Student leader says UC Berkeley didn't do enough to protect Jewish students at violent protest

The co-president of a pro-Israel organization at the University of California, Berkeley told Campus Reform in an interview that the administration didn’t do enough to protect Jewish students during the violent protests of Feb. 26 which left several students injured.

Danielle Sobkin is the co-president of Bears for Israel, which joined several organizations in hosting Ran Bar Yoshafat, a former soldier for the IDF and lawyer, for an event titled “Israel at War: Combat the Lies,” which was intended to focus on international law.

Bears for Palestine, a Pro-Palestine group at the University of California, Berkeley, announced on social media before the event that it would be “SHUTTING IT DOWN.”

Before the event, Sobkin says she saw the social media post and “immediately” reach out to administrators and the University of California Police Department and scheduled a meeting.

[RELATED: Building evacuated as angry mob of Berkeley students violently shuts down Jewish event: ‘Dirty Jew’]

However, Sobkin said there were only 10 UCPD officers compared to over 200 protesters. She says the sheer ratio of police to protesters meant “there’s nothing that could have been done legitimately.”

”It felt like the security and even the security concern Monday morning before the event even started, you know, it didn’t felt it didn’t feel like we were being heard. And what we were saying was actually being taken seriously, we were pushing and pushing, we need another location, we need UCPD, we need a security presence, Sobkin said. “And yeah, after some time, we got those amendments actually implemented. But even before the event, we weren’t told how many UCP officers would be there, what the security situation would look like. And none of those details were disclosed to us”

As Campus Reform previously reported, Sobkin said that there were three students allegedly assaulted at the event, including one freshman girl who said she was choked by a protester.

Despite the alleged assaults, Sobkin said that the University of California Police Department did “nothing.”

”There were no arrests made. There were no names taken down. And I don’t know I like I really have no words to say about this,” Sobkin said.

One day after the protest, Chancellor Carol Christ and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Benjamin Hermalin issued a statement condemning the violent protest, but Sobkin faulted them for failing to mention anti-Semitism.

”The statement that went out by the Chancellor, another huge failure, you know, the initial statement that she said it did not mention anti-Semitism. It did not mention the word anti-Semitism. And what happened. I mean, what else can we call it? It was blatant Jewish hatred. It was blatant anti-Semitism. We have three physical assaults, no arrests, and a message from the chancellor that didn’t even mention the word anti-Semitism. To me, that’s a huge failure,” Sobkin said.

Almost one week after the incident, UC Berkeley announced a criminal investigation into the protests, as Campus Reform reported. The second statement from administrators mentioned anti-Semitism, but Sobkin said it was too late.

”I don’t think Jewish student safety is a priority at UC Berkeley,” Sobkin said.

[RELATED: UC Berkeley announces criminal investigation after violent mob violently shuts down Jewish event: ‘Overtly antisemitic’]

Sobkin also said that UC Berkeley needs to sanction the Bears for Palestine organization for organizing the protest, and soon.

”But I do think that [Bears for Palestine] need to see a consequence for their actions, whether that’s probation, whether that’s not being an artist, so something needs to happen. And the adequate response needs to come immediately. And it needs to come, you know, with the firm foot down from the school. And the sooner the better,” Sobkin said.