Student's Crime Was Objecting to Muslim Students' Joy at September 11th Attacks

By Dan Flynn

Is it a crime for an American to voice his objection to Middle Easterners celebrating the September 11th attacks on America? At San Diego State University, some administrators think that it should be.

SDSU political science major Zewdalem Kebede objected to a group of Saudi Arabian students reveling in the attacks on America and was subsequently charged by the university with harassing the students. No charges were filed against the Saudi Arabian students.

On September 22, Zewdalem Kebede, a recent immigrant to America from Ethiopia, was studying in the campus library when he overheard a group on Saudi Arabian students discussing the suicide attacks of the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.

"I was studying in the library. I was in a booth and [the Saudi students] were in a round table behind me," Kebede told Campus Report. "They entered a discussion about September 11th. That discussion was totally for praising the courage and the preciseness of the hijackers. And also, the morality of bin-Laden and his strengths and how he spreads his ideology."

Kebede, who speaks fluent Arabic, surprised the anti-American students by interrupting their conversation in their native tongue. The Ethiopian student commented to the Saudi students that they should be ashamed of themselves.

San Diego State administrators portray the situation differently. "The Saudi students were having a private conversation in Arabic," school spokesman Jack Beresford maintained. "He overheard them and started to scream at them."

A Saudi student sitting at a nearby table then angrily confronted Kebede in English. The ensuing conversation grew heated, with the Saudi accusing the recently naturalized American of objecting to students speaking Arabic. Shortly thereafter, Kebede and the Saudi students went their separate ways.

Thirty minutes later, the police came-for Kebede! They informed him that a complaint had been issued against him. Soon, the University's Center for Student Rights ordered him to attend a disciplinary meeting because, it was alleged, he had been "verbally abusive to other students." He received a letter ordering him to respond to his accusers or face sanctions. Outraged, the Ethiopian immigrant went public with his story in a class. SDSU's student newspaper exposed his ordeal shortly thereafter. The University subsequently backed off the charges and concluded the matter with an October 9th letter threatening disciplinary action against the political science senior.

"You are admonished to conduct yourself as a responsible member of the campus community in the future," San Diego State's missive warned. That's precisely what some would say that Kebede was doing on September 22nd when he castigated those who celebrated the mass-murder of more than 5,000 people.

University administrators think otherwise.

"The letter was a standard letter that goes to anyone who's brought before this judicial board," school spokesman Jack Beresford told Campus Report. "I think it's basically good advice for any student who's engaged in any kind of debate on campus. They're free to speak their mind, engage in free speech-as long as that doesn't present a threat to other students on campus."

And "threatening" is precisely how the school classifies Kebede's objections to the Middle Eastern students' praise for the terrorists.

"This is a situation that got beyond his control, where he approached them in a threatening manner, in an aggressive manner," Beresford maintained.

When asked what threats Kebede made, Beresford conceded that he had issued none. "I don't have all the details," he indicated, noting only that Kebede was "loud" and engaged in threatening "gestures." "In [the Saudi students'] perception, they felt threatened."

Campus police confirm that Kebede did not make any threats. "One of the three students that was involved called us to say that he felt that he had been verbally threatened by this other student," Lt. Charles Schwoerke remarked to Campus Report. "It wasn't a direct threat. It was just manners." The names of the Saudi Arabian students were subsequently passed on to the FBI.

Kebede and others have criticized SDSU for an apparent free speech double standard. Praising the murder of 5,000 people, administrators contend, is protected speech. Objecting to such sentiments is "harassment" and grounds for potential criminal charges and expulsion.

With the incident boiling down to one group of students' word against another student's word, why would the university pick sides? "There were some contradictions," SDSU spokesman Beresford claimed with regard to Kebede's story. When asked what those contradictions were, Beresford refused to say. "I really can't go into that."

There are no contradictions in his story, Kebede counters, and the fact that the university can't say what the contradictions are, is evidence that none exist.

Kebede is upset that while the university has taken great pains to shield the names of the Saudi students from the public eye, SDSU has very publicly castigated him. Of particular concern to the Ethiopian immigrant is the silence of SDSU President Stephen Weber on the matter. "Why has he kept quiet? Is that no shame for him that his university took such a stand without any knowledge of the case?"

SDSU spokesman Beresford acknowledges that he has received a great deal of angry calls and letters as a result of the case. "Not surprisingly, people are upset based on what they've read," he said. Kebede noted that he was grateful for the overwhelming support he has received on and off campus.

The whole ordeal is more than Kebede expected for merely expressing his right-or, as he believes, his responsibility-to speak out when foreigners celebrate an attack on his adopted homeland. For this, the political science major has had the SDSU police come after him; a letter from SDSU threatening him with criminal charges and expulsion; a hearing held against him in which he could not confront his accusers or have legal representation; and his name dragged through the mud by officials speaking on behalf of the college.

The Saudi Arabian students have refused to come forward to dispute Kebede's story and remain anonymous. Kebede plans to continue with his studies and persuade the University to apologize for its actions against him.

"Because I stood for America, I am a criminal by their sights," Zewdalem Kebede states. "I am not."