Following Call With Wiesenthal Center Head, California State University Official Agrees to Investigate Disruption of Jerusalem Mayor’s Speech at SF State

April 7, 2016

Following a phone call today with Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Vice Chancellor of the California State University system, Garrett Ashley, agreed to investigate yesterday’s incident at San Francisco State, where a speech by Nir Barkat, the Mayor of Jerusalem, was disrupted by anti-Israel protestors. In the call, Rabbi Hier, denounced the protestors’ actions as an assault on free speech and recommended that CSU’s investigation should include determining whether yesterday’s lawlessness implicated any California laws. He reminded Vice Chancellor Garrett that ten pro-Palestinian students in 2011 were convicted in the infamous ‘Irvine 11’ case in an Orange County court for disrupting the Israeli Ambassador’s speech at UC Irvine. For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036. Join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed. The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).