UC Irvine Anteaters For Israel Stand Up to MSU’s Misinformation

From StandWithUS:

What a difference a few years makes. We recall the beginning of the second Intifada, when the pro-Israel student community at Irvine was not prepared to respond to the hostile anti-Israel messages and rallies that they faced on their campus. Today, the students were unified and organized with their messages of support for Israel, and their response to the anti-Israel rally was clear and strong. I am honored to have been a witness to how they stood up for Israel today.

The program was called for noon. The speeches from the anti-Israel side focused on the understandable concern for the human tragedy that we are witnessing in Gaza, but instead of blaming Hamas for initiating this war, they blamed Israel.

They never once mentioned the thousands of rockets that were launched into Israel prior to December 27, 2008, which provoked Israel’s military response to the deadly escalation of rocket attacks coming from Gaza. They never mentioned how Hamas hides rocket launchers and weapons in schools, mosques and hospitals. Hamas’ recent launching of rockets from the UN school in Gaza can actually be seen on YouTube. They omitted the fact that this is the second war that Iran has fought against Israel by proxy, first through Hezbollah in 2006 and now through Hamas. The Muslim Student Union’s focus was finger pointing at Israel as though Israel enjoys this battle, and implied that there is some masochistic reason that Israel would have launched this war.

It was going to be up to the Anteaters for Israel at UC Irvine to provide the context. As the program progressed, Anteater students along with a few community members began walking around and behind the speaker, in full view of the audience with signs like: Israel Wants Peace, Hamas Wants War. They had a variety of other messages which included Barack Obama’s comment during his visit to Sderot, that if his family members were sleeping as rockets were being launched at his home, he would feel the need to defend his family, just as Israel must defend its citizens. [Read More]

More Great Pictures From the Rally – Anteaters for Israel Stand Up to UCI’s Muslim Student Union

UPDATE: Video from Anti-Israel Protest at UC Irnive — You can hear Israel supporters chanting “Israel Wants Peace, Hamas Wants War,” in the background.