NJ Repression Escalates, 4 Arrested @ RU New B: Defend, Protect, Keep Each Other Safe – Protest / Court Support Both Tue May 6, New B, Protest 7:30 pm, Court 9am
On April 29, activists held a rally to protest the actions of Congressman and Gubernatorial candidate Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) who was appearing at the invitation of Rutgers Hillel on the Rutgers New Brunswick campus.
This editor was on hand with a frontline view of what went down that night. Sponsors included the Anti-zionist Minyan, Students for a Democratic Society, Jewish Voice for Peace Central Jersey, Central Jersey DSA, and East Brunswick for Ceasefire.
Activists gathered at 7:30 PM at 70 College Ave. At the peak of the rally, there were approximately 60 participants. Front and center were the Neturei Karta, an Orthodox Jewish community that follows traditional Judaism in its opposition to Zionism, led by Rabbi Dovid Feldman.
Rabbi Feldman gave a riveting speech and explanation of why the group was there– to protest genocide in Palestine and Congressman Gottheimer’s complicity in the genocide, and to condemn the state of Israel for committing genocide and conflating Zionism with Judaism.
Par 2 of Rabbi Dovid Feldman presentation:
At some point, a protester, who was participating in protected free speech activity, became the target of an officer who suddenly grabbed her abruptly restrained her for minutes. Two other women and one man also engaged in protected free speech activity were also grabbed and arrested. The four arrested have been charged with felonies and one is still in custody.
More police cars showed up and people bravely continued protesting for some time, some of them from across the street.
Very special scrutiny must be made upon the police for their behavior at this event. It is likely that the protected free speech rights of students and possibly others were violated and that police could have used excessive force and political and racial profiling.
Students have a right to engage in protected free speech activity to oppose genocide and war – it is a tradition on US college campuses that goes back to the civil rights and Vietnam war era, and Rutgers has seen similar protesting ever since then.
The immediate demand is the release of all protestors from jail and to drop all charges, including the University’s discipline which includes an interim suspension and campus ban for some of the students. There should be no academic restrictions on taking of finals or graduation participation. All falsely brought charges should be dismissed without cause.
If there is a defense committee in formation, FightBackBetter editors support the formation of such a committee and looks forward to amplifying the articulation of the best defense for the wrongfully arrested protesters.
It is not the university’s job to quell student voices and strip them of their civil liberties. It is the university’s job to foster an environment where students can use their free speech rights to challenge systemic participation in the extermination and removal of an entire nation and people.
Drop the Charges Protest May 6:
On Tuesday, April 29, four people protesting against a Zionist speaking event featuring congressman Josh Gottheimer were violently arrested by RUPD. All four have been charged with felonies for protesting against genocide. Three of them are students and face additional suspensions and bans from campus.
We demand that the charges and suspensions be dropped immediately! Show up to the rally on Tuesday, 5/6, @ Voorhees Mall 7:30 PM and make our demand impossible to ignore!
Free the Rutgers 4! Free Palestine!
Statements of Support for the Repressed and Opposition to the Repression:
Semilla Roia
SJP-NB
Rutgers AJP
Rutgers SDS
Send letters:
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/free-the-rutgers-four
If you or your organization has a statement of support please use this form to provide statement (or link to statement):
Announcement of Protest and Facts About Gottheimer’s War on Free Speech
Josh is a fraud – directly profiting financially from his over blown Israel support:
