The formal trial is scheduled for August 15, 2011. If convicted, each student faces up to six months in jail.

7 of the Irvine 11 stand outside the courtroom after their arraignment on Friday April 15, 2011. Photo by Sahar Jahani

In addition to the pleas, the Orange County District Attorney’s office filed an opposition to the defendants’ request for DA Tony Rackauckas to be removed from the case.

At the March 11, 2011 hearing, lawyers of the Irvine 11 filed a request to remove Rackauckas from the case on grounds of unlawful conduct in the proceedings leading up to the conviction.

According to defense attorneys, the means by which the prosecution obtained evidence, including search warrants, grand jury subpoenas, and internal documents titled “UCI Muslim Case,” demonstrate a clear bias and conflict of interest on behalf of the DA’s office.

At a press conference held after Friday’s hearing, Dan Stormer, an attorney representing the Irvine 11, called for a prosecution that is “more objective, more fair and has a more reasonable basis for prosecution, to take on the case.”

In the motion to refute these allegations, the DA expressed that these complaints are meritless and do not demonstrate any possibility that the DA will treat these proceedings unfairly.

“The content of the protest is not in question here,” stated Deputy District Attorney Dan Wagner during the press conference held after the arraignment, “The protestors could have been standing up and yelling gibberish, the fact of the matter is that the disruption that they caused trampled upon other people’s first amendment rights and that is what this prosecution is based upon.”

Jacqueline Goodman, one of the attorneys representing the Irvine 11, discusses the proceedings of the April 15 hearing. Photo by Sahar Jahani

A decision regarding the DA’s removal from the case will be made on June 17.

More than 100 supporters of the Irvine 11 appeared at the courthouse, some waiting nearly three hours for the proceedings to conclude. Parents, students, community members and activists of various backgrounds were in attendance.

Estee Chandler, a representative of the Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization that collected over 5,000 signatures demanding the Orange County DA to drop all the charges against the Irvine 11, was also present along with Jeff Warner, Action Coordinator for LA Jews for Peace.

“This same type of protest has been conducted in other parts of the country by Jewish and Israeli students, without any severe consequences for the protestors,” explained Chandler, “It is clear that the Irvine 11 are being targeted because of their cultural and religious background.”

“Although our numbers are smaller at this hearing, our support for the Irvine 11 is solid” stated Jasmine Riad, a first year student at UC Irvine, “we will continue to come out and show the prosecutors and the judge that the conviction of these students is not only unjust but it goes against the principles that we value in this country, the most important of which is freedom of speech.”

UCLA’s National Lawyers Guild, Law Students for Justice in Palestine and the ACLU present:

The Climate for Student Protest: The Case of the Irvine 11
Wednesday March 9, 2011 at 12:15
Law School 1430 Lunch (not pizza) will be served

Please join us for a discussion with:

-Jacqueline Goodman Rubio, Law Offices of Jacqueline Goodman Rubio, part of the UCI 11 criminal defense team
-Ameena Qazi, Deputy Executive Director, Staff Attorney, CAIR-Los Angeles
-Marya Bangee, Coordinator of UC Irvine alumni support efforts

Moderated by UCLA Law School Professor Devon Carbado

On February 8, 2010 students organized an act of protest in opposition to a speech delivered by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren at the UC Irvine campus. The students were disciplined by the university and recently Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas filed charges against these students. Join us for a discussion about the implications of the case for the students directly involved and student protesters more generally during the current trend of filing criminal charges against protesters and dissidents.

As a result, no plea was entered by the students and the next hearing will be held on April 15^th, where Judge Peter J. Wilson will reveal his decision about this request.

Daniel Mayfield (left), one of the attorneys for the Irvine 11, makes a statement during a press conference following the arraignment of students who protested during Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren's speech at UCI last February

More than a hundred community members, students, and civic and interfaith leaders gathered at the

Santa Ana Courthouse on Friday, March 11 at 9:30am, when Judge Wilson announced the delay.

At a press conference held immediately after, seven of the Irvine 11 and their lawyers addressed the public and OC District Attorney Rackauckas, questioning the legitimacy of the charges and investigation methods used in this case.

“The DA has engaged in questionable and unlawful conduct to investigate this case and to bring these unprecedented, highly selective and discriminatory criminal charges against the students,” stated Reem Salahi, one of the Irvine 11 attorneys.

Daniel Mayfield, an alumnus of UC Irvine and one of the attorneys representing the Irvine 11, further explained that the DA convened a grand jury, subpoenaed material to the grand jury, and issued search warrants, all of which are considered illegal in a misdemeanor case. Mayfield also pointed out other misconduct involving the DA’s proceedings, including emails that labeled the case as the “UCI Muslim Case.”

“This shows concern on their part not for law, not for justice but for the perceived religion of our clients and for the perceived religion of those involved in the protest,” stated Mayfield.

In regards to these activities, Mayfield announced that an informal discovery request has been filed to remove the DA from the Irvine 11 case. The disqualification of the DA from this proceeding would result in the District Attorney of the state of California to take over.

Susan Schroeder, the spokeswoman for Rackauckas denied any claims that the charges against the Irvine 11 were propelled by racial motivations, bringing up a second misdemeanor case that was filed on December 8^th, 2011 against nineteen UC Irvine students who occupied the Chancellor’s office in protest for workers’ rights.

Schroeder pointed out that the case of the Irvine 19 is not perceived to be racially motivated whereas the Irvine 11 are thought to be prosecuted because they are Muslim.

“Our position on why the Irvine 11 protested is clear,” stated Schroeder, “they did not want an Israeli Ambassador speaking in front of them and they denied the hundreds of people gathered to listen to him this first amendment right.”

In addition to the attorneys, several other individuals took to the podium, among them Rabbi Haim Beliak of the Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative, who spoke about the importance of the religious community’s role in supporting the Irvine 11 and starting the process of “reconciliation” between the Jewish and Muslim communities.

li Mohammad Sayeed (center), one of the Irvine 11, reads a statement, thanking organizations and individuals for their continued support.

Furthermore, Ali Mohammad Sayeed, one of the Irvine 11, read from a written statement that thanked organizations such as the Jewish Voice for Peace, National Lawyers Guild and the Muslim Public Affairs Council, as well as numerous college faculty members, student groups and organizations for their support in the past year.

The amount of support for the Irvine 11 was evident in the number of people gathered there and distances some traveled to be present at the arraignment. Amal Dalmar, a second year International Studies and Ethnic studies double major, drove from UC San Diego to attend the arraignment.

“If one person in our community is threatened and we don’t stand up for it,” explained Dalmar, “then the next time something happens to one of us it wouldn’t be fair to assume that someone else would speak for us.”

On February 4th, 2011 Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced charges against a group of eleven Muslim students who interrupted Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren’s speech as a form of protest at UC Irvine last year.

This is the latest chapter in the Irvine 11 case that has sparked a national debate about first amendment rights.

“I am deeply disappointed and very upset by the DA’s decision to file charges. There is absolutely no basis for criminal charges against these students; they participated in a form of protest that is embedded in the fabric of American society,” said Reem Salahi, the civil rights attorney who has been working on the case.

According to the DA’s press release, all eleven students, three of whom attended UC Riverside at the time, were charged with one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to disturb a meeting and one misdemeanor count of the disturbance of a meeting.

Although the students were arrested during the speech and have faced punishment from the University administration, the DA has persisted with the charges.

“There was an organized attempt to squelch the speaker, who was invited to speak to a group at UCI. This is a clear violation of the law and failing to bring charges against this conduct would amount to a failure to uphold the Constitution,” stated Rackauckas,

The arraignment is set for March 11, 2011 and if convicted, the students face sentences of up to 6 months in jail, probation, community service or fines, charges that can have serious consequences for these students’ futures as they apply for jobs or graduate school.

Members of various communities have spoken out against this decision. Most recently, Jewish Voices for Peace, an organization that advocates coalition building among Israelis and Palestinians, hand-delivering a petition in support of the Irvine 11 to the DA’s office on Wednesday, February 9th.

The petition has been signed by approximately 5,000 individuals who testify that they too have committed the similar crime of interrupting a speaker or event to make a political point. The individuals who signed the petition asked the District Attorney to “charge them too” if interrupting injustice is now considered a crime.

The petition was accompanied by a letter of support from the JVP Rabbinical Council, signed by fourteen Rabbis and Rabbinical students from around the country.

“We urge the District Attorney’s office of Orange County to immediately stop efforts to criminalize the actions of these Muslim students who, in the long-standing tradition of non-violent activism for social justice, protested the speech of the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren” the letter read.
As for UC Irvine’s stance in this case, soon after the decision was announced, university administration sent an email to the student body, announcing the DA’s decision and emphasizing UC Irvine’s neutrality towards the District Attorney’s actions.

“The District Attorney’s announcement reflects action independent of the University.  He has subpoena power and access to information that we do not. From our perspective we thoroughly and fairly investigated and adjudicated the matter last year.  Conduct violations were addressed fully, consistent with the guidelines of the Student Code of Conduct,” wrote Cathy Lawhon, the Interim Executive Director of Communications at UC Irvine.

The administration’s position is considered extremely disappointing by some.

“They continue to play the neutral card and distance themselves from the students. Rather than protect their academic integrity, the school has done whatever to not get blamed, and has remained completely silent,” said Hamza Siddiqui, a student at UC Irvine.

As the arraignment date approaches, supporters of the Irvine 11 are asking the community at large to spread the word about an online petition which denounces the treatment of these students. They are also asking letters of support to be sent directly to the office of District Attorney Tony Rackauckas.

The Jewish Federation Orange County was quick to publicize the recommendation to suspend MSU in a video they released. Contrary to what the Jewish Federation President Shalom Elcott has stated in the video, the MSU has not been “officially sanctioned and suspended” by UCI’s administration.  Furthermore, it seems that the advocates for MSU’s suspension intend to emphasize the organization’s apparent support of disrupting Oren’s speech to justify the idea of dismantling the student group. What they fail to highlight are the MSU’s positive contributions on its campus and beyond.

Like many other student organizations, the MSU has a history of involvement in humanitarian efforts such as hosting blood drives, making and packing PB&J sandwiches for the homeless, and promoting “Humanitarian Day”. In this year alone, the active MSU hosted a variety of events including Islam Awareness Quarter, Hijab Day Challenge, and a fundraiser for Haiti. By selling shawerma and applying henna designs, the MSU was able to raise approximately $5,000 for Haiti within two weeks.

Supporters of the recommendation to suspend the MSU have failed to recognize and acknowledge the positive impact this MSU has had on the local and global level. In fact, the MSU was recently awarded the Social Justice Award by the UCI Cross Cultural Center. By pushing for the suspension, the advocates harshly and unfairly attempt to prevent this MSU from not only organizing future events that the advocates do not find to their liking, but also ones that may benefit the greater community. It’s ironic that in their letter, the Jewish Federation suggests that the administrators require the MSU members to participate in 50 hours of community service collectively. Yet, I ask why they overlook and refuse to recognize the services the MSU has already done and has the potential of doing.

-In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful-

Assalamu alaykum (peace be upon you),

You may have heard of the recent event at UC Irvine with Michael Oren, the ambassador of Israel to the US.

While he was invited by a student organization to speak on US-Israeli relations, the UCI Law School and the Political Science Department cosponsored the speech by Oren, a public figure who represents a state that continues to commit more human rights violations than any other country. See the MSU’s statement regarding his presence on campus for more details: msuuci.com

At the event, 11 students who chose to protest by making clear and organized statements were arrested and held in a room until after the event. The school is also currently threatening to punish the students, aiming to send a political message by selective enforcement of university policies.

Contact UCI Chancellor Michael Drake NOW to declare that it is unjust to arrest these students. Supporters of the arrests are contacting administration in large numbers, and your support is needed desperately!

Ask to speak with Chancellor Drake or leave a message at: (949) 824 – 5011 and email him at: chancellor@uci.edu

Speak to the Dean of Students office, who are determining the punishment at: (949) 824-5181 and email them at: deanstu@uci.edu

Here are some important points to bring up:

• · It was unjust to arrest students for simply having the courage to stand up and speak out against a man responsible for propagating the deaths of thousands of innocent people.
• · Civil disobedience has historically played an instrumental role in the civil rights movement in America the eventually ensured equality and human rights for all minorities.
• · Michael Oren is a representative of a state that is condemned by more UN Human Rights Council resolutions than all other countries in the world, and he should not be honored at UC Irvine.
• As concerned community members, we will not support an educational institution that threatens to punish its’ students with suspension and expulsion for standing up for their principles.

Thank you for your support.

Jazakum Allahu khairan.