Sunday, May 20, 2007

Muslim run-down at UC Irvine

Just when it seems religious tension at UC Irvine can't get any higher ...

Last week, the Muslim Student Union held a series of rallies centered around the theme "Israel: Apartheid Resurrected," and on Monday night, Yasser Ahmed claims he was followed by an unmarked sedan as he drove a moving truck from a parking lot to UCI's Free Speech Zone. From the LA Times:

Ahmed, 21, said he got out of the truck, walked to the car and asked the driver why he was following him. The driver did not respond, Ahmed said, and he tried to snap a photo of the license plate with his cellphone camera. At that point, Ahmed said, the car nudged him with its front bumper and he got out of the way. He was not injured.

The man behind the wheel drove off but was stopped almost immediately by a campus police officer, who had responded to cries for help from Ahmed and other students. The driver identified himself as an FBI agent "who was doing surveillance," Henisey said.

On Friday, Ahmed, an economics major and lifelong Orange County resident, said he was still reeling.

"He didn't open his window and didn't let me know who he was. He never said anything," Ahmed said. "All he had to say was that he was FBI or law enforcement and this wouldn't have happened. I was frightened. He pushed me with the car, which had tinted windows and then tried to drive away. What's one supposed to think?"
The incident, which is under investigation, comes a year after an FBI agent was quoted telling a Newport Beach business group that the bureau was "monitoring" Muslims at UCI and USC.

In other anti-Israel campus news: This morning at UCLA, "a diverse group of Southern California activists, both secular and from all religions, and including Arabs and Israelis" will host an event called Israel, Zionism and Apartheid.

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