Disputed stoles OKd by UC Irvine

Marisa O’Neil

Campus police will keep a close eye on today’s commencement

ceremonies as tensions continue to simmer between Muslim and Jewish

students on campus.

No specific threats have been made, UC Irvine campus police Chief

Al Brown said. Officers will, however, be prepared for any “potential

disruption or protest” at the ceremony because of continued

controversy over green stoles 15 Muslim students plan to wear --

which some Jewish students say show support for terrorism.

The president of the Muslim Student Union, Osman Umarji, 22, held

a brief press conference on campus Friday to say the stoles they will

wear over their gowns at graduation are simply professions of their

faith. He praised university officials, who have said they will not

ban the displays at the ceremonies out of respect for the students’

rights to free speech.

Umarji likened the stoles to wearing a Christian cross or Jewish

yarmulke.

Muslim students wore the stoles during UCI’s graduation last year

without incident, he said. But members of Anteaters for Israel, a

Jewish group on campus, contend that the green color and Arabic word

“shahada” can be associated with suicide attacks and the terrorist

group Hamas.

“People won’t be looking at it saying: ‘This is their faith,’”

said Merav Ceren, president of Anteaters for Israel. “They’ll see it

as an alignment with Hamas. Either they’re ignorant of it or they’re

insensitive to it.”

Umarji, who wore the stole during the press conference, said one

side of the garment, which goes around the neck and hangs down on

either side says: “God, increase my knowledge.” The other side, he

said, contains the word “shahada,” which means “There is no God

except for Allah.”

“It’s just a stole,” Muslim Student Union member Sabiha Khan said.

“It shows who you are as a Muslim.”

Both sides agree the word has multiple meanings -- including a

profession of faith and a support of martyrdom, or dying for one’s

beliefs. But those definitions have left the door open for

interpretation.

The controversy comes after a month of mounting tensions on campus

between Jewish, Muslim and Arab students, Ceren said.

A display built by the Society of Arab Students was torched last

month in what campus police are investigating as a hate crime. Jewish

students said they denounced the vandalism but feel they were under a

cloud of suspicion.

Less than a week after the fire, in a previously scheduled campus

appearance, controversial political activist Imam Mohammed al Asi

spoke out against “Zionist Israel.”

The Orange County chapter of the Anti-Defamation League spoke out

against his appearance and now about the Muslim students wearing the

stoles.

“We are troubled that members of the Muslim Students Union have

chosen to display symbolism that is closely identified with

Palestinian terrorist groups and that can be especially offensive to

Jewish students,” Orange County associate director Kevin O’Grady said

in a press release Friday. “This is part of an ongoing pattern of

vicious anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incidents on the UC-Irvine

campus, many perpetuated by the Muslim Students Union.

“We again call on members of the administration to finally speak

out against such expressions of hate on the campus.”

Attempts by the Anteaters for Israel to meet with the Society of

Arab Students and the Muslim Student Union throughout the year have

been repeatedly rebuked by the other clubs, Ceren said.

Umarji said they would talk sometime during the summer.

“If he’s ready for a dialogue, we’ve been waiting,” Ceren said.

Randy Lewis, executive associate dean of students, said officials

have spoken with leaders from the three groups because tensions have

reached a “critical point.”

“We hope to negotiate a level of reason and understanding on the

issue,” he said.

The university has been inundated with faxes and e-mails this week

from people voicing their views on the latest controversy, Lewis

said. National media, including conservative talk show host Bill

O’Reilly have covered the controversy leading up to today’s

commencements.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at [email protected].