MSA continues to preserve campus unity

It is unfortunate to see the continuous defamatory attacks that certain groups and individuals on campus are launching against Islam and Muslims. On Tuesday, March 18, the Muslim Student Association was shocked by an article published in the On-line Forty-Niner by Gerry Wachovsky, that seemed to promote hatred and tension between Muslim students and Jewish students on campus. The writer’s statement that The Muslim Student Association is anti-Semitic and that it disregards tolerance is a false claim. The weakness of his argument is clear as he assumed that the online public forum represents official MSA voice. In fact, the thread the writer refers to, was posted by an individual who is not even a student at Cal State Long Beach nor a member of MSA.
 
Furthermore, the MSA cannot control every thread posted on the forum, as it is the case with most online forums. Like all forums on the Internet, the MSA forum has people from all over the world who post their own opinions. It is not a medium for the MSA members only. A clear disclaimer on the forum states that posts do not represent the owners of the Web site but represent the view of the author. Gerry must have missed it, but the disclaimer states
 
“Although the administrators and moderators of MSA Forum — Long Beach will attempt to keep all objectionable messages off this forum, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of MSA Forum - Long Beach nor Jelsoft Enterprises Limited (developers of vBulletin) will be held responsible for the content of any message.  By clicking the Agree button, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-orientated, hateful, threatening or otherwise violative of any laws.”
 
The MSA does not condone or agree in any way with the content of the post that Gerry refers to or with any statement that might create hatred among different faiths. After all, we as Muslims are required to respect Judaism and all other faiths.  Making fun of people and insulting them is something against Islamic principles.  “O ye who believe! Let not some men among you laugh at others….; Nor defame nor be sarcastic to each other, nor call each other by (offensive) nicknames …” Holy Quran [49:11]. When this post was brought to our attention, we reviewed it and removed it without being held responsible for it.
 
As always, The MSA will never stop working hard to preserve the diversity of CSULB and its peaceful environment through mutual respect and building bridges of cooperation among different faiths and cultures. The MSA has gained wide recognition on campus by campus officials, instructors, student organizations and students as a respectful organization.
 
We call upon people like Gerry to start learning more about Islam, Muslims and MSA before spreading false accusations.  We also call upon the campus population to reject such attempts to damage campus unity and spread hatred among students at CSULB.

— Hani Abdelhadi,
MSA president

Pro-American rally not bigot festival

Jeb Sprague’s irrationally dishonest article printed March 13 begs for some correction. What Gerry Wachovsky and I are doing is presenting another point of view; it is not a smear campaign. The Pro-America rally was not a bigot festival and conservative is not synonymous with racist. I am sure my roommates will find his accusation that I am racist very amusing, as they are both minorities. I am also sure my gay best friend will find it funny as well.
 
I do not believe that anyone who is anti-war is a fascist. But I believe some are. I have friends that speak the same way Mr. Sprague does, and they strongly subscribe to the idea that communism is good. David Horowitz used to be part of groups like the Campus Progressives. He doesn’t say they are fascists for fun, he says it because he knows; he used to be one of them.
 
I would also like to remind Jeb that just because a reporter says what he does not want to hear doesn’t make him biased. It means he is unwilling to accept that his point of view is not as even minded as he would like to think. Jeff Gritchen may believe the United Nations is anti-Semitic, but I would defy Sprague to find the part of his coverage of the rally that says this, or any other article. Maybe it is possible that he keeps his personal feelings out of news stories!
 
One last thing, by Sprague’s logic our brainwashing must have affected not only Gritchen, but the campus police as well. Because, like Gritchen, they also say the number of those in attendance from both sides was about equal. The world must really be out to get him and the Campus Progressives, or maybe it’s all in his head.

— Jason Garthoffner

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