By ALEZA GOLDSMITH
Jewish Bulletin of Northern California
January 24, 2001
SAN FRANCISCO, — Jews on the San Francisco State University
campus are awaiting a decision
on the fate of a Palestinian student, who could be expelled for allegedly
leaving death threats on the San Francisco
Hillel voice mail in November.
At a disciplinary hearing held Jan. 4, a hearing officer for SFSU was
allotted 10 days to make
recommendations to university President Robert A. Corrigan. It would then be
up to Corrigan to determine a course
of action.
As of press time Wednesday, a decision had not been reached.
Despite an attempt to inform him via certified mail at his last known
address, the student, whose name has
not been released, did not attend the hearing. According to Ligeia Polidora,
SFSU public affairs director, he may
have still been in the Middle East, where he went on vacation in late
December.
Although technically a December 2000 graduate, the student could suffer
penalties ranging from a verbal
warning to expulsion, she said.
A warrant for the misdemeanor charge of a harassing phone call, with a
hate-crime charge attached, was
issued by the San Francisco District Attorney on Dec. 20, she added.
The 31-year-old student confessed to campus police that he left the
recorded threats, including ``I will
teach you a very good lesson you fascist Nazi Zionists" and ``I will get
every single one of you," before his
departure for Jerusalem, Polidora said. The messages were left around 2:30
p.m. Nov. 22 at the Hillel office
adjacent to the campus.
While he is a member of the General Union of Palestinian Students, he
is
believed to have acted alone.
He is also believed to be the same man who threatened a pro-Israel
activist during a Nov. 15 peace rally on
the SFSU campus. Josh Saidoff, a student at Stanford University, was
participating in the rally when he said a
member of GUPS walked up and said: ``I'm going to PalestineI'm going to kill
you."
Because the suspect has left the country, SFSU police have not had a
chance to question him about that
threat, said Polidora.
Despite these incidents, Hillel executive director Seth Brysk told the
Bulletin that he hopes Jewish students
will not be deterred from participating in the campus' Jewish groups. ``The
best way to combat hate is to seek
partners, and to seek out your community" he said, ``both Jewish and
non-Jewish.''
