Live-blogging the Fall 2010 SOTU

For those of you who can’t make it tonight, here’s what is being said (refresh for frequent updates).

6:30- Still hasn’t started, food is very good.
6:42- Ryan Fanning is doing the introduction. He thanks Aramark. Nice plug.
6:43- Ryan: Financial Situations, Pachanga, it has not been a quiet semester. But we will succeed through the struggles. We as a community are stronger than we can possibly imagine.
6:45- Ryan thinks Acheampong is a snappy dresser.
6:45- Daniel: Thanks to the Union. General welcomes. The Union means “you”.
6:46- Financial History of the last 2 years: Despite our hardships, we chose to do something unique. We moved together as one, as Brandeis.

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Massive student protests are alive and well, just not here

In Berkley, in Puerto Rico, and now in the UK, students are putting on massive demonstrations – in the last month, even.

In the UK:

Around 52,000 students marched through London in protest at plans to increase tuition fees while cutting state funding for university teaching.

• Around 200 people from the march occupied 30 Millbank – the building that houses the Conservative party’s campaign headquarters – and a stand-off with police ensued.

• Police in riot gear clashed with protesters, who had smashed windows and mounted the roof of the building. Fourteen people – police and activists – were injured and police arrested 35 demonstrators.

In California yesterday:

As of 6:30am this morning, students at UC Berkeley have begun blocking the entrances to the California Hall, the main administrative building on campus. All entrances are surrounded.

In Puerto Rico (Google Translation): (Also see this)

The Board of Trustees will choose a new president amid threats of strikes and demonstrations in various sectors of the university community if this body appoints Guadalupe.

On Tuesday, Humanities students will take their power with an event that constitutes a “clear expression” of rejecting the new fee of $ 800 that takes effect next January, said Adriana Mulero Claudio, a spokeswoman for the Action Committee Humanities coordinating the one-day stoppage.

“To implement the quota in January, more than 10,000 students would be out of the UPR, while encouraging the dismissal of more non-teaching staff,” says the Action Committee for the Humanities in a press release.

On Thursday, students in education and social sciences also paralyze the work in their schools to protest the special assessment, which according to estimates student deprive 10.000 university to continue studying at UPR.

The days of massive student protests aren’t over. That tactic just hasn’t hit Brandeis.
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Jewish Yelling for Peace

Right before Brandeis’ Israel Occupation week, a group of students Jewish Voices for Peace (not from Brandeis) gained notoriety as they heckled Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as he spoke to the Jewish General Assembly in New Orleans.

Benjamin Netanyahu was interrupted five times by protesters who shouted and held up signs while the Israeli prime minister was delivering an address on Monday to the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America.

The protesters shouted “the loyalty oaths delegitimize Israel” and “the occupation delegitimizes Israel” while being escorted from the room. Their signs bore similar messages.

The disrupters were members of a group of young protesters convened by Jewish Voice for Peace, a left-wing activist organization. The protesters said that they were responding to the General Assembly’s focus on what has been called an international effort to delegitimize Israel.

There’s a lively discussion about whether they were justified. For the “their tactics deligitimize their cause” argument, see Ben Sales’ piece in the New Voices magazine. For an opposing view, read the comments to his piece, and also read the explanation of the activists in their own words.

I really like what JewSchool has to say here and also here. Lots to unpack – I could quote all three articles but I suggest you just read them.

Here’s what struck me:

But the most experienced protester on the team rightly said that people would take down our signs within seconds and we would be unable to make our point. We also considered singing. After lengthy discussion, we decided we had to yell “Young Jewish Proud!” and then the sign content. We all agreed it was the absolute right decision, but we had to sacrifice the feeling of solemnity we had preferred. We weren’t there to “heckle”- we were there to take a stand.”

We knew people would not be pleased, but we didn’t anticipate the level of violence and frankly it was not our intention to make people in the room look ugly. I have mixed feelings about that- I dont consider federation people “The Other”. That’s family in there, for almost all of us, so I don’t take pleasure in the unmasking of the mob mentality. On the other hand, I understand it’s critical for our movement that it has been revealed-many others in the room were shocked. But we would not have purposely engineered it with that particular group.

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