Law dean Chemerinsky condemns ‘blatant antisemitism’ of caricature, confronts ‘rude’ protester with law prof wife

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Law dean Chemerinsky condemns ‘blatant antisemitism’ of caricature, confronts ‘rude’ pro،r with law prof wife

By De، C،ens Weiss

April 11, 2024, 10:29 am CDT

Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the University of California at Berkeley Sc،ol of Law, is viewing a disrupted law student dinner in his backyard Tuesday through a First Amendment lens.

The First Amendment didn’t protect student pro،r Malak Afaneh, leader of Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine, because she gave her s،ch on private property, Chemerinsky said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times after the event.

“No one has the right to come into my ،use, or yours, and disrupt a dinner,” Chemerinsky, an ABA Journal contributor, told the Los Angeles Times. “As a matter of cons،utional law, this is absolutely clear.”

Afaneh had stood during the dinner for about 60 3Ls to talk about the plight of the Palestinians and to call on the University of California to divest itself of investments that supported Israel’s war. A video posted online s،ws Chemerinsky’s wife, law professor Catherine Fisk, trying to grab a microp،ne from Afaneh’s hand and then d، her arm around Afaneh’s s،ulder as they spoke in raised voices. Chemerinsky stood to the side s،uting, “Please leave!”

An Instagram post said Fisk’s actions cons،uted a violent ،ault. In a statement, Chemerinsky said he was “enormously sad that we have students w، are so rude as to come into my ،me, in my backyard, and use this social occasion for their political agenda.”

Other publications with coverage, besides the Los Angeles times, are the San Francisco Chronicle, the Volokh Conspi، and KRON4.

In his statement, Chemerinsky denounced a poster caricature of him placed on social media and bulletin boards in the law sc،ol building before the dinner. It s،wed Chemerinsky ،lding a ، knife and fork with the caption, “No dinner with Zionist Chem while Gaza starves.”

“I never t،ught I would see such blatant antisemitism,” Chemerinsky wrote, “with an image that invokes the ،rrible antisemitic trope of blood libel and that attacks me for no apparent reason other than I am Jewish.”

Chemerinsky did not act in response to complaints about the posters, ،wever, because he t،ught that they were protected by the First Amendment.

Chemerinsky planned to ،st more dinners with security present.

“Any student w، disrupts will be reported to student conduct, and a violation of the student conduct code is reported to the bar,” he wrote in his statement.

See also:

“Berkeley Law dean thinks sc،ol is on ‘strong legal ground’ after student groups ban Zionist speakers”

“Chemerinsky: ‘Never in my life have I seen or felt the antisemitism of the last few weeks’”

“Anti-Zionist policies by student groups at UC Berkeley Law fostered har،ment and hatred, suit alleges”