A celebratory dinner for law students at the home of UC Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and his wife, law professor Catherine Fisk, this week was disrupted by a student who chose to use the event to bring attention to Palestinians being killed in the war in Gaza.
During the dinner hosted by Chemerinsky on Tuesday, Malak Afaneh, co-president of Berkeley Law Students for Palestine, stood to make a speech about the growing deaths.
The speech, which was not part of the dinner, was cut off when Fisk tried to take the mic away from Afaneh.
A video posted on Instagram shows Fisk putting one arm around Afaneh and trying to remove the mic from her hand. At this point, Fisk and Chemerinsky ask her and a group of student protesters to leave their house.
This was the latest in a string of tensions at Cal as some students protested the war that broke out after a Hamas attack on Oct. 7 killed more than 1,100 people and kidnapped 250 in Israel. Over 33,000 people have been killed in Gaza in the ensuing war, according to the Gaza-based Ministry of Health.
The student organization announced on April 1 that it would boycott Chemerinsky’s annual dinners, planned for three days this week. Caricatures of him holding a bloody knife and fork with the caption “No dinner with Zionist Chem while Gaza Starves!” were circulated on bulletin boards and social media and posted around campus and at the law school. The group said the professor is an outspoken critic of pro-Palestinian organizers on campus.
In a statement on the Berkeley Law website Wednesday, Chemerinsky said the organizers informed him through student government leaders that if he didn’t cancel the dinners, they would attend in protest. He said he went forward with the dinners in hopes that the protests would be peaceful. He said he believed he was being targeted for being Jewish.
“I am appalled and deeply disturbed by what occurred at Dean Chemerinsky’s home last night,” UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ said in a statement Wednesday. “I have been in touch with him to offer my support and sympathy. While our support for Free Speech is unwavering, we cannot condone using a social occasion at a person’s private residence as a platform for protest.”
Protesters attend dinner
Muki Barkan, a UC Berkeley graduate law student, attended the dinner as part of a protest group of about 10 students. They said all the students who participated in the gathering were invited to Chemerinsky and Fisk’s home and RSVP’d before the event. About 60 students attended Tuesday, according to Chemerinsky.
Barkan said the group of 10 were seated in the garden but refrained from eating as part of their protest when Afaneh donned a keffiyeh and walked to the back to make her speech. Barkan said multiple people began filming the ensuing altercation.
In the videos, Afaneh begins explaining the significance of fasting for Ramadan, culminating in Eid celebrations on Tuesday, when Fisk appears behind her and attempts to grab the mic from her hand. Fisk wraps her right arm around Afaneh’s shoulder and pulls her back, saying, “Leave. This is not your house; this is my house.”
Standing near Afaneh and Fisk, Chemerinsky asks the group, “Please leave our house; you are guests at our house.”
Afaneh repeatedly says that the group has an attorney and that it is her First Amendment right to speak at the gathering. Chemerinsky replies that she cannot exercise those rights at their private home.
Shortly after being told to leave, Barkan said the group left the home. Barkan said they consulted with the National Lawyers Guild, which told them they would risk trespassing charges if they remained in the house after being told to leave.
The protesters believed they were protected by the First Amendment to make the speech because the Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students posted the Eventbrite listing for the dinner.
In his statement, Chemerinsky said he has spent his career defending freedom of speech, but the students’ actions were disruptive and rude at his private home. He said he was offended by posters of the event showing him holding a bloody knife and fork, invoking antisemitic tropes of “blood libel.”
One version of the flyer, circulating on social media, shows a drawn caricature of Chemerinsky holding a knife and fork with crumbs on his face.
“Although many complained to me about the posters and how they deeply offended them, I felt that though deeply offensive, they were speech protected by the First Amendment. But I was upset that those in our community had to see this disturbing, antisemitic poster around the law school,” Chemerinsky wrote in a statement.
Chemerinsky said he would continue his dinners on Wednesday and Thursday and that security would be present. He said any students who disrupt the gatherings “will be reported to student conduct and a violation of the student conduct code is reported to the Bar.”
Barkan said Chemerinsky voiced the same consequences to the protest group as they left his home on Tuesday, but there’s no indication that he’s moved forward with the disciplinary reports.
Neither Chemerinsky nor Afaneh returned calls for comments from Berkeleyside.
Student says she was traumatized by incident
In a statement on her social media site, Afaneh said she was traumatized and humiliated by a professor putting their hands on her. She said she had barely spoken past the customary Muslim greeting, “Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,” or “Peace and blessings to you all,” when the speech was forcibly stopped. She demanded that Fisk and Chemerinsky resign.
The San Francisco-based office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA) condemned what they called the “alleged assault” on Afaneh.
“Students at UC Berkeley have reported being targeted and harassed for their Palestine advocacy for many months now, not just by fellow students but also faculty and administrators. Dean Chemerinsky has unfortunately perpetuated an atmosphere of Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism for too long,” CAIR-SFBA Executive Director Zahra Billoo said in a statement Thursday.
Berkeley Law Jews for Palestine said in a statement Thursday that they condemn Fisk’s actions and firmly stand with Afaneh and the students who protested the dinner.
“It is only a couple of weeks before Passover, when we, as Jews, are meant to open our homes to strangers and commemorate our own oppression before sitting down to a meal, so that we remember not to be complacent in the oppression of others,” the statement reads, adding that Chemerinsky violated that spirit.
The university did not confirm whether there is an open UCPD investigation following the events at Chemerinsky and Fisk’s home.
Tensions rising on campus
On Feb. 26, about 200 protesters disrupted a talk by Ran Bar-Yoshafat, deputy director of the Kohelet Policy Forum, at the Zellerbach Playhouse that evening. They broke down a door and smashed a window, according to the university.
UC Berkeley police and anti-discrimination officials are investigating possible hate crimes due to allegations of “overtly antisemitic expression” at the protest. Congressional groups also launched a federal investigation into antisemitism on the campus following the protest.
In response to a weekslong protest blockade at Sather Gate calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, Christ is also considering changing the university’s “time, place, and manner regulations” to limit the action.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed a statement by UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ to university spokesperson Dan Mogulof, and indicated an incorrect date for the statement.
This story was updated on April 17 with changes to the lead paragraph.
Its not our problem if Fisk is hypocritical (i dont think so actually)
And taking someone’s microphone away is for sure not an attack.
Amen
From the L.A. Times:
This is not the first conflict in recent months involving the law school. In the fall, a professor ignited controversy when he published an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal titled, Don’t Hire My Anti-Semitic Law Students. Students and alumni petitioned Chemerinsky to take action in response. Chemerinsky stood up for the professor, saying he was defending free speech even if people find it deeply offensive.
My comment:
Isn’t Chemerinsky being hypocritical? The student hadn’t said anything political before she was attacked by Fisk. The wise thing would have been to let her speak.
That speech belongs in a public space like Sproul, and not a private home.
Nor the First Amendment, apparently.
“For Chemerinsky to hold a dinner during Ramadan seems inconsiderate and dismissive. especially so this year.”
Nope. Your religious observances are your business, and your problem. You wouldn’t have said boo about this if he’d held the dinner during Lent.
clearly you do not know what you are writing about.
How about not.
Its their house they can do as they please.
Touching someone is not an assault.
Taking someone’s microphone away is not an assault no matter what an imaginary friend tells you.
The protesters jsut want to alienate people so they feel good about themself.
Attention is what they want.
God forbid they (Palestinians) take responsibility and do the work it takes to create a livable country in Gaza. Instead 60 years of handouts, 60 years of pore me pore me, 60 years of whining about a lost battel they brought onto themselves int eh first place.
Don’t try that in a small town…
This behavior changed the outcome of absolutely nothing…..
Look at the bright side at this time. At least the miscreants did what they did (again) before the Iranian attack on Israel, so we weren’t treated to cheers for Iran and related sentiment as was expressed in Chicago, for example.
He also didn’t read the part that says there own lawyer told the students to leave to avoid charges of trespassing.
Seriously? Hilarious that you ask Stanford to apologize. What’s a semi-official forum?
How is this comment relevant?
From the L.A. Times:
“This is not the first conflict in recent months involving the law school. In the fall, a professor ignited controversy when he published an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal titled, “Don’t Hire My Anti-Semitic Law Students.” Students and alumni petitioned Chemerinsky to take action in response. Chemerinsky stood up for the professor, saying he was defending free speech even if people find it “deeply offensive.”
Isn’t Chemerinsky being hypocritical? The student hadn’t said anything political before she was attacked by Fisk. The wise thing would have been to let her speak.
For the few being upset that someone meant No and meant someone should stop, what will be their reaction if at a later event security physically ensures that someone leaves after being told to leave, but doesn’t?
The Los Angeles Times account, referred to earlier by Chris Hoofnagle, and others only reduce what possible sympathy some could struggle to invent for these troublemakers.
Berkeley law school shouldn’t be admitting illiberal fanatics. Time to reexamine the admissions criteria.
The clip is in the article, now I see it.
The protestors’ perspective was developed prior to critical race theory, which is not relevant to this incident.
I don’t know about poison, but certainly allowing immigration from both sides of intractable conflicts is a gross mistake. Well, Jews were here a long time ago, so bringing nemeses that can use Jewish Americans as stand-ins for their foreign enemies is dumb.
Yes, probably not the wisest action from Fisk. However, the protester was REPEATEDLY asked to stop by both homeowners and refused, as well as refused to leave, before Fisk touched her. One could argue she had a right to expel the person after she was repeatedly asked to leave and to stop. We’ll see. You’ve got to be especially clueless if the protester thought this was going to change anyone’s minds about her cause. Wrong time. Wrong place.
It has always been about Israel fighting back and “worse,” winning, specifically, and about Israel more generally with this being the latest excuse for related lightweight, poorly behaved activism using the old phrase the old fascists loved to use, “direct action.”
If they’re like others such as the worst cranks and cult members among the climate activists such as the Rebellion groups, they dishonestly describe with gentle phrases and euphemism for what they are doing to avoid criticism of what they know is harmful or wrong, such as saying “speaking their mind” when disrupting events or other activities (and First Amendment references), while a number of them also will say they “had to resort to” or were “forced to” engage in disruption or worse, “had no choice,” and so on. “Direct action,” Martin Luther King or in this student’s case, Rosa Parks references are more evasive language.
How about no? You don’t get to go to someone’s home and do what you want. It’s remarkable how entitled these people are.
From the Quran, Surah An-Nur 24:27:
“O believers! Do not enter any house other than your own until you have asked for permission and greeted its occupants. This is best for you, so perhaps you will be mindful. …
And if you are asked to leave, then leave. That is purer for you. And Allah has ‘perfect’ knowledge of what you do.”
source: https://quran.com/24?startingVerse=27
Naturally — it’s true to form.
That makes no sense, much less is an “obligation.”
They don’t care that this was rude, and behavior inappropriate as a guest as well as in someone else’s home, on someone else’s property. Their limit to how low they go still has not been reached; they went lower.
Bill – That is a truly gross generalization. It reminds me that Jews were not allowed into the USA during the Holocaust. I read a book in high school – “While Six Million Died”. I live in northern Israel and have Muslim and Christian Arab friends, students and neighbors. Life is reasonably good.
Why doesn’t Berkeleyside show the video clip?????
He didn’t read the article very closely.
DISRUPTION!
that’s the issue here, not “free speech”
Lefties have been going nuts with disruptive behavior, and if Trump wins, I guarantee you that this Lefty behavior will be a major reason
In all the protests, there is never a word about Palestinian responsibility for their own well-being. It is if they are children without any agency. Historically, this doesn’t make sense. They are somewhat (decide the amount) responsible for where they are. I suggest these students try to come up with a workable solution. Because, so far, Palestinian leaders have rejected all proposals.
“It is only a couple of weeks before Passover, when we, as Jews, are meant to open our homes to strangers and commemorate our own oppression before sitting down to a meal, so that we remember not to be complacent in the oppression of others,” the statement reads, adding that Chemerinsky violated that spirit.” This is such an old and tired trope used by Jews against other Jews. Or as I like to refer to users of this BS, Jews who hate Judaism.
We’ve heard it all before. It’s not new, and it remains horribly anti-semitic. And, these groups always include a few Jews to imply that they understand Jewish opinion on the subject. “How can we be anti semitic, we have Jews who are members?” It’s like pretending the Clarence Thomas speaks for the entire African American community.
You don’t go to someone’s house invited or not, and crap on the carpet. Period.
That is a pertinent question, as is the definition and applicability of assault.
This is exactly why BSides’ reporting is so problematic—Fisk made no such mistake. The reporter linked to the short video that affirms the protestors’ narrative. The full video contains a repeated demand to leave before the short clip that was posted to Instagram. Reporters have to be smarter than to just trust a video that only shows the information that an activist wants to be true.
I doubt she told them what she wanted to talk about. Nice try though. lol
They should have tossed them out on their keesters. I am in abject horror of Netanyahu’s government policies but that was not the place or time to force others to hear her personal political views.
In what way did she assault Fisk?
This person is just plain rude. That is not okay to offend your host in that way. Have some manners.
And who would be the arbiter of time if they didn’t stop at ten minutes? This would just embolden them. Sounds like a recipe for disaster.
I find it galling that the protester chose this event as the place to voice her protest. Not only was it disrespectful, she alienated the people most likely to have supported her position if she had expressed it in a more respectful manner. The first amendment applies in public. It does not apply when in someone’s private home. First year law students, heck, high school students, should know this. The protester has alienated rather than drawn listeners to her cause. Choose your audience carefully. This national coverage has only managed to hurt you.
I don’t believe she or anyone was “asked” to speak.
I don’t know about reporting them to the bar, but they absolutely appear to not understand the First Amendment. Did they not pass American Government class in high school?
What does critical race theory have to do with religion centers had white cards until recently and Israel was a big supporter of a apartheid government in South Africa so what does critical race theory have to do with religion? Explain
Hi, I apologize for the ambiguity. As a secular Jew who loves Jewish Israeli culture, I need a Jewish state in which there is no need for me to be religious and attend synagogue. It is for that reason that I left the US around 45 years ago. I cannot thrive in a Christian or Muslim society. I am for a two state solution and gladly live with my Israeli Palestinian Arab neigbors who, like myself, are Semitic and speak Arabic and Hebrew.
An unscheduled speech to acknowledge Palestinians killed in the war in Gaza? How about first acknowledging Hamas’s murderous rampage of October 7th and the Jewish folks still being held hostage? The deaths in Gaza are entirely the responsibility of Hamas. Period.
“STANFORD needs to apologize”?????
I will never cease to marvel at the capacity of human beings to believe that they are right and others are wrong.
Humble beings we are not.
Don’t forget their student misconduct and how it might appropriately be punished at UC.
What do they want a Berkeley professor to do about the war in the Middle East?
Wrong: The Law School paid for the dinner at the Dean’s private residence, as it does for all the student dinners. There is not a First Amendment right to use private property for speech. Even if the event had been held on the legal equivalent of government property, it still would be what is known as a “limited public forum,” where there are allowable limits on who can attend the event, and what can be expressed. The source of funding for the event has no bearing on either.
For Chemerinsky to hold a dinner during Ramadan seems inconsiderate and dismissive. especially so this year.
In October, he opined that we could not talk about solutions. Now 6 months later, he still does not want to talk or even hear about solutions.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-10-29/antisemitism-college-campus-israel-hamas-palestine
https://ca.cair.com/sfba/news/cair-sfba-condemns-uc-berkeley-professor-alleged-assault-on-palestinian-muslim-law-student/
Agreed, and if they came from other lands, they should go back and take the citizen test as well. Remove them from the Bar. They can work for their foreign respective countries of interest and support efforts there.
Proving once again Trump was right. We’ve let poison into the country.
Like most reasonable people I’m both horrified by the October 7th terrorist attacks and the general behavior of the Israeli government. It’s a tragic situation all around. The behavior of Palestinian activists in the US, however, is completely turning off sympathetic moderates like me. The magic of non violent protest is achieved when you act reasonably and the unreasonable actions of your counterparts leads to you gaining more sympathy. Non violent protest doesn’t mean you do whatever you want. If YOU act unreasonably you weaken your own message. This was the wrong venue for this. Reasonable people see someone interrupting a peaceful dinner at a private home and think how furious they’d be if someone did this at their home. You don’t mess with someone’s home. What’s more, the simple act of trying to grab the microphone away from the young woman is now being called “assault” by the loonies. Reasonable people see that and know that is not assault. This is a pr disaster for the activists. They look unreasonable and hyperbolic. Just my 2 cents as someone without a dog in the race and who thinks the entire tragedy is awful for all.
I am so horrified by this story and by what it says about what has happened to our educational system. These are two professors who have devoted their lives to educating the next generations of legal minds, who have opened their home and hearts to their students. These self-righteous students chose to spit in their faces. Protest Netanyahu all you like in a public space, but attacking educators in their home when you are their guest is unacceptable behavior. These students should be ashamed of themselves, but they have learned to. have no shame because they childishly and self-righteously believe they have license to behave however they see fit – and then claim to be the victim. We have allowed our children to run amuck and that does not bode well for our collective future. Or perhaps the dream of a peaceful multicultural society was always an illusion…
No one was assaulted in this instance.
“She should sue for assault”. Get a grip. You sound ridiculous
Fisk shouldn’t have touched the student. That was unwise in terms of the PR from all of this.
It is an interesting legal question about whether the first amendment applies here.
Sad for all involved. Hard to see how any of this helps the people in Gaza.
Just because you are not Jewish does not mean you are not supporting the cause of taking out terrorists.
Gaza brought that up themselves back in fall.
If this actually goes to trial somehow nobody will get found guilty of anything. Fisk made the mistake of putting a hand on the protester first, before disinviting her. If she had told the guest to stop, stated clearly that she was disinvited and/or trespassing and needed to leave, and THEN put hands on her it would have been less ambiguous.
Why on earth should Stanford apologize to this student? Stanford had nothing whatsoever to do with this event in the home of a Cal Law professor!
She was not invited to speak at a protest.
It’s not assault in the colloquial sense, but Fisk should have known better than to put hands on this type of woke social media slacktivist. They weren’t actually interested in spreading the message of the speech to the assembled audience, the goal was to cause a scene and get Fisk and Chemerinsky yelling at them and demanding that they leave so they could post it on social media.
Stanford!? LMAO you can’t even get the college right.
It was a private event at a private residence. The hosts were absolutely correct in stopping a guest from giving an unrequested and unvetted speech about a sensitive topic.
The fact that these pro-Palestinian law school students think they have a right to “free speech” at a private event held on private property is a sad testament to how worthless higher education has become, and how thoroughly activist ideologies can blind otherwise intelligent people to reality.
I strongly oppose the USA’s support for all the continuing overseas wars in which we are involved, but this behavior from protesters is unacceptable and I cannot in good faith support the Palestinian cause as long as a terrorist organization like Hamas continues to hold power in their government.
Not an official event. Chemerinsky regularly holds a welcoming dinner for 1Ls at his home each year; the class who are currently 3L, however, were skipped because of the lockdown. This is an extension of personal hospitality to them (at the Chemerinskys’ expense, I might add).
Not a protest she was invited in and asked to speak. Wrong topic obviously.
Well said – no two state solution one state one people will only bring peace.
Perhaps you should interview them and find out.
How about letting them speak for 5-10 minutes — thank you for your opinion and then move on. An opened mind is not a defensive mind.
These students should all be reported to the CA Bar, not because of the reprehensible behavior, but because of the apparent complete misunderstanding of the First Amendment in practice and law.
Did you actually watch the video? I didn’t find anything and anyone being assaulted.
Chermerinsky and his wife are completely in the WRONG. This is not about Israel/Palestine. This could have been a protest about the price of tomatoes in Bulgaria.
The MOMENT they hosted that event at their home, it became a semi-official forum and the student had the right to say what she wanted. She should sue for assault.
Freedom of speech is more important to me than Israel/Palestine or the price of tomatoes.
Chemerinsky should know better. He must stop hosting semi-official events at his home. Stanford needs to apologize to this student.
Are they also showing up and harassing non-Jewish professors who object to their style of protest and to the actions of Hamas?
Just because you’re a Jew doesn’t mean you’re a Zionist
Fisk actually has a much stronger case against this activist for assault than the other way around. Report her to the CA Bar, and boot her out of Cal. Assaulting a professor in their own home is grounds for dismissal from the university.
Weak tea, Afaneh. You’re very lucky to escape charges.
The chickens always come home to roost.
These students have been educated in an academic environment that is entirely free from challenge to liberal orthodoxy. They have never been asked to consider as legitimate or understandable any worldview that doesn’t align perfectly with their own.
The methodology of CRT has infused all of higher education and has completely shut down the ability of students to participate in debate. This methodology teaches that the world is divided neatly into two classes, “oppressor” and “oppressed”. You are part of one class or the other. It’s a simplistic world view that is easy to digest and appeals to young people’s desire to feel righteous. They will find an “oppressed” class to identify with, be it race-based, sexual-orientation based, religion-based etc.
Once you have positioned yourself as a victim and a member of the “oppressed” class, it’s easy to label anyone who disagrees with you as a monster and a member of the “oppressor” class. You don’t need to listen to their ideas because you have dehumanized them and made their ideas without value.
This is the insidious nature of CRT. It is a faith dogma. Anyone who questions the dogma is essentially an infidel and their ideas are dismissed without consideration. In this way the CRT culture maintains a clean ecosystem, free from outside ideas and debate.
Thus, we have the world we see now, where students at one of the greatest law schools in the country can’t seem to hold two opposing ideas in their heads without losing their minds. How do they hope to practice in the real world where they won’t be in a safe little echo chamber all the time?
First, i find the student protests pretty awful. The ones who do commit the crime here are the Palestinians. If you read what genocide is its the Hamas that commits it not the other way around.
However, the legal question is actually a quite interesting question.
If you host an official event that is announced at a work place at your home and you make it an event space does the trespassing etc.. law still apply? I am really curious.
True!
A member of a group that won’t let invited speakers appear in public on campus have no problem disrupting a private party.
In California, landowners/occupiers have a privilege to use violence to eject a trespasser, after a warning is given, and the force used must be reasonable.
I understand that American Jews did not rock the boat during the Holocaust. My father boxed with a Magen David on his shorts and refused to remove it when requested to do so.
I adnire these Pro-Palestinians’ adamancy. They are right (at the moment!)
But, as an American Israeli Jew, who lives in Israel, I know that we are also right (at the moment!). And as an Arabic speaking Jewish Israeli who teaches Arabic speaking Muslim Israelis/Palestinians Hebrew, I know that there is indeed another way, which only the moderates among us can lead. Respect and love, not only tolerance, are essential for Jewish-Muslim co-existence in the Middle East.
The radicals on both sides must eventually cease to exist or atleast prepare for compromise. Both Israel and Palestine must be Free.
1. this is incredibly disrespectful and targeted towards someone who isn’t Israeli.
2. many of the protests against Israel seem to harm non-Israeli’s and work against the protesters cause.
3. why do Palestinians go onto other’s property, do damage (in this case disruption, but on Oct 7 more horrific acts) and then play the victim ?
4. I feel very badly for the poor people of Gaza who have suffered because of Hamas. I pray they find a better government and can make peace with Israel like Egypt and many other countries have.
They choose to be even more lowly, with no depth limit yet, and if anything provide inspiration to squatters now, too.
BSide has linked to the short video. The LA Times provides the full video, which contradicts the facts asserted here, and provides much more context: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-04-10/uc-berkeley-law-school-dean-clashes-with-pro-palestinian-activists
I’d argue that you can’t actually assault a trespasser, but this is California so who knows…
There is something not working at the school if these law students don’t even understand how and where the first amendment applies. Coming to the deans house to protest is in pretty poor taste regardless. Doing that while announcing the prior preparation of having attorneys only further demonstrates this. And then posting a video bemoaning ‘an assault’ by an elderly woman just makes these protestors really unsympathetic.
Berkeley’s a pretty liberal place. When you attend a dinner as a guest you give up your rights to form a protest group at the gathering. If you want to protest, you must decline the dinner invitation as a guest.