Chaos unfolded at the home of a Jewish law school dean this week after he invited pro-Hamas students for dinner.
As Berkeleyside reported, UC Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and his wife, law professor Catherine Fisk invited roughly 60 graduating law students for a celebratory dinner at their home Tuesday in what they assumed would an uneventful evening.
But the occasion quickly went south when Malak Afaneh, co-president of Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine, rose to whine about the school’s investment in arms manufacturers for Israel. According to Berkleyside, she was joined by ten other students for the protest.
Afaneh opened with a Muslim greeting to mark the final night of Ramadan before proceeding with her rant.
Chemerinsky interrupted her and repeatedly demanded she vacate the premises. “Please leave! No. Please leave. Please leave,” he said.
Fisk then got physical with Afaneh. She is seen trying to snatch the Islamist agitator’s cellphone out of her hand as she filmed, pulling at her clothing, including her hijab, and angrily putting her arm around Afaneh as she pushes her to leave.
“It is not your house. It is my house! And I want you to leave!” Fisk says.
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Fisk then threatens to call the police before saying she prefers not to.
Afaneh threatened legal action in response before the three-minute altercation finally ended after she and the other protesting students walked out of the yard.
Chemerinsky defended trying to force the despicable protesters to leave in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, pointing out that their actions were not protected by the First Amendment.
“No one has the right to come into my house, or yours, and disrupt a dinner,” Chemerinsky explained. “As a matter of constitutional law, this is absolutely clear.”
UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof released a statement Thursday denouncing the unruly protest and expressed sympathy for Chemerinsky.
I am appalled and deeply disturbed by what occurred at Dean Chemerinsky’s home last night. I have been in touch with him to offer my support and sympathy.
While our support for Free Speech is unwavering, we cannot condone using a social occasion at a person’s private residence as a platform for protest.
Afaneh told KQED she was left shaken by the incident and was upset that Fisk dared to lay hands on her.
“No one thought that this woman would put her hands on me,” she said. “I didn’t expect this reaction, of course. I didn’t expect it when it happened. I didn’t even get the chance to talk about Palestine or UC complicity.”
