now" rally organized for Thursday, December 1st by Dr. Terry Jones and Pastor Wayne Sapp was precluded by UCI administration. Jones and Sapp were confronted by the UC Irvine Police Department and, by order of the University Chancellor, threatened with arrest when they arrived for a scheduled interview with journalism Associate Professor Carol Burke in advance of the rally.  

The Administration cited safety concerns as the reason to prohibit Dr. Jones from speaking. What's more,  police issued both men citations - and warned them that they would be arrested if they would return to the campus within a week.

US Senate candidate Rabbi Nachum Shifren (I-CA) and other supporters of Stand Up America Now were escorted off campus. Parts of the University were shut down in order to prevent the rally (and the scheduled counter-rally) from taking place. 

Dr Terry Jones and Wayne Sapp declared their intention to pursue legal action against the University.


Rabbi Nachum Shifren believes that the administration was not incapable of providing adequate security for the conservative speakers, but more like unwilling.  In our exclusive video interview, Shifren alleges that the Administration is acting in the interest of Muslim power in the school, in prohibiting Stand Up America Now's criticism of radicalism, Islamism, and jihadism.

L.A. Muslim students endeavor to disrupt public discourse with Israeli Ambassador Oren; Exposes Univ of Calif at Irvine administration's complicity tolerating intolerant Muslim movement on campus

Ambassador Michael Oren addressed an overflow audience on US-Israel relationship and global affairs at the Univ of Calif Irvine. He discussed the Zionistic element (support for the return of the people of Israel to their ancestral homeland) within America's founding and maturing, from John Adams, through Abraham Lincoln, to Harry Truman. He discussed Americans' widespread spiritual and social support for democratic Israel, the only land where rule of law guarantees free-speech in the Middle East. He discussed the evolution of the multi-faceted ties between the US and Israel- which strategic relationship began towards the end of the 1967 Six-Day War.

Amb. Oren noted the U.S. and Israel's shared values - spiritual and democratic, and their shared interests- economic and political - from allying to resisting Communism, to resisting Islamic-extremism, today.

He discussed the state of the current relationship between Washington and Jerusalem, vis a vis the Obama's administration's pressure to force the creation of a state of Palestine. He discussed Israel's considerations regarding the conditions of Palestinian sovereignty and prioritizing it over stopping nuclear proliferation within the Islamic world - which would extort the West with threats to leak nuclear-weapons into Islamic-extremists' hands.

U.C. Irvine, with a large Muslim enrollment, has been criticized for fomenting a climate of aggressive anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism through its Muslim Students Union. The M.S.U. organized a stream of students disrupting through the speech, ignoring appeals from Chancellor Paul Drake and Political Science Dept Director Mark Petraca. Police Chief Paul Hensley chose not to position a uniformed police deterrence between the disrupting Muslims' seating sections and the Ambassador at the podium following repeated outbursts- and Muslim students continued to disregard faculty appeals- creating 10 disruptions. At least eleven agitators were arrested. Amb. Oren walked out briefly, but Rabbi David Eliezrie reports that he elected to return on his dedication to the attendees, his Jewish perseverance, and the promise of his hosts to suspend or expel further disruptors.

Shalom Elcott, President and CEO of Jewish Federation Orange County, said the highly-orchestrated disruptions by the President of the Muslim Student Union (MSU) - who was arrested, along with one MSU board member and 10 other student protesters - constituted an embarrassment to the University and an insult to the broader community. “While we had hoped the administration would have been better prepared to thwart groups or individuals trying to harass Ambassador Oren, we do commend the University police for making arrests and taking action to escort the perpetrators out of the room,” says Elcott. “And, we are proud of the Ambassador not letting the disruptions stop him from completing his address. We will intensely monitor what actions the University administration will take in response to this evening’s event and will report our findings to the community,” says Elcott.

Palestinian political refugee, Ghazi Brighith, in the accompanying deplored the Muslim agitators' behavior as un-Islamic.