Muslim Students Barred From Holding Anti-Oppression Week
by Ayub Khan
WASHINGTON (IslamOnline) - Muslim students at the Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California, were denied permission to hold an "Anti-Oppression, Anti-Zionist Week," on campus, angering Muslims and civil liberties activists.
College President Margaret Gratton told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that the school cancelled the four-day event because Muslim students did not follow rules governing protest permission authorization, misled college officials about the content of the program and because they feared its content might spark tension and offend Jewish students.
She alleges that students used the college letterhead. "improperly impl[ying]" the college was sponsoring the anti-Zionist week. Gratton said that for the reasons cited above, freedom of speech is not an issue.
But Muslim student leaders contend that their planned event was cancelled because of its anti-Zionist tone and that school authorities have selectively used the usually unenforced rule.
The Times quoted Usama Kahf, spokesman for the college’s Muslim Student Association (MSA), "We've had many, many events over the past three years, and the school has always been very supportive."
In response to the event cancellation, about 20 students from the MSA and sympathizers staged an "anti-Zionist" demonstration in the "free speech area" of the college’s quad on Thursday to protest the schools decision.
The students held signs that read "Anti-Israel," "Anti-oppression" and "We fear no one but Allah" as they walked from Harbor Boulevard and Merrimac Way to their campus.
While American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorneys have written a letter supporting Muslim students, the (Anti-Defamation League) ADL is working on behalf of the Jewish students who felt offended by the event.
Muslim and Jewish leaders have also met with school officials hoping to work out a solution
