Dust not yet settled on U.C. Berkeley melee

The Alameda County District Attorney's office has decided not to file charges against individuals involved in an altercation last semester between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students at U.C. Berkeley.

The update regarding the Nov. 13 campus flare-up was conveyed to students in a letter from Jonathan Poullard, U.C. Berkeley's Dean of Students, on the school's Web site Dec. 19. The D.A.'s decision does not affect plans by the university's Center for Student Conduct and Community Standards to proceed with its own investigation of the incident, according to Poullard.

Poullard's letter wasn't the only one made public recently. Morton Klein and Susan Tuchman of the Zionist Organization of America wrote a 13-page letter to U.C. Berkeley chancellor Robert Birgeneau, complaining of a pattern of abuse perpetrated on Jewish students by Students for Justice in Palestine, a largely Arab American group that was involved in the Nov. 13 incident.

Birgenau was urged "to become directly involved in confronting the anti-Semitism and Israel-bashing on his campus," according to a subsequent ZOA press release. As of press time, the chancellor's office had not returned a call from j. for comment.

The ZOA letter cited instances of harassment and physical intimidation, focusing on the fallout from the melee, especially efforts to impeach John Moghtader, a Jewish member of the Berkeley student senate and one of those involved in the fight. The letter also scolded Poullard as not being evenhanded in sorting out the dispute, and asked he both apologize and recuse himself in future deliberations.

According to Poullard's letter, the D.A. concluded that statements provided by witnesses were inconsistent and ambiguous, and that it remained unclear who threw the first punch. Poullard added, "Although this investigation is considered closed, if there are any additional witnesses who have independent, first-hand knowledge of the alleged criminal behavior related to this incident, [campus police are] ready to receive additional statements and, if warranted, forward new information to the District Attorney's office for further review."

The Nov. 13 incident occurred while pro-Israel students held an outdoor concert on campus. Pro-Palestinian students unfurled a Palestinian flag on a balcony just above the stage, and when Jewish students went upstairs to facilitate its removal, a fight broke out. Each side told the media and police that the other had started the fighting.