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Palestine | East Bay | Anti-War | Education & Student Activism | Police State and PrisonsDefend Hatem Bazian!
have received the following complaints submitted to the university over my speech at the emergency demo held at the UN Plaza in SF. It seems that those recording the event are working for some group which is attempting to make a major issue of it. From: "Hatem Bazian" <hats [at] igc.org>
Subject: FW: Concern over UC Berkeley Lecturer remarks Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 16:19:54 -0700 I have received the following complaints submitted to the university over my speech at the emergency demo held at the UN Plaza in SF. It seems that those recording the event are working for some group which is attempting to make a major issue of it. Hatem Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 10:16:46 -0700 To: "John Cummins" <jcummins [at] berkeley.edu> From: Stephanie McLemore <smclem [at] berkeley.edu> Subject: Fwd: Concern over UC Berkeley Lecturer remarks <chanclor [at] calmail.berkeley.edu> From: <zzx375 [at] cox.net> To: chanclor [at] berkeley.edu Subject: Concern over UC Berkeley Lecturer remarks Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 Dear Chancellor Berdahl: I have recently had the opportunity to read remarks attributed to one of UC Berkeley's faculty members, Hatem Bazian, at a Saturday (4/10) peace rally in San Francisco. The remarks to which I refer are as follows (edited for the sake of brevity): "...Well, we've been watching intifada in Palestine, we've been watchingan uprising in Iraq, and the question is that what are we doing? How come we don't have an intifada in this country?...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!" Assuming that the above quote is correct, I cannot help but be concerned that these comments appear to advocate armed over-throw of the US government by connecting intifada in that region known as Palestine and in Iraq with the absence of such a phenomenon here. As we all know, events in Palestine and Iraq have been recently characterized by suicide bombings, armed uprisings, and deaths to many, including the innocent who have not taken part in any hostilities. Regardless of one's personal political points of view on current events, any reasonable person cannot believe that anything positive comes from such occurances as we have seen in the Middle East. While I realize that Mr. Bazian was undoubtedly speaking as an individual, and not as a spokesperson for UC Berkeley, his remarks still reflect on the insttitution and all of its employees. I value free-speech as much as any person, but there are limits to what free-speech entails, such as yelling fire in a crowded movie theater, or what might be easily interpreted as advocating the armed over throw of the US government. I wonder if alumni and others who donate to the university will disagree with me. Respectfully, John C. Langston 205 S Yellowood Broken Arrow, OK 74012 zzx375 [at] cox.net Jenny Hanson, Interim Executive Assistant to the Chancellor (From January 5 - May 3, during Stephanie McLemore's leave) Chancellor's Immediate Office 200 California Hall # 1500 Tel: (510) 642-7464 Fax: (510) 643-5499 |
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