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Faithfully Muslim, defiantly American: University of California - Irvine's Muslim Student Union after the Irvine 11 case

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Faithfully Muslim, defiantly American: University of California - Irvine's Muslim Student Union after the Irvine 11 case

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FAITHFULLY MUSLIM, DEFIANTLY AMERICAN: 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA – IRVINE'S 
MUSLIM STUDENT UNION AFTER THE IRVINE 11 CASE 
 
by 
 
Megan Sweas 
 
 
 
A Thesis Presented to the 
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL 
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 
In Partial Fulfillment of the 
Requirements for the Degree 
MASTER OF ARTS 
(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM) 
 
August 2012 
 
Copyright 2012 Megan Sweas 
 
 
ii 
Acknowledgements 
Members of University of California – Irvine's Muslim Student Union welcomed me 
into their group and their lives. I interviewed more students than I could include in 
the story and spent valuable time with them at the Cross Cultural Center, at 
meetings and events, and even at a sisters' dance party. I sincerely appreciate their 
trust and openness.
I also have to thank all of the community members, UC‐Irvine professors and staff, 
and other students who shared their perspective on the MSU. Each conversation I 
had and person I met, whether in and out of the MSU, helped me understand the 
group and contributed to the final piece. I especially want to thank Shakeel Syed of 
the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California. He and his daughter/UC‐Irvine 
student Khadija helped me tap into the Muslim American community in Southern 
California and at UC‐Irvine in particular.
Finally, I want to thank my committee for their patience and encouragement. Thank 
you to Diane Winston for bringing me to USC as an Annenberg Fellow. I appreciate 
both her and Marc Cooper's efforts to push me to grow as a writer and storyteller. 
Sherman Jackson's insights as a scholar of religion and expert on Islam in America 
were invaluable to understanding the context for the MSU's story.
 
iii 
Table of Contents 
Acknowledgements ii 
Abstract iv 
Faithfully Muslim, Defiantly American 1 
Bibliography 20 
 
iv 
Abstract 
In early 2010, 11 Muslim college students were arrested for shouting down Israeli 
Ambassador Michael Oren at the University of California – Irvine in protest of what 
they saw as Israel's unjust treatment of Palestinians. A year later, the students 
would be charged with plotting to and disrupting a meeting, and finally, in 
September 2011, a jury found 10 of the students guilty.
The case gave rise to a national conversation about the freedom of speech for 
student activists in general and of Muslim students in particular. While critics of the 
Irvine 11, as the students became known, argued that they violated the First 
Amendment rights of Oren and his audience, supporters saw the case as a result of 
Islamophobia. The students were convicted for the protest because they were 
Muslims, many said.
The UC‐Irvine Muslim Student Union, which is under university probation until 
December 2012, has been under scrutiny due to the case, just as the entire Muslim 
American community has been since September 11. In the wake of the conviction, 
the MSU has embraced activism to define themselves as both Muslim and American. 
They defend their right to protest as American citizens and their political 
engagement is rooted in Islam's calls for justice. Their response represents one 
possible path for Muslim Americans striving for acceptance in American culture. 
1 
Faithfully Muslim, Defiantly American 
Aminah Galal counted 100 audience members at the presentation on Shariah law. It 
was a good turnout, and most, she noted, weren't members of University of 
California – Irvine's Muslim Student Union, which hosted the event.
But as Galal, vice president of the MSU, finished counting, the Q&A turned 
confrontational. Five of the six who asked questions were from a Christian ministry 
called Truth Defenders, and to them, true Muslims wouldn't accept the speaker's 
flexible interpretation of Shariah.
"You are misrepresenting the religion that you say to profess," said Louis Lionheart, 
the group's leader.
From her perch at back of the auditorium, Galal shrugged her shoulders, covered by 
a long black dress. A green and blue patterned hijab framed her round face. "I'm 
used to it," she said, her eyes tired under thin‐rimmed glasses.
1

It's not the first time outsiders have tried to define Islam. Since 9/11, the Muslim 
American community has struggled to respond to the perception of Islam as a 
threat. The unique experience and activities of the UC‐Irvine MSU suggests an 
answer to Islamophobia and a potential path for the community, as its young 

1
 Quotes and description from the Shariah event, Da'wah table and Syria protest throughout this 
article are from on‐location reporting, University of California – Irvine, February 23, 2012. 
2 
members embrace activism as essential to their identities as Muslims and 
Americans.
The UC‐Irvine MSU gained international notoriety in 2010 after 10 young Muslim 
men shouted down Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren in protest of what they saw as 
Israel's unjust treatment of Palestinians. The students, known as the Irvine 11 (an 
11
th
 student also was arrested), were convicted in September 2011 for plotting to 
and disrupting a public meeting. The MSU remains under university probation until 
December 2012. 
The prosecution's case painted the MSU as rude teenagers, if not angry extremists. 
But the MSU and their supporters saw the conviction as a consequence of 
Islamophobia—proof that Muslim Americans aren't accepted as legitimate political 
actors, especially on an issue as sensitive as Israel/Palestine. Though the Irvine 11 
case might seem like a setback—like 9/11 before it—it spurred the 20‐year‐old 
MSU to a new level of political maturity. Galal and her fellow MSU members can 
shrug off Lionheart's remarks, but where there's injustice, Islam inspires them to 
speak out, and they'll defend their ability to do so at any cost.
“There’s a rights‐based narrative around this particular form of protest that I think 
is different than the education, public outreach narrative that has marked the MSAs 
(Muslim student associations) in a post‐9/11 period," says Lori Peek, a sociologist at 
Colorado State University and author of Behind the Backlash: Muslim Americans After 
3 
9/11. “It will be really interesting to see if more Muslim student groups and other 
Islamic organizations follow the lead of UC‐Irvine.”
2
 
 
The MSU defines the college life of most of its members, just as fraternity and 
sororities do for other students. It hosts a constant flow of activities—weekly 
meetings, religious classes, and social events. Between academic classes, MSU 
members gather in lounges at the Cross Cultural Center. Members live together off 
campus in unofficial "sisters apartments" and "brothers apartments." About 200 
people are somewhat involved, while 80 to 100 students are very active members, 
Galal estimates.
3

At UC‐Irvine as at other schools, Galal says, the Muslim community grew in numbers 
after 9/11 and has stayed strong since. In the past 10 years, the Muslim American 
community was the second fastest growing religious group in the United States, 
according to the 2012 Religious Congregations and Membership Study.
4
 Today, 2.6 
million people are associated with mosques, up 1 million since 2002. The growth 

2
 Lori Peek, interview by author, by phone, January 5, 2012. 
3
 Aminah Galal, interview by author, Irvine, CA, January 10, 2012.
4
 Kevin Eckstrom, "Study shows Mormonism is fastest‐growing faith in half of U.S. states," The 
Washington Post, May 1, 2012, Accessed June 28, 2012, 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on‐faith/study‐shows‐mormonism‐is‐fastest‐growing‐
faith‐in‐half‐of‐us‐states/2012/05/01/gIQAhdQyuT_story.html. 
4 
isn't just from immigration and births. The negative reaction to Islam after 9/11 led 
Muslims to strengthen their religious identity and join Muslim organizations in 
greater numbers, according to Peek.
5

Galal's family moved to Irvine in 2002, as she went into eighth grade, in part to join 
a Muslim community. In their old city, Santa Monica, her mother had been spat on 
and told to "go home" in the wake of 9/11. "They didn't want us growing up in that 
negative environment," Galal says. 
Her brother matriculated at UC‐Irvine, and through him Galal was introduced to the 
MSU. "I really admired how people I knew in MSU didn't hide their identity as 
Muslims," she says. She donned the hijab around the same time, her mother assured 
that Galal would keep it on in the face of adversity.
6
 
For decades, MSAs have offered young Muslims a prayer community. Student 
groups still tend to focus on educational, community service or internal community 
building activities rather than political activities, says Edina Lekovic, director of 
policy and programming at the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). In the wider 

5
 Lori Peek, Behind the Backlash: Muslim Americans After 9/11 (Philadelphia: Temple University 
Press, 2011), Kindle edition. 
6
 Galal. 
5 
community, mosques, too, aim "to be a religious space rather than political space," 
she says.
7
 
UC‐Irvine's MSU is unique. It also started as a prayer group, but it always had a 
defiant streak. At the 20
th
 anniversary gala, a founding member explained how 
undergrads broke off from the grad student‐led MSA because women were forced to 
remain behind a barrier during worship.
8
 Today, the group gathers for three of the 
five daily prayers in an open space between a tree and vending machines outside 
the Cross Cultural Center.
The group's spiritual unity is inseparable from its political activism. “If you see an 
injustice, you should change it with your hand; if you cannot, then speak against it; if 
you cannot, then you should hate it in your heart, but that is the weakest level of 
faith,” MSU members say, quoting the same Hadith, or saying of the Prophet, to 
explain their commitment to justice.
The MSU is most visible and contentious when it speaks out against Israel, but in 
2012 its biggest concern was Syria, where President Bashar al‐Assad brutally 
cracked down on his citizens in the wake of pro‐democracy protests. The same day 
as their Shariah event, the MSU held three "flash mobs" to raise awareness about the 

7
 Edina Lekovic, interview by author, by phone, June 22, 2012. 
8
 Story from on‐location reporting, MSU 20
th
 Anniverary Gala, Irvine, CA, January 28, 2012. 
6 
Syrian situation. Their Shariah expert, Ammar Kahf, also is an expert in Syrian 
politics and gave a lunchtime lecture on recent events. 
At "the flagpole," the campus' free speech zone, Kahf spoke to a sparse crowd of 
mostly MSU members. Galal, at the bottom of the steps that double as seating, left 
her morning class early for the talk. "Sometimes I feel like I've learned so many 
more life skills in the MSU than I have in just going to class," says the history major, 
in her final year at UC‐Irvine.
9

At the top of the steps, MSU members pointed water guns at other Muslim students, 
who posed with signs about Syria, trying to attract the attention of passers‐by. A 
female student lay still under a sheet that represented a tomb in the middle of Ring 
Road, the busy pedestrian walkway that circles the campus.
After Kahf concluded, Galal stretched up to the microphone, thanked him and urged 
her listeners to return for another flash mob protest that afternoon.
By then, it was time for prayer—a welcome break, Galal says. "If it's a busy MSU day, 
it's a chance for me to remember why am I doing what I'm doing. It's that constant 

9
 Aminah Galal, interview by author, Irvine, CA, April 10, 2012. 
7 
reminder of that religious obligation of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil. 
All our activism is based on our religion."
10

After praying, Galal spent her few free hours between classes eating lunch at the 
Da'wah table, also known as the "Ask a Muslim" booth. Da'wah, part of the MSU's 
mission, means spreading awareness of Islam and includes anything from preaching 
to correcting misconceptions. By teaching others about Islam, MSU members also 
gain confidence living out their faith in public.
As Galal picked at her fish sandwich, Erum Siddiqui stood in the walkway, politely 
offering the flyers for Islam Awareness Month to passers‐by. "It's kind of sad how 
many times I've gotten rejected," she said. 
Sara Halabi, sitting next to Galal, doesn't accept rejection. To help Siddiqui distribute 
flyers, Halabi raised her voice, which travels far despite her small stature.
"Please come take a flyer! We've made one just for you!" Halabi yelled. "Erum, aren't 
the flyers beautiful?" A blond and red streak ran through Halabi's long black 
ponytail. Green and red bracelets signaling her solidarity with the Syrian people 
stood out against her black shirt and pants.
"I really don't know you right now," Galal joked dryly.

10
 Galal, April 10, 2012. 
8 
Halabi was quiet as a freshman—"didn't like to talk too much, didn't look outside 
the box," she says.
11
 Like many of her peers, she joined the MSU because she wanted 
a place to pray. But then she attended the Irvine 11 protest.
“I was nervous. I remember looking up to every person who actually stood up and 
said something,” say Halabi, now a student activist. “I really felt that as a student you 
can do something, you can make a difference. Seeing that and learning from it 
pushed me towards becoming more active on campus."
12

Peer influence is strong during college, says Morley Winograd, author of Millennial 
Momentum: How a New Generation is Remaking America. Millennials of all faiths and 
none believe in their ability to change the world, and spending time with others who 
protest and pray will reaffirm this belief. According to Winograd, the MSU's 
cohesion also marks its members as part of the Millennial Generation. "The right 
decision is always the one that everyone can agree upon—not what the experts say, 
but what is the group’s wisdom."
13
 
The wisdom that living out their faith involves political activism is more 
characteristic of their generation than it is of the Muslim American community as a 

11
 Sara Halabi, interview by author, by phone, May 2, 2012. 
12
 Sara Halabi, interview by author, Irvine, CA, January 19, 2012.
13
 Morley Winograd, interview by author, Los Angeles, CA, January 30, 2012. 
9 
whole. "There's definitely a generational divide when it comes to this," Lekovic 
says.
14
 
Since the Irvine 11 case, some members' parents have counseled them to avoid the 
MSU. “[My father's] perspective is that they’re just a bunch of irrational kids trying 
to create havoc,” says Anum Iqbal, a pre‐med student who is passionate about 
political issues but avoids protests, in part out of respect for her father.
15
 
Parents often emigrated from countries where political protest wasn't allowed, Peek 
says. They came to the United States for educational and economic opportunities, 
and after 9/11, most retreated from society, fearing backlash. Many immigrant 
parents worry that their children will become suspect if involved in active Muslim 
student associations. “The Irvine 11 case provides evidence or potential proof that 
not only might they be monitored, but they could be arrested,” Peek says.
16
 
The Irvine 11 case affected all student activists, says Halabi. The threat of arrest was 
in the back of her fellow organizers' minds when they decided how to respond to 
another round of budget cuts to the University of California system in Fall 2011. 
Whereas 1,000 people protested the same issue when she was a freshman, only 400 
students participated this time, she points out.  

14
 Lekovic. 
15
 Anum Iqbal, interview by author, Irvine, CA, January 10, 2012. 
16
 Peek, interview. 
10 
Still, about 50 of the 400 were Muslim. The MSU can be counted on at protests 
because its activism is rooted in faith, Halabi says. "Fear has never been one of the 
things that stop [MSU members] from doing something that they feel is right."
17
 
 
As Halabi, Galal and Siddiqui chatted at the Da'wah table, a young man wearing a 
black and white Syrian scarf approached. He had seen the MSU's ply‐board display 
describing the violence Bashar al‐Assad had reigned down on Syrian civilians. "I'm 
Syrian," he said softly.
"I'm Syrian too," Halabi responded enthusiastically. The two switched to Arabic. The 
young man, Habib Arnous, had recently moved to the United States to study English. 
They were chatting over the Syria display when Halabi suddenly turned back to her 
friends. "Dude, he's from the same village as me!" she said. "That means we must be 
related!"
Arnous' family lives safely in Saudi Arabia, but Halabi's extended family—aunts, 
uncles, cousins and her grandmother—are still in Syria. "Everybody in Syria is in 
danger," Halabi says. Members of her family have been arrested and beaten up, and 

17
 Halabi, January 19, 2012. 
11 
their phone calls are monitored (she asked to use a pseudonym to protect their 
identities).
18

Family connections make international issues personal for the young Americans. 
The vast majority of MSU members are American‐born children of immigrants. Two‐
thirds of American Muslims are immigrants, according to a 2011 Pew Research 
Center demographic study.
19

A number of the Irvine 11 protesters were willing to risk arrest because they have 
family in Palestine. Many have visited and seen the impact of Israeli policies. 
Initially, Palestine was just an Arab issue. The Iranian revolution, however, taught 
Muslims that "only an Islamic identity, creating solidarity with other Muslim 
nations, can provide the necessary resource to fight for Muslim causes," Yvonne 
Yazbeck Haddad explains in Becoming American? The Forging of Arab and Muslim 
Identity in Pluralist America. Since then, Palestine has become important to 
American Muslims of all backgrounds, including within the MSU.
20
 

18
 Halabi, May 2, 2012. 
19
 "Muslim Americans: No Signs of Growth in Alienation or Support for Extremism," Pew Research 
Center for the People and the Press, August 30, 2011, Accessed June 28, 2012, http://www.people‐
press.org/2011/08/30/muslim‐americans‐no‐signs‐of‐growth‐in‐alienation‐or‐support‐for‐
extremism.
20
 Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, Becoming American? The Forging of Arab and Muslim Identity in Pluralist 
America (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2011) p . 
12 
Recently, though, this pan‐Muslim consciousness has turned its attention toward 
countries undergoing turbulent democratic reforms. As they have for Palestine, MSU 
members of all nationalities have taken up Syria as a matter of justice. 
Kahf, a leader in the local Syrian community, approached Halabi to ask for help 
forcing UC‐Irvine to oust Syrian Consul‐General Hazem Chehabi from the board of 
trustees for the school's foundation. When Halabi presented the problem to the 
MSU, it was eager to lend its support, she says. "Honestly I couldn't do anything 
without MSU because they've been the people that have been behind me the 
most."
21

 
Shortly after Arnous left the Da'wah table, five MSU brothers came to carry the Syria 
display over to flagpole for the last flash mob of the day. Halabi joined them, picking 
up a poster.
A stream of students started walking through the flash mob. "I'm not passionate 
about anything," a non‐MSU member said as she passed, ignoring the signs.
Recognizing that the silent protest wasn't working, Mustafa Sabha decided to try 
something different. "Bashar is a pig. He deserves nothing more than a slap in the 

21
 Halabi, May 2, 2012. 
13 
face," Sabha yelled. People stopped to hear more. "You and I are enjoying freedom at 
its best. … They deserve freedom. We at the University of California‐Irvine will 
speak up on their behalf."
Sabha attracted a crowd, including a fifth‐grade class waiting for their bus after an 
astronomy field trip. "I think that guy's crazy," one child said. 
"It's a protest. That's the nature of it," Juan Sanchez, their teacher at Romero Cruise 
Elementary, explained. "You want to be heard. And in the U.S. you can protest and 
you won't go to jail." 
The Irvine 11, however, could have been imprisoned for up to 6 months for their 
protest. The judge sentenced them to probation and community service, but lawyers 
are appealing the conviction, arguing that the law against disrupting a meeting is 
unconstitutional. MSU members defiantly embrace their freedom to protest as 
American citizens, but as Muslims, they see themselves in the line of other minority 
groups that have fought for their civil rights.
The Irvine 11's lawyers argue that the case was a "political prosecution," due to the 
unpopularity of the defendants' pro‐Palestinian message and their religion. “Do I 
believe that if they were not Muslim they would have not been prosecuted? 
Absolutely," says Reem Salahi, a Muslim lawyer who represented the MSU and 
members of the Irvine 11. The Irvine 11 case, the Patriot Act and the NYPD's 
14 
surveillance of the Muslim American community contribute to the sense that 
Muslims' civil liberties aren't guaranteed. "I don’t mean to play the victim card at all, 
but I think it’s just the reality of the world we live in at this point," Salahi says.
22
 
Not all agreed that the Irvine 11 case was a product of Islamophobia. Some Jewish 
groups said the Irvine 11 protesters violated their First Amendment rights. The 
Zionist Organization of America, which sees the MSU's anti‐Israel activism as anti‐
Semitic, called on UC‐Irvine to revoke the MSU's registered status completely after 
the Oren protest.
Jewish Voice for Peace, on the other hand, backed the Irvine 11's claim of 
Islamophobia, pointing out that Jewish students weren't arrested while protesting 
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a similar manner in November 
2010.
23
 
While Jewish and Muslim Americans are often on opposite sides of Israel/Palestine 
debate, Muslim leaders have looked to Jewish organizations to learn how to gain 
"recognition as equal participants in fashioning the American society," as Yazbeck 
Haddad writes.
 24

22
 Reem Salahi, interview by author, Pasadena, CA, January 5, 2012. 
23
 "Can you spot the difference?", YouTube video, October 10, 2011, Accessed June 28, 2012, 
http://youtu.be/ujpwrUix1HE. 
24
 Yazbeck Haddad. 
15 
Partnerships are essential to MPAC's vision of making Muslims valued citizens, 
Lekovic says, but she also warns against one‐sided partnerships focused on Muslim 
issues. "For Muslims to be truly invested in a broader civil rights conversation, they 
have to be interested in the civil rights of others."
25
 
At UC‐Irvine, tensions between the Jewish and Muslim student groups have 
dissipated, but formal relationships have yet to form. Still, the MSU "fits very well 
into our space," says Kevin Huie, director of the Cross Cultural Center.
26
 The Black 
Student Union, for instance, will co‐sponsor the MSU's Anti‐Zionism Week, while the 
MSU signs on to its protests against racism.
The idea that Muslims belong in the American tradition of civil rights comes 
naturally to Millennial Generation because of its diversity, according to Winograd, 
the generational scholar. One in five of those born from 1982 to 2003 have at least 
one immigrant parent. “It makes the generation more patriotic,” Winograd says. 
“They are shaped by their peers who say, ‘everybody needs to be included; America 
is a place where you can speak your mind,’ and they’re shaping [their generation] by 
going ahead and acting on those attitudes and beliefs.”
27
 

25
 Lekovic. 
26
 Kevin Huie, interview by author, Irvine, CA, January 19, 2012. 
27
 Winograd. 
16 
Protesting Syria is not nearly as risky as protesting Israel. "It's not a two‐sided thing. 
It's clear that one group is being oppressed," said Mohannad Abu Alrub, who felt 
compelled to protest after seeing images of Syrian civilians getting killed on Al 
Jazeera.
28
 But the MSU still found it important to partner with other student groups. 
In the month following the flash mobs, the coalition convinced the student 
government to pass non‐binding legislation demanding Chehabi's removal from the 
board. Interfaith groups from outside the university signed a letter of support as 
well. "It was more of a collective effort in the whole project," Halabi says.
29

Yet MSU members were disconcerted by Chehabi's response. Student government 
representatives met privately with Chehabi and reported back what he said. "He 
used the same rhetoric that was being used by the al‐Assad regime in Syria," Galal 
says. "He even said that the people who are opposing him are just Islamic 
fundamentalists."
30

 

28
 Mohannad Abu Alrub, interview by author, Irvine, CA, April 10, 2012. 
29
 Halabi, May 2, 2012. 
30
 Galal, April 10, 2012. 
17 
Calling somebody a fundamentalist is "the boogie man narrative," Lekovic says. "It's 
used as a way of discrediting people."
31

Lionheart, too, came to UC‐Irvine looking for fundamentalists. After the MSU spent 
the whole day speaking out on behalf of Muslims on the other side of the world, they 
had to defend themselves at their Shariah presentation. Learning how to respond to 
such hostility is a lesson that is passed on with each new class of students.
While Galal shrugged off Lionheart, his pointed questions angered Alrub, a 
sophomore with intense eyes and a trim beard along his jaw line. "It was clear they 
came in with a motive to disrespect the club. They didn't come in with an open‐
mind. I don't like that," he recalls.
32

After the Q&A, small groups formed at the front of the auditorium to continue the 
debate about what constituted Islam. Asaad Traina, Alrub's freshman year 
roommate and one of the Irvine 11, and Lee Weissman, a local Hasidic Jew and 
friend of the MSU, took on one of Lionheart's associates. Alrub positioned himself 
just outside the circle and remained quiet, listening to how the men he respected 
maintained a calm passion.

31
 Lekovic. 
32
 Alrub. 
18 
When MSU leaders finally pushed the crowd out of the auditorium, Alrub found 
himself walking out next to the anti‐Islam activist. "Why do you follow the Prophet? 
He was a womanizer, terrorist," Alrub says the man asked him. "That didn't fly with 
me."
33
 
In the lobby of the student center, Lionheart and his partners prepped a video 
camera and made another statement about the Prophet. Alrub wasn't sure what he 
said, but he could guess. His face reddened with anger. "What did you say about the 
Prophet?" Alrub asked forcefully, stepping toward him.
34

Before Alrub could react, his brothers pulled him away. Traina took him outside. 
Lionheart, Traina explained, was looking to provoke a reaction that he could put on 
YouTube and make the group look bad. 
The next day, Alrub sent out apologetic email over the MSU discussion list. His 
father confirmed what his brothers had told him: It's best to simply ignore the 
"enemies of Islam," as he called the antagonistic audience members. "I definitely 
learned from this experience and I wanted to share what I learned with you guys. In 
sha' Allah (God willing) this is just a reminder to the MSU," Alrub wrote.
35

33
 Alrub. 
34
 This paragraph comes from a combination of on‐location reporting and the interview with Alrub.  
35
 Muhannad Abu Alrub, forwarded email to author, April 27, 2012.
19 
Muslim student groups, Peek says, allow "young Muslims to come together and 
share their concerns and grievances and try to figure out a way to act in response to 
feeling really disempowered and stigmatized.”
36

But the hard part is that Muslim Americans don’t know what works to counter the 
negative images propagated by the likes of Lionheart, Lekovic says. "Ultimately all 
you can do is be truthful about who you are and… let your track record speak for 
itself."
37

It's a lesson that Galal will carry away from her experience with the MSU as starts 
her life beyond college. Rather than fighting with people like Lionheart, it's more 
effective to project a different image of Muslims—of activists fighting for justice. 
"We have to build our identity for ourselves," Galal says, "or somebody is going to do 
it for us."
38
 
 

36
 Peek, interview.
37
 Lekovic. 
38
 Galal, January 10, 2012. 
20 
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Abstract (if available)

Abstract In early 2010, 11 Muslim college students were arrested for shouting down Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren at the University of California – Irvine in protest of what they saw as Israel's unjust treatment of Palestinians. A year later, the students would be charged with plotting to and disrupting a meeting, and finally, in September 2011, a jury found 10 of the students guilty. ❧ The case gave rise to a national conversation about the freedom of speech for student activists in general and of Muslim students in particular. While critics of the Irvine 11, as the students became known, argued that they violated the First Amendment rights of Oren and his audience, supporters saw the case as a result of Islamophobia. The students were convicted for the protest because they were Muslims, many said. ❧ The UC-Irvine Muslim Student Union, which is under university probation until December 2012, has been under scrutiny due to the case, just as the entire Muslim American community has been since September 11. In the wake of the conviction, the MSU has embraced activism to define themselves as both Muslim and American. They defend their right to protest as American citizens and their political engagement is rooted in Islam's calls for justice. Their response represents one possible path for Muslim Americans striving for acceptance in American culture.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Sweas, Megan (author)

Core Title Faithfully Muslim, defiantly American: University of California - Irvine's Muslim Student Union after the Irvine 11 case

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Specialized Journalism

Publication Date 07/25/2012

Defense Date 07/25/2012

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag identity,Irvine,Irvine 11,Islam,Israel,Muslim,Muslim American,OAI-PMH Harvest,Palestine,Politics,Protest,Shariah,student activism,Syria,University of California

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Winston, Diane H. (committee chair), Cooper, Marc (committee member), Jackson, Sherman (committee member)

Creator Email msweas@gmail.com,sweas@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-63982

Unique identifier UC11289000

Identifier usctheses-c3-63982 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-SweasMegan-989.pdf

Dmrecord 63982

Document Type Thesis

Rights Sweas, Megan

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA