Sign-on in support using these links
As an Organization: https://forms.gle/kJJV5yMFMoo6bVeDA
As an Individual: https://chng.it/7GFYP6tkkB
We, five individual students and board members of Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Irvine, are facing six allegations from the University for two different cases, one on November 9th and the other November 14th. These allegations exceed mere administrative procedures; it strikes at the very core of our academic and future pursuits with consequences that include putting a hold on our undergraduate degrees and prohibition of using university facilities. The weight of these allegations is immense and casts a shadow of uncertainty over our educational and professional futures. Our involvement in advocating for Palestinian liberation, an integral part of our identity and purpose on campus, has placed us in a precarious position. The situation highlights the systemic discrimination against groups standing in solidarity with Palestine at UCI and ultimately illuminates the institution’s constant erasure and silencing of Arab and Palestinian voices.
On November 9th, SJP at UCI joined 16 other organizations on UCI campus and hundreds of students, staff, faculty, and community members to stand in support and mobilize across the National Shut It Down for Palestine Student Walkout. The accusations from the Student Conduct Policies (102.16 Failure to Comply, 102.14 Disorderly/Lewd Conduct, and 102.13 Disruption) leveled against our organizations for this event are extremely vague, and we believe our confusion about these allegations stems from deliberate use of opaque and unclear language by the University.
On November 14th, there was a talk held by Professor Alon Burstein of the Isr**l Institute titled “The Isr**l-Hamas War: Five Week Update.” These accusations from the Student Conduct Policies (102.16 Disturbance of Peace, 102.14 Disorderly/Lewd Conduct; and 102.13 Disruption) are extremely unprofessional and arbitrary due to their vagueness. It is vital to understand that Students for Justice in Palestine in and of itself did not organize any disruption, nor did it organize for members to attend the event. Any people in attendance that are members of SJP were there of their own accord. Knowing that SJP did not organize any official disruption of this event, and that UCI has faced backlash for their racist censorship of SJP in the past, the university administration’s choice to punish the most visible board members of SJP using obscure policies strikes us as an intentional one meant to threaten and silence Palestinian voices on campus.
Our SJP has learned that a Jewish graduate student is also facing charges for the November 14th event after reading a statement in support of Palestine during the Q&A portion of the talk. While receiving backlash, other pro-Palestinian students had been pushed and spat on by Zionists while faculty, university administration, and police simply stood by and watched. The university indiscriminately pressing charges against a graduate and five undergraduate pro-Palestinian voices is a deliberate strategy by the university to silence any student dissent against the Zionist/Isr**li regime and UC Irvine’s direct funding of their genocidal actions. You can support and read more on the graduate student’s case here.
If SJP members do not schedule a meeting with the UCI Office of Academic Integrity and Student Conduct by December 8th, 2023, an academic hold will be placed on our student status. According to UCI bylaw 103.10.C Administrative Holds, five board members from SJP have a hold placed on our student records to prevent us from graduating or receiving our diploma while this matter is pending. As UCI actively engages in censorship of student voices, these repercussions showcase a blatant form of inequity that Palestinian and Arab students face in their path towards academic achievement. Especially during such vital times as the end of the quarter is nearing when we have finals and exams to focus on, while also grieving the loss of our Palestinian peoples. These vague allegations were given to us board members individually regarding events of the SJP organization as a whole, so it is unclear whether the university is targeting us individually or as an organization. We understand the vagueness of this case to coincide with the university’s attempt at censoring SJP behind closed doors, while simultaneously leveraging UC policies to protect their Zionist allies and attack Palestinian students.
This is not a one time event in the trajectory of UC Irvine’s vile history with our SJP. This university has always engaged in the systemic oppression of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian voices on campus, and we are seeing this happen again today with the charging of our voices. We have seen this in the case of the Irvine 11 back in 2010, where 11 pro-Palestinian students at UC Irvine and UC Riverside were arrested and charged with two misdemeanor accounts for conspiring and disrupting war criminal and then-Zionist ambassador Michael Oren, who has been the spokesperson for Operation Cast Lead for the Isr**li invasion of Lebanon. In 2017, during UCI’s then-annual Anti-Zionism Week (AZW), Palestinian and Arab students exercising their right to free speech were physically and emotionally harassed and surveilled by Reservists On Duty identifying themselves as Isr**li soldiers to stifle the opposition of Isr**l’s violence abroad. On May 10th, during a portion of an AZW event with soldiers present, the group’s camerawoman lunged and harassed pro-Palestinian students. Rather than being removed from the event, a UCI administrator encouraged her to file a police report against the students she had attacked. Furthermore, several SJP members were doxxed, and their personal information was leaked online. Hundreds of students filed complaints to the university about the campus’s lackluster response and inability to protect their own students from the violence of outside provocateurs, but instead, the university’s investigation was limited. The following year in 2018, UCI put SJP on probation, citing AZW’s rhetoric as hate speech and a threat to free speech on campus. While using intentionally personalized tactics that are designed to interfere with the academic progress of students advocating for Palestine is a new low, this is simply a continuation of UCI’s long tradition of anti-Palestinian suppression.
The UC system’s continuous refusal to acknowledge Arab and Palestinian students and their ongoing support for the genocidal Zionist/Isr**li regime emboldens professors like Asaf Ferbder to harass community members and students speaking up for Palestine; yelling crude statements like “f*ck you Palestine” and “terrorists” to the crowd and watching as a community member he invited call for the r*pe of students. After SJP publicized Asaf Ferber’s case from October 25th, various students and faculty have expressed their concerns, stating they feel unsafe on this campus and in his presence. At least 300 emails have been sent to the OEOD, yet why is there still no action in the case of Asaf Ferber? It seems that after addressing faculty’s failure to hold Asaf Ferber accountable and rumors of administration conspiring to disband the SJP, that the university is targeting individual members instead of the organization as a whole. The history of our organization only further proves that charging six university students is a strategic tactic used by the university to weaken the efficacy of SJP on this campus: a long-term goal of Howard Gillman’s. UC Irvine’s admission’s page states, “We enthusiastically embrace the bold, independent, one-of-a-kind mind. That’s why UCI ranks among the top 10 public universities in the nation” yet we watch as this pristine, top-ten public university fails to protect its students. They instead invest their resources in genocide, academic partnerships with Isr**l, and protection for those whom they embolden to spew hateful and racist rhetoric towards students. .
As students, we are now put under immense stress and anxiety, with the compounding trauma of our loved ones enduring genocide now added onto serious allegations levied against us by a university that has remained callous in the wake of this suffering, and now choosing to endanger our academic careers. The evident lack of empathy and support from our educational institution in these times is extremely harrowing and exacerbates our mental toll. This situation really makes us question the legitimacy of the UC system, adequacy of university policies, and support systems for students in crisis. Academic and career aspirations are at risk over baseless accusations, and the trauma of our communities being in peril can have lasting effects on our mental health and academic performance.
We are asking that you sign on to this letter in support of the following demands:
DEMAND that ALL allegation charges are dropped against SJP members
DEMAND that ALL allegation charges are dropped against the Jewish graduate student speaking up for Palestine
DEMAND that UCI protect their students from racist harassment, instead of leveraging policies to systemically continue their tradition of harassing pro-Palestinian students
Organization Support Sign-Ons:
Afghan United Association – University of California, Irvine
Afghan Liberation Coalition
Alpha Phi – University of California, Irvine
Anakbayan – California State University, Long Beach
Anakbayan – University of California, Irvine
ANSWER Coalition
Association of Indonesian Americans
Bangladeshi Student Association – University of California, Irvine
Bears for Palestine – University of California, Berkeley
Black Student Union – University of California, Irvine
Books Thru Bars – University of California, Irvine
CALPIRGstudents – All UC’s
Coalition of Multiracial and Biracial Students – University of Puget Sound
Community Actions Teams – San Fernando Valley
CPUSAIE
CUAUHTEMOC
El Congreso de University of California, Santa Barbara
External Vice President of Statewide Affairs – University of California, Santa Barbara
Faculty for Justice in Palestine – University of California, Irvine
FIT Students for Justice in Palestine
Food Not Bombs – University of California, Irvine
Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine – University of California, Berkeley
Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine – University of California, Los Angeles
GSWOC international student caucus – University of Southern California
Her Campus, University of California, Irvine
If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice – University of California, Irvine, School of Law
Jews Against White Supremacy – University of California, Santa Cruz
Justice 4 Palestine – Northeastern Illinois University
Khandaan – University of San Francisco
Kababayan – University of California, Irvine
La FUERZA Student Association – California State University, Long Beach
Law Students for Justice in Palestine – University of California, Berkeley
Law Students for Palestine – University of California, Irvine
Los Ronderos de las Redes
Mauna Kea Protectors – University of California, Santa Barbara
MEChA – University of California, Irvine
MECHA – University of Califronia, San Diego
Middle Eastern Student Association – California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Middle Eastern and North African Club – California State University, San Diego
M.U.J.E.R. de University of California, Santa Barbara
Muslim Student Association – Ocean View High School
Muslim Student Association – University of California, Santa Cruz
Muslim Student Union – University of California, Irvine
Muslim Student Association – Upland High School
Muslim Student Association West
Northern Virginia Coalition for Racial and Economic Equality
Orange County for Justice in Palestine
Orange County Justice Initiative
Pacific Islander Student Association – University of California, Irvine
Palestinian Youth Movement
Party for Socialism and Liberation, Houston
Pakistani Student Association – University of California, Irvine
Phi Kappa Psi – University of California, Irvine
Pomona Divest Apartheid – Claremont College
Queer and Asian – University of California, Irvine
Rank and File – Irvine
Reform Caucus – University of Southern California
SAFIRE – University of California, Irvine
Samahang Pilipino – University of California, Los Angelos
Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation – University of Southern California
Shifa Society of Muslim Pre-Health Students – University of California, Irvine
Student for Justice In Palestine – California State University, Long Beach
Student for Justice In Palestine – California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Students for Justice in Palestine – California State University, San Marcos
Students for Justice in Palestine – California State University, San Deigo
Students for Justice in Palestine – California State University, Northridge
Students for Justice in Palestine – Irvine Valley College
Students for Justice in Palestine – Purdue University
Students for Justice in Palestine – University of Rochester
Student for Justice In Palestine – University of California, Irvine
Student for Justice In Palestine – University of California, Los Angelos
Student for Justice In Palestine – University of California, Riverside
Student for Justice In Palestine – University of California, Santa Barbara
Student for Justice In Palestine – University of California, San Diego
Student for Justice In Palestine – University of California, Santa Cruz
Student for Justice In Palestine – University of Rochester
Student for Justice In Palestine – Occidental College
Students for Justice in Palestine – Rutgers University
Student Labor Advocacy Project – University of California, Los Angelos
SOS Afghanistan
Threads Magazine – University of California, Berkeley
UC Divest – University of California, Santa Cruz
UC Student Association
United Auto Workers
USN – UC based (not affiliated)
Viatnamese Student Association – University of California, Riverside
Viet Rainbow of Orange County
Westside for Palestine
Yalla Indivisible
Rank and File Irvine 
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