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September 26, 2011

10 Muslim Students Criminally Charged for Disrupting Israeli Ambassador Speech 
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A California jury has convicted a group of 10 Muslim college students of
criminal charges for disrupting a speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael
Oren on the University of California at Irvine campus last year. The
students were sentenced to three years of probation, 56 hours of
community service and fines. The conviction was widely criticized by
civil rights and Islamic groups in California. Shakeel Syed of the
Islamic Shura Council of Southern California said, "This is clearly an
indication that Muslims are permanent foreigners, at least in Orange
County." Reporter Nora Barrows Friedman of the blog, Electronic
Intifada, covered the trial.

Nora Barrows Friedman, Electronic Intifada: “The sentences were light,
relatively. The defense attorneys and the clients are still going to
appeal the verdict, and actually this is also pretty significant because
they feel the law under which their clients were prosecuted was unfair
and does not allow for dissent in this country. And so they said they
would take this all the way to the Supreme Court.”



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