fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com
Recently, I announced that there was going to be another "big" anti-Israel event in Irvine on December 7.
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/2013/11/jewish-voice-for-peace-again-teaming-up.html
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Yeah, that one.
This one was apparently sponsored mainly by the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) whoever the Hell they are. I guess their "chairman" is your friend and mine, Hatem Bazian, from UC Berkeley, a man who wears many hats, none of which are very becoming. Other sponsors were CAIR, MPAC, MSA and MAS (You can look up what the acronyms stand for. I'm too lazy to write them out and frankly, they are not worth the effort.)
Hatem Bazian
Oh yeah, there was also JVP-Jewish Voice for Peace, a bunch of wacko Jewish folks who hate Israel and have joined up with her enemies to help destroy the Jewish state. They are basically a bunch of leftist anarchists seriously in need of professional help.
Prior to the event, I had joined with Stand With Us and some other Jewish friends in writing to the Southern California Chinese Cultural Center of Irvine, who rented out their space for the event, to try and educate them as our concerns about this event. As a result, they made sure their name was removed from the ads by the event promoters. The event itself went forward.
Just prior to the beginning of the event, I visited the registration table and asked how much the registration (admission fee) was. Contrary to the initial flyer, which you can see above, it had jumped from $15 to $35-not counting the dinner. (Special price for me, perhaps since I was no stranger.) I picked up a copy of the program booklet, which listed all the "distinguished" speakers including my old pal and colleague from UC Irvine, Sohail Daulatzai.
And who is Sohail Daulatzai, you ask?
You don't wanna know.
I also noted that the above co-sponsoring organizations' names were no longer on the brochure with the exception of the AMP. I don't recall having sent them any letters. (I will be posting the brochure shortly.)
At any rate, I returned outside and joined two of my Jewish lady friends in standing across the street in the rain and carrying posters that read, "Say No to Anti-Semitism" and "Stop Palestinian Terrorism" (Made 'em up myself.) Within minutes, 5-6 nice people took up positions across the street with professionally made signs about peace and love. Their organization was "Interfaith Witnesses". One of my cohorts walked over and chatted with them learning that they were against any and all forms of religious persecution, and they were there because "Israel was persecuting Palestinians". Later, my other friend walked over and offered them some materials from Stand With Us, which gave the Israeli side of the conflict. They declined to accept them. Here is their website:
http://www.interfaithwitnesses.org/
As we continued our lonely, wet vigil, a couple of young girls came over and asked us some questions why we were there. They said they were doing media work for the AMP event. We expressed our concerns about the event and allowed them to take our picture. They were very nice.
However, an Arab guy drove past us, stopped, rolled down his window and snapped our picture with his cell phone. Another guy stopped, gave us a dirty look, and continued on.
Finally, one of my friends and I went back into the CCC and asked to speak to one of their supervisors. We wound up meeting with one of them, a nice lady who took us back into an office and listened to our concerns. She was aware of the letters we had written and told us that as a result of our letters, one or more of the board members was sitting in on the event and monitoring it to check the content for himself. The lady also assured us that the board would be reviewing its policies for events like these since they are not supposed to let their space out for political events. According to the lady, the organizers had assured them that the event was "educational" in nature. We renewed our request for a meeting with the CCC Board of Directors in the future.
Meanwhile, here is what the tweety birds of the AMP event were saying about our letter-writing campaign:
Max Blumenthal :
@MaxBlumenthal: I'm speaking at @ampsocal conference. Chinese SoCal Cultural
Center canceled our dinner after pressure from Zionist group @StandWithUs.
1/2
Ali Abunimeh:
@AliAbunimah: Zionist thugs @StandWithUs tried to pressure Chinese Cultural
Ctr in Irvine to drop @AMPalestine conf citing my presence among others.
Note: We did not ask the CCC to cancel the event.
The above are two of the featured speakers. I hear Maxie is the son of Sid (Vicious) Blumenthal, ex-Clinton hatchet man. Anyway, Maxie needn't worry. The dinner wasn't cancelled.
"#*^# Zionist thugs"
Update; Here is a post from Electric Intifada reacting to the SWU contact with the CCC. Apparently, their dinner was moved to a tent in the parking lot of the Irvine Islamic Center across the street.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/letter-reveals-standwithus-bullying-socal-chinese-center-over-palestine
"An Israel lobby group attempted to pressure the Southern California Chinese Cultural Association (SCCCA) to cancel today’s American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)conference in Irvine, California."
Not true.
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