Big turnout against hate in Berkeley

More than 200 people turned out for a public forum dubbed United Against Hate in Berkeley, Calif., on July 7. The forum was organized in response to numerous attacks, centered in Berkeley but spread throughout the Bay Area, by right-wing extremists and Zionists. Many of the attacks have targeted Muslims and Palestinians in particular.

Forum speakers included Tur-Ha Ak, Anti Police-Terror Project; Lara Kiswani, Arab Resource and Organizing Center; Judith Mirkinson, National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area chapter vice president; and Daniella, AF3IRM and Northern California Anti-Racist Action. Moderator Sara Kershnar explained how Identity Evropa and the Traditionalist Workers Party, among others, have been targeting the Bay Area and are explicitly white supremacist.

Ak talked about how Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin has received thousands of death threats, to the point where he had to hire a security detail, but has yet to even put out a press release about it. Ak charged that the Berkeley Police Department is complicit with the alt-right. People were urged to attend Arreguin’s state of the city address on July 9 to hold him accountable for letting the alt-right in and for renewing the contract for Urban Shield, a program promoting the militarization of police forces.

Kiswani highlighted the cases of Rabab Abdulhadi, a San Francisco State University professor targeted by Zionists and under intense harassment, and Reem’s Bakery in Oakland, Calif., where Zionists have targeted Reem Assil’s new venture and have attacked her, the workers and the bakery.

The forum organizers are calling for a march on Aug. 5 and asking for court support on Aug. 10 for Eric Clanton, an Antifa activist facing trumped-up charges.