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Pro-Israel Ohio U. student arrested for reading Legal Insurrection blog post out loud during protest (#ousenate)

Pro-Israel Ohio U. student arrested for reading Legal Insurrection blog post out loud during protest (#ousenate)

Protests erupt at Ohio Univ Senate meeting over President’s “blood bucket challenge” — President has protesters arrested.

http://www.thepostathens.com/news/article_e5def6ee-3940-11e4-9d06-0017a43b2370.html?mode=video

[Featured Image credit: Kaitlin Owens video]

[Note: The title of this post and Featured Image were changed once I obtained the video which demonstrated that the student leader arrested was reading a Legal Insurrection blog post when arrested.]

We previously covered how Meghan Marzec, the President of the Ohio University student Senate, hijacked the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to bash Israel with a Blood Bucket Challenge.

It reflects the nature of the anti-Israel movement on campus that they would politicize a charity fundraiser for an incurable disease.

What kind of people do such things? Anti-Israel campus activists, that’s the type of people.

At a Student Senate Meeting tonight, pro-Israel students protested this abuse and, according to reports, several of the pro-Israel students were escorted out and arrested by campus police, via the student newspaper, The Post, Four students arrested at Wednesday’s Student Senate Meeting:

Ohio University Police Department Chief Andrew Powers told The Post that four students were arrested at Wednesday night’s Student Senate meeting in Walter Hall.

OUPD officers escorted Bobcats for Israel President Becky Sebo out of the Student Senate meeting Wednesday night.

Rabbi Danielle LeShaw, who went with the arrested students to OUPD’s station, told The Post they were charged with a fourth degree misdemeanor for disturbing a lawful meeting.

The four students arrested and charged were Maxwell Peltz, 20; Rebecca Sebo, 22; Gabriel Sirkin, 20; Jonah Yulish, 19.
They are scheduled to appear in Athens Municipal Court Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m.

In Ohio, if convicted, such a charge can carry a maximum sentence of up to 30 days in jail, and a $250 fine.

All the arrested students have been released, according to an OUPD clerk.

Student Senate President Megan Marzec was emphatic in her support of Palestine at the meeting. “I will never apologize for standing with the people of Palestine,” she said.
Student Speakout, the period at the beginning of each meeting where anyone can speak publicly about an issue concerning them, ended more than an hour and fifteen minutes after senate began. Senate will now move on to regular business; many students left after speakout ended.
Wednesday’s meeting kicked off with yelling and confrontation between two groups supporting and opposing Marzec.

(video and commentary added)

The woman shouting at the pro-Israel student reading appears to be Marzec.

It is clear having listened to the audio that the pro-Israel student was reading statements of university presidents from this Legal Insurrection post, University statements rejecting academic boycott of Israel, specifically the entries regarding statements issued by Brandeis University, the University of Chicago, Hamilton College and U. Connecticut, against the academic boycott of Israel (the video is edited so you don’t hear the full statements, but she follows the random sequence in our post).

(Original video link here)

The reader who tipped me off to the events at OU writes:

I don’t see how Ms. Sebo was being unduly disruptive. Some of the context from the livetweeting shows that she was being shouted down by Marzec, and that audience members were attempting to physically assault her.

At any rate, Marzec ordering the arrest of her critics is ironic, because Marzec has been arrested for the same thing. And the crowd’s chanting of “fascist” and “undemocratic” is ironic, given their applause for arresting the Bobcats for Israel.

My alma is being run by the looney bin 🙁

UPDATE 9-11-2014: More details on the sequence from the student newspaper:

Before the senate meeting was called to order, President of Bobcats for Israel, Becky Sebo, was the first to speak at the meeting. She read a speech directly at Marzec, who said several times during the meeting that she wanted to hear from students, but in an orderly fashion.

Sebo stated in her remarks that she is in favor of free speech and that any threats of violence made against Marzec are “unacceptable.” She said Bobcats for Israel is calling for Marzec’s resignation because Marzec, as senate president, took the stance that Israel has committed “atrocities” against Palestine.

Three minutes into Sebo’s speech, Marzec interrupted Sebo, saying that the speech was blocking other students from speaking.
A chant was led by many of the Student Senate members, repeating phrases such as “this meeting is being hijacked by fascists” and “shame on bullies.”

Many in the crowd held handmade signs on notebook-torn pieces of paper that read “I would rather have a conversation,” a silent demonstration promoted by student senator-at-large Luke Kubacki.

Other members of Bobcats for Israel continued to speak over the chants and Marzec.
Marzec stood up about eight minutes into the presentation and called for a vote to remove the students because “they are disrupting the meeting.”

The protesters continued to speak.

Another member of her group took over speaking before Sebo started speaking again, at which point OU Police officers surrounded her, including Chief Andrew Powers, who warned Sebo that she had “two minutes to stop” before she would be removed.

OUPD handcuffed and removed the four students: Maxwell Peltz, 20; Gabriel Sirkin, 20; Jonah Yulish, 19; and Sebo, 22.

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Comments

I feel sorry for Marzec’s parents … how embarrassing. Of course, I am assuming they are normal and rational.

I am not Jewish, but I am appalled at the increasing level of hate towards Israel in this country! It is frightening and what is even more disconcerting is the fact that much of this hate is from so called open minded liberals who think they know what is best for everyone.

    Exiliado in reply to natdj. | September 11, 2014 at 6:23 am

    I think it’s a matter of leadership.

    When I first arrived to US some 10 years ago, the United States and Israel were friends and allies. Our foreign policies in the Middle East (and the world) were designed around that fact.
    Of course, there was some of sort of “trickle down” effect coming out of it. As a result, for example, anti-Semitic activities were taken seriously by local authorities.

    Now things have changed. For the last six years, the White House has been unfriendly towards Israel. Now the trickle down effect is having the opposite results.
    Anti-Semites now feel encouraged and protected.

Hi, I’m the person who made the video. I’m glad that you used a screencap of my video for the main photo to this article, but I was hoping you could credit me under the photo? I know the actual video is also posted, but if someone doesn’t watch it, they won’t know who the image came from. I appreciate you sharing my work!

Insufficiently Sensitive | September 11, 2014 at 1:30 am

Joan of Arc, to be hauled off to her terminal bonfire for reading the Gospel from Legal Insurrection!

Great screencap.

Hi Kaitlin. Welcome to Legal Insurrection.

Being “on site,” tell us what the general mood of the O U Senate is toward impeaching Ms. Marzec? Is there a campus newspaper and has it yet picked up on Ms. Marzec’s shamefully hate-filled tirade?

Please keep us informed as to the outcome of the charges against the arrested individuals.

    kaitlinowens in reply to Chuck Skinner. | September 11, 2014 at 2:00 am

    Chuck,
    Thanks for the welcome!

    It seems like the majority of the senate members stand with Megan. Prior to being senate president, Marzec was a part of a group called OU Student Union. After being elected in, other members of the student union flooded senate positions. There are other students who have been on senate, but I can’t really tell where they stand. After following the issue for two or so weeks, it seems like the rest of the student body is split; students keep posting statuses on facebook/twitter, and many Letters to the Editor have been written to our campus newspaper.

    The Post, Ohio University’s student run paper, has been following Marzec and her relationship with senate since last spring when election season started. If you visit ThePostathens.com, and search “marzec” you can find all of the articles that have her name. I just did the search myself and came across an article that quoted her back in her freshman year while protesting tuition hikes. You can also find information about the students who were arrested (and have since been released)

    I hope this helps!

      The Livewire in reply to kaitlinowens. | September 11, 2014 at 7:59 am

      Stay safe down there Kaitlin! OU at least just used to be known for its crazy drunks, not its crazy anti-semites.

      Seems the only long train runnin’ these people want lead to death camps. 🙁

      Kaitlin, I don’t know what your major is, but you give me hope. And you could do a lot worse than end up like another warrior, James O’Keefe 🙂 Please never stop pursuing the truth!

Socialist mob version of Free Speech(ie none).

if you don’t like what someone says shout them down while they speak then arrest them while not doing the same to the Socialist shouters.

These anti-Israel morons are going to get their heads handed to them. Literally. And by the very people they’re advocating for.

It is outrageous yet ironic that this Marzec person has peaceful speakers protesting the hijacking of the ALS challenge removed and arrested, when many very vocal, interrupting students who are pro-Palestinian – who literally shout down invited speakers – are left alone at other universities, even defended by faculty and univ. administrators. (Here is one example.)

Great job Kaitlin!!! The voice of truth needs video warriors, boots on the ground, to ensure lies and hate don’t prevail.

Jews hauled off by the stormtroopers…that seems so familiar for some reason.

At least they were released I guess.

Kaitlin:

I would strongly urge that campus Jewish leaders contact Hillel at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON. They faced a very similar situation in Spring 2011 and were successful in marshalling the necessary support to force the relevant individual to step down:

http://rabble.ca/news/2011/03/response-michael-ignatieff-his-statement-about-israeli-apartheid-week

http://www.macleans.ca/education/uniandcollege/queens-rector-resigns/

I believe it would be a great idea to get some advice re: strategy going forward from people who were successful in a very similar circumstance. I’m sure that Quen’s Hillel could put you in touch with the right people ASAP.

There was a time when we behaved like good little Jews and stayed quiet in the face of threats in hopes that others would leave us be. That time has long passed. There may well be ways of applying pressure that will force Marzec to do the right thing, and resign.

>>>Fanatics don’t. Especially hate filled ones. Absent a life changing event like a stroke.

That’s why I said she would need to be forced.

In a stroke of massive good luck I was just discussing this matter with a colleague of mine. Unbeknownst to me his wife, who is a fairly successful author, is a graduate of Ohio U. He hadn’t heard about this incident and I’m sure that his wife is unaware of it. I would expect that she will be putting in some phone calls today and given that she’s a somewhat well-known alum, I suspect that she will be able to get through to some people who matter.

I see an indictment in the Professor’s near future: contributing to the political delinquency of a minor.

Humm, hauled away for speaking against the P.C. lie. Wonder how long it will be before this moves from the University to the public.

I graduated 10 years ago from OU and loved every minute I spent there. I was heavily involved in the OU college Republicans and there were many times we had disagreements with other student groups. This is beyond insane. I can honestly say that in the past fourteen years, I have NEVER been ashamed to say I went to OU until this moment. Sad.

In some states campus officers have actual police powers. In others, they are rent-a-cops. Dependent on what they are here, the police officers ought be sued for either unlawful arrest, which they are not immune from becasue they should be aware that Ms. Sebo’s actions were lawful, and people can not be arrested and charged with lawful actions and if they’re rent-a-cops, assault, unlawful restraint, kidnapping, and anything else one might think of.

If nothing else, first amendment rights, especially on campus, trump the rights to hold a peaceful meeting. The left has demonstrated this time after time after time after….. And all those times can be used a precedent to show arrest/restraints of Ms. Sebo were known by the police/rent-a-caps to be unlawful.

Just my thoughts.

I like the way Becky Sebo has her head held high as she is leaving. Very proud. Any way of sending an approval note to her? I am not a twitter user.

Sad to see that a president who used this tactic about one and a half years ago suddenly disagrees with it. Why? She’s the dictator here, abusing her power. If it’s not her doing it, it’s wrong. She should let protestors speak. They have a point. Marzec can’t comment as the president on political issues, which she did. If she had just done the blood bucket challenge as a random person, all would be well, but she explained who she was. Now she’s having people arrested for doing what she did. I know I’m repeating myself, but that’s how important and wrong her actions are.

>>>Marzec can’t comment as the president on political issues, which she did.

I would qualify that by saying that she she can comment on the political issues which were part of her campaign platform. As I understand it BDS was not part of her platform, so to introduce it is to marginalise/isolate people who may have voted for her.

>>>f she had just done the blood bucket challenge as a random person, all would be well, but she explained who she was.

Basically agree, though it would still have created controversy. It would have been defensible at least. What she chose to do is not defensible.

The Jewish student groups and their allies at OU can’t give up on this one. Follow the Queen’s University example and make the pressure too much to bear.

Hello all,
Firstly, I just wanted to clear up some confusion. It seems like some of you think I’m part of the group Bobcats for Israel. I am a photojournalist for the Ohio University student newspaper, the Post, and I also create videos on occasion. I have never had contact with anyone affiliated with that group in the past. I will also not send messages for anyone, but I’m sure a phone number or address could be found with a google search.

Secondly, I have made a longer version of the video that includes more students and faculty speaking. If you are interested, please visit: http://www.thepostathens.com/multimedia/video_4ee20154-3a2c-11e4-b996-0017a43b2370.html

Thanks again for sharing my work!

Thanks for the clarification. Not a problem as I have already made contact with Hillel at OU.