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Missouri Student Pleads Guilty for Damaging Display Supporting Israeli Hostages
From University of Missouri's The Maneater (Sophia Anderson & Vivi Hirshfield) last Friday:
On Wednesday, Jan. 17, an MU student pled guilty to second degree property damage in Columbia Municipal Court for flipping a display Shabbat table with symbolic place settings for Israeli hostages in Speakers Circle in November 2023….
[Students Ilay] Kielmanowicz [of Mizzou Students Supporting Israel] and [Daniel] Swindell had set up two tables — one of which was arranged like a Shabbat table to show support for Israeli hostages. The other had "books and pamphlets about Israel and Jews and Zionism and the Israeli Palestinian conflict, which students were able to take," Kielmanowicz said. The Shabbat table included fliers with photos of Israeli hostages that read "KIDNAPPED" above them….
The police report states that the student approached Swindell because he was wearing a garment that said "Zionist." Swindell confirmed this detail, and Adam Kruse, Assistant City Prosecutor, cited it in court.
The student stated they found the display "insensitive and offensive," according to Kielmanowicz. The two engaged in a conversation about display and the Israel-Hamas war until the student reportedly flipped over the volunteers' Shabbat table, breaking the place settings consisting of Swindell's dishes….
"The university is committed to ensuring everyone on our campus continues to have the right to demonstrate in a peaceful manner," Christian Basi of the MU News Bureau wrote in a statement to The Maneater. "We will not tolerate actions that disrupt others['] rights to demonstrate or exercise their free speech rights." …
UPDATE: I erroneously omitted the sentence: "a year of probation, 20 hours of community service and a court fee of $31.50."
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The student, originally charged $30 of damages, was sentenced to community service, a year of probation and a court fee.
Should have added to “learn Al Chayt prayer” to the sentence. 🙂
(just kidding…punishment seems appropriate, enough to sting, nothing permanent)
Whoops, sorry I omitted that at first; just added as an update.
Oh, I thought you meant he should learn the Al Chayt prayer, too. 🙂
Though of course what he did was an avon rather than a chayt. 🙂
The big question — were they expelled?
Strange that the victims of this encounter were identified by name, and yet the vandalizer is allowed anonymity. I doubt the same courtesy would be extended to a hypothetical Jewish student who would knock over one of SJP’s mawkish displays.
(obviously, the fault here lies with the student paper, not with Eugene’s summary – he’s making the best lemonade he can from the shitty lemons on offer)
“The Court is also of the view that Israel must take all measures within its power to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide in relation to members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip.”
While I personally do not hold the view, setting up the table might be seen as a public incitement to commit acts of genocide against the members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip.
I don’t hold that view, either — but in any event, thankfully, neither Israel nor Palestinian authorities nor some international court have any power to prevent and punish speech in Missouri.
The government of India reports that an average of 34 people were killed by tigers annually between 2015 and 2018. To honor these victims of anthropophagy, and to avoid re-traumatizing their loved ones, shouldn’t the UMo newspaper change its name to something less triggering?
As opposed to the 22 Americans killed by cattle each year?
And we have non-native wild boars that need to be exterminated for a variety of reasons including the fact they attack humans.