The Muslim Student Union at U.C. Irvine orchestrated the disruption of a Feb. 8 speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, leaked e-mails indicate.
Muslim Student Union representatives repeatedly had claimed that the disruption had been the impetus of students acting individually. Eleven students were arrested for disrupting Oren’s speech.
The revelation about the e-mails was published last week by the Washington-based Investigative Project on Terrorism. The e-mails reportedly were leaked anonymously to both university officials and local law enforcement.
In an alleged e-mail to the Muslim Student Union board dated Feb. 6, union president Mohamed Abdelgany described the union’s “game plan” for the Oren speech, including a call for “disruptors.” He also allegedly cautioned disrupters to be loud and firm, but not lose their composure. “Remember,” he wrote, “that this is a planned/calculated response.” — jta