Different Takes Offered on Campus Clash Over Election Results
by Jim Brown and Jody Brown
November 15, 2004
(AgapePress) - Officials at San Francisco State University are being criticized for their handling of an attack by a mob of Arab students against a group of College Republicans.On two recent occasions -- one the day before the election, the other the day after the election -- emotions were running high on the San Francisco State campus as members of the group College Republicans staffed information tables. According to SFSU president Robert Corrigan, reports about the "noisy and angry campus encounters" between students with opposing political views about President Bush's foreign policies and the war in Iraq have been "sensationalized" and are a serious distortion of reality.
"We have found no evidence that the [General Union of Palestine Students] initiated either this [November 3 event] or the Monday event," Corrigan says in a message e-mailed to students, faculty, and staff on Thursday, November 11. "Rather, both were outbursts between students of strong and opposing opinions."
But Lee Kaplan of FrontPageMag.com reports the events a little differently. He says while distributing Bush-Cheney materials the day before the election, the College Republicans were confronted by four Palestinian women wearing Arafat-style keffiyahs, one of whom slapped a conservative student. The ensuing crowd of protesters, he says, then threw food at the College Republicans and poured drinks on their campaign materials. But according to Kaplan, campus authorities took no action against the mob.
"What they did, which is typical of the administration at San Francisco State, was instead of ordering the girls to vacate the premises and leave, they asked the [College] Republicans if they would leave," he says. "Ultimately the Republicans had to pack up shop."
Kaplan adds that on the November 3 incident, a group of about 300 "Palestinians, Arab, Muslim, and radical leftist students" surrounded the Republicans' table, which had to be guarded by 13 San Francisco State police officers. In his message, President Corrigan refers to the episode as "an impromptu anti-Bush rally of 150-200 students" who were "disappointed" in the results of the presidential election. The confrontation, he says, "in no way was a mob action" -- although he acknowledges the presence of law enforcement officers.
But Kaplan says the group of Arab students harassed, threatened, and even physically assaulted the College Republicans who were seeking new club members in the aftermath of President Bush's election victory. He is highly critical of how campus authorities are handling the situation.
"What bothers me the most -- and I'll be perfectly frank about it -- is that the administration at San Francisco State University is completely spineless as relates to the General Union of Palestinian Students on the campus," Kaplan says. "It's true they are not the only radical group on that campus, but they are the 'big men' on campus in terms of the student government there."
Kaplan adds that the attacks by Arab students are typically directed at Jewish students. "Years ago they painted a mural on the Student Union Building which had a Star of David dripping in blood," he offers.
According to Corrigan, students involved in both Election Day-related exchanges have been referred to the campus discipline office. "Exchanging charges of 'racism' and 'anti-Semitism' with other because of their political affiliation ... is a dishonest dead end," the university head says. "If vigorous discourse moves from heated to heinous, we will use existing campus policies to restore civility."
Members of the General Union of Palestinian Students at SFSU have accused the College Republicans of "racism and bigotry towards Arab women."
