Omar Barghouti at UC Irvine-Feb. 4, 2013

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com



On February 4, 2013, Omar Barghouti brought his traveling slide show on boycott divest and sanctions against Israel to UC Irvine, hosted by the Students for Justice in Palestine, a warmed over version of the Muslim Student Union. Barghouti, who was born in Kuwait or Qatar (He wouldn't tell me which) is the classic example of the guy who bites the hand that feeds him. As he is advocating for the universal boycott of Israel, which he still insists is an "apartheid state" like South Africa, he is a student at Tel Aviv University. A critic of the US as well, which he claims is racist, he also studied at Columbia, where by his own description, he was a student activist.

If you have ever watched British twit Ben White or UC Berkeley propagandist Hatem Baziam speak, you know what to expect from Barghouti. Dripping arrogance, he goes through his slide show of anti-Israel posters, quotes from Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King (addressing other issues which Barghouti applies to Israel), plus photos and quotes of such "luminaries" as UC Professor Judith Butler, Naomi Klein, some guy from Pink Floyd, and other entities which support BDS, such as the Presbyterian Church. Like Bazian and White, Barghouti drones on in a flat monotonous tone.

Last night, he spoke in front of a packed hall of about 30 people.

Naturally, at the outset, the moderator, a student from the SJP/MSU told us that no video taping was allowed.

Wrong.

At that point, I interrupted and advised him that this issue had been settled years ago when a local state elected official, (Chuck DeVore) had attended an MSU event and was told not to videotape. DeVote set them straight fast.

"This is a public event at a public university, and we have every right to videotape", I said.

At this point, the young man suggested I go outside and consult with a campus policeman on the matter. I replied that he could go talk to the cop and if the cop wanted to come in and tell me not to videotape, he could. "It's the law." At that point, the matter was dropped and I began to film from the front row as Barghouti took the podium.

As you can see from the (3rd) video, I got the first question and asked him where he was born Kuwait or Qatar according to different sources). He didn't want to answer,. Nor did he want to confirm that he had grown up in Egypt. "Irrelevant", said he. Naturally,. he could see where I was going with the line-that he was a non-Israeli studying at Tel Aviv University, which makes him a hypocrite. The moderator jumped in, and he and Barghouti insisted I get to the question. As you can see from the video, things went down from there when I called him a hypocrite as Barghouti called for another question from the audience.  After I sat down, another MSU/SJP student came over to me and threatened to call in the campus cop, which I invited him to do. (He didn't.) Later, when the young Jewish lady I was sitting next to got into a heated exchange with Barghouti over the "apartheid" issue and referred to his lies, the cop came down and gently told her to simply ask a question.

Anyway, here is the video of this "event" in 4 installments. Try not to fall asleep.

1

2

3

4

This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the crap we have to put up with on our university campuses.  This is no isolated incident. These anti-Israel, anti-America speakers are as thick as cockroaches on our campuses. Is it any wonder we have a problem with anti-Semitism on our campuses, particularly here in the UC system? 

This guy, Bargouti, has been educated in Israel and the US. Yet, he is trying to destroy the Jewish state. In the meantime, he makes references to "American racism" and bemoans American support for Israel on our own soil. Yes, he has the constitutional right to spout whatever drivel he wants, just as I have the right to tell him what I think of him. This young man has no idea of American history and what the American people are all about. He consistently refers to Martin Luther King, whom he knows only from history books. He has no concept of the changes that have occurred in this country since the time of Dr. King. I do because I remember when King was murdered when this putz probably wasn't even born.

Go home, Barghouti.