Berkeley City Council nixes support for pro-Palestinians

Friday, May 17, 2002 | by

A Berkeley City Council resolution expressing support for pro-Palestinian protesters arrested after occupying a classroom buildi

The 79 protesters were cited for trespassing, with six receiving additional charges of resisting arrest. Roberto Hernandez, a student and member of the Students for Justice in Palestine, is charged with assaulting a police officer for an alleged bite.

The protesters could face up to 90 days in jail, with a possible yearlong sentence for Hernandez.

A plea bargain in which trespassing charges would have been dropped against 71 of the 79 protesters if they pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace—which would carry a minor fine and no jail time—was rejected last week.

The SJP is free again to organize on campus, as the office of Student Judicial Affairs rescinded the organizational suspension the pro-Palestinian group was issued shortly after the April 9 occupation.

The group claims it is being singled out for harsh punishment by the university. Administrators, however, say SJP leaders were given explicit instructions not to interfere with U.C. Berkeley's "academic core mission," yet chose to disrupt classes and midterms at Wheeler Hall anyway.