Muslim Student Union of the University of California, Irvine

Muslim Student Union

Formation	2001
President	Mohamed Abdelgany
Website	http://www.msuuci.com

The University of California Irvine Muslim Student Union is an affiliated chapter of MSA National which has regional zones. The UC Irvine organization was suspended for the 2010-2011 school year for organizing a conspiracy to disrupt Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren from speaking at a university sponsored event (see below).

Mission

The MSU takes part in the UCI campus with various programs from humanitarian to religious to political. Its mission statement states that it "attempts to build an environment that enhances good, discourages bad, and provides networks of resources, knowledge, people, and companionship to its members." [1]

Campus Activities

The MSU regularly collaborates with campus organizations to put on a variety of different events.

In 2008 & 2009, MSU co-sponsored a week of events entitled “Gears of War.” In the Winter Quarter of 2009, the purpose of this week was to host “a series of events surrounding the 6th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq and the role of the university in supporting imperialism” and “to highlight issues concerning the occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine and elsewhere and discuss how we can collectively organize against imperialism throughout the world.” The week was co-hosted by the UCI Worker Student Alliance, Muslim Student Union, Amnesty International at UCI, Darfur Action Committee, Campaign for Consciousness, and Students for a Sensible Drug Policy.

Humanitarian

Historically, the MSU has played an active role in promoting humanitarian efforts both locally and globally. Since 2007, they have continuously hosted blood drives run by the Red Cross on the UC Irvine campus. MSU has also promoted “Humanitarian Day,” a nation-wide event founded by the ILM Foundation with the purpose of promoting the Islamic commandment of helping the needy, since 2007. The local Humanitarian Day entails members of the Muslim community joining together to provide basic necessities, such as food, clothing, and hygenic materials, to the less fortunate peoples of Los Angeles's skid row.

In 2008, MSU started a new intiative and hosted a “Peanut Butter & Jelly” event, in which members of the MSU joined with other campus groups to make PB&J sandwiches and pack lunch bags to be passed out to the homeless of Santa Ana. Additionally, in the fall of 2008, the MSU also held a “Wetlands Restoration Project” as a means to preserve the health of the environment.

MSU has also co-sponsored events such as Invisible Children, which brings light to and raises funds for the plight of Ugandan child soldiers, and Fashion Fighting Famine, a student-led initiative which seeks to promote basic human rights across the globe through charity fashion shows and themed parties. Since its founding in 2007, Fashion Fighting Famine has raised and donated over $10,000 to various countries including Palestine and Sudan.

In the 2009-2010 college school year, MSU has consistently collected donations and spread awareness about the devastating events that took place in Indonesia and Haiti. Through coin drives, selling food on campus, and other creative ways, MSU was able to collect $6500 for Haiti, one of the largest donations to be collected by a UCI campus organization for this cause.

Academic Support & Youth Outreach

MSU also provides an outlet for incoming freshmen and members to seek counsel in their academic affairs. In 2007, the MSU began a mentorship and tutoring program. The mentorship aspect was a means for younger students to ask for guidance in terms of their academic life, including such issues classes to take, majors to pursue, how to apply for an internship, and how to apply to graduate schools, from experienced upperclassmen. The tutoring aspect was a means for those who were struggling with specific subjects to receive free help from those upperclassmen who had experience and expertise in those subjects. The tutoring program covers a wide range of disciplinary studies, including Biological Sciences, Computer Sciences, Engineering, Humanities, and Social Sciences.

In 2008 & 2009, MSU held Research Seminars to give members an outlet to learn how to apply for research positions on campus and learn what the experience entails. They also held an “Ask an Alumnus” event in 2008, which was led by UCI alumni and served the purpose of teaching MSU members how to prioritize their time and how to be successful in the college life. MSU has also made efforts to reach out to the youth by holding regular meetings with local high school youth to address any concerns they might have, by providing campus tours for high schoolers looking to apply to UC Irvine, and by holding joint social events with high school youth.

Worker Student Alliance

The MSU has been in working together with the Worker Student Alliance to in-house CLS workers on campus for better wages and benefits. Throughout the years, the MSU has participated in many protests against the Administration in co-sponsorship with other various clubs on campus to raise awareness of the working condition on campus.

Muhammad Cartoons Protest

Hundreds attended an MSU campus demonstration protesting the publication of cartoons of Muhammad by the Danish newspaper by the UCI College Republicans. The event was mainly made up of students from various campuses as well as community members. .

Disruption of Daniel Pipes event

In January 2007, members of the Muslim Student Union were involved in a vocal interruption of Daniel Pipes' lecture at UC Irvine. The Forward reported:

"[After the event], the student protesters gathered outside, where they listened to a speaker vow, 'It’s just a matter of time before the State of Israel will be wiped off the face of the earth.' The crowd of students greeted his prediction with a robust cheer of 'Allahu Akbar!' — Arabic for 'God is great!'
'Our weapon, our jihad, our way of struggling in this country is with our tongues. ...' the speaker continued. 'And our brothers and sisters on the other side of the world, they’re handling business in their own way. May Allah give them strength.' The scene was recorded on video by a Jewish student, and footage circulated on the Internet."

"Israeli Apartheid Week"

See also: Israel and the apartheid analogy

For several years, the MSU has organized a week-long event calling for boycotting, divesting from, and sanctioning the State of Israel. This event usually coincided with Israeli Independence Day. This event attracted increasing local and national press every year for the extreme, some would say anti-Semitic, rhetoric advanced by the MSU.

A regular speaker at the event over several years has been Amir Abdul Malik Ali, an Muslim cleric from the anti-Semitic As-Sabiqun organization based in Oakland, California. According to the Anti-Defamation League, Ali "gave a speech ... in which he compared Jews to Nazis, expressed support for Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad and called for the destruction of the 'apartheid state of Israel.'"

Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren Speech - February 2010

Eleven students, including MSU president Mohamed Abdelgany, were arrested as part of a protest against a campus speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. It was not clear if those arrested were members of the Muslim Student Union but reports said those arrested echoed a statement released by the MSU. The Muslim Student Union denied that any arrested were a part of their organization. The MSU had issued a press release condemning his presence on the campus. They criticized Oren as "an outspoken supporter of the recent war on Gaza and stands in the way of international law by refusing to cooperate with the United Nation’s Goldstone Report a fact-finding mission endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council." [2]

On a website created to support the arrested students, MSU President Mohamed Abdelgany wrote that "all of my actions on Monday were done out of my own individual accord and were not on behalf of the Muslim Student Union or any other organization at UC Irvine."

However, in April 2010, emails were leaked anonymously to both university officials and local law enforcement that reportedly demonstrated that the MSU not only helped organize the disruptions, but counseled students to assert that they had acted on their own. In one e-mail to the MSU board dated Feb. 6, MSU president Mohamed Abdelgany described the union's "game plan" for the Oren speech, including a call for "disrupters." Later in the e-mail, Abdelgany, who was himself arrested during the Oren speech, laid out the plan for the event itself, which he said would involve "disrupting it throughout the whole time" if possible. Abdelgany also allegedly cautioned disrupters to be loud and firm, but not lose their composure. "Remember," he wrote, "that this is a planned/calculated response."

Suspension recommendation at UC Irvine

According to JTA, "In a May 27 [2010] letter to the Muslim Student Union released ... by the university, the student affairs disciplinary committee announced that after an investigation it found the group guilty of violating certain sections of the university’s policies applying to campus activities, organizations and students, including disorderly conduct and obstructing university activities." In response, the university suspended the group for the 2010-2011 school year and the group will undergo a probationary period for the following year. In addition, the members will be responsible for completing a collective 50 community service hours before the group can be reinstated.

In June of 2010, the national MSU condemned the recommdation to suspend the UC Irvine chapter: "We are concerned with the implications that a suspension of the MSU would have on the rights and freedoms of Muslims on UC Irvine's campus... Such an action would be unprecedented, unwarranted,and unjust to the larger Muslim community that the MSU serves on campus. We call on the University to reject the proposed recommendation and allow Muslims on campus to preserve their rights to fair representation, free speech, free exercise of religion, and the right to peaceably assemble."

Alleged Funding of Hamas

In May 2009, the Muslim Student Union hosted British Parliament Member, and founder of Viva Palestina, George Galloway for a speech at UC Irvine. During the event, funds were raised for Viva Palestina. In addition, George Galloway and Viva Palestina are currently under investigation for funding Hamas, a US Designated Terror Organization, although no such allegations have been proven to be true.

Allegations of Anti-Semitism

Condemnation from UC President Mark Yudof

In a public letter written by UC President Mark Yudof regarding the Muslim Student Union's event titled "Israel: The Politics of Genocide", Yudof wrote "Permit me now to remove my cap and gown and to exercise my First Amendment rights as private citizen. In my opinion, the title of the series is virulent, historically inaccurate and offensive to Jewish people everywhere." The MSU claims that the event is aimed at Israeli foreign policy, and is being misconstrued as being Anti-Semitic as a ploy to stop any criticism of Israeli foreign policy.

Anti-Defamation League

The Anti Defamation League, an American organization committed to fighting anti-Semitism and other forms of racial bigotry, has described the Muslim Student Union as being "responsible for staging large events every spring featuring virulently anti-Semitic speakers."

External Links

• Muslim Student Association National Home Page
• Muslim Student Association Home Page06/15/10 - MSA National Condemns Recommendation to Suspend University of California, Irvine MSU
• Anti-Defamation League report on the MSU