by James A. Bacon
The anarchists who organized the UVA Encampment for Gaza are clamoring for the University of Virginia to reverse its No Trespass Order (NTO) against nursing student Mustafa Abdelhamid. The circumstances behind the sanction are absent from the brief Instagram post by the anarchist collective, but the restriction was imposed for actions relating to the Virginia State Police crackdown on the pro-Palestinian tent “encampment” on May 4.
Abdelhamid is the only arrestee whose No Trespass Appeal (NTO) appeal was denied, claims UVA Encampment for Gaza.
Even though the protester is identified as a Piedmont Virginia Community College student, Encampment for Gaza asserts that the order prohibiting him from entering UVA Grounds is “preventing him from pursuing his nursing studies. Please join our appeal by endorsing our letter and telling UVA administration to let Mustafa nurse,” says the Instagram post.
Maybe Abdelhamid should have pondered the potential consequences before doing whatever it was that he did that got him in trouble.
I suppose one could make the case that Abdelhamid had no expectation that the UVA administration would hold him accountable for anything.
UVA routinely issues NTOs for people engaging in non-political behavior. But it has made exceptions. At least five white supremacists who participated in the 2017 tiki-torch march in 2017 were slapped with NTOs.
Issuing NTOs to militant protesters just wasn’t done (unless they were affiliated with the alt-right), as I personally witnessed during a Jefferson Council event last year featuring author Abigail Shrier. Ignoring their university-issued permit to rally in the Amphitheater, more than 100 demonstrators walked up a steep flight of steps, lined the sidewalk to the speaking venue, and hurled obscenities, insults and taunts at the people walking into the building, then repeated the harassment when attendees walked back to their cars.
In a report submitted to the Board of Visitors last year, The Jefferson Council recommended that the administration issue NTOs to off-campus agitators who break the rules. While University officials did not condone the behavior, they saw no reason to sanction anyone. “The post-event review strongly suggests … that these were not University students who were present during the walk toward the garage, based on our investigators’ familiarity with some of them,” university officials stated in their response to our report.
It seems that UVA President Jim Ryan has had a change of heart. When defending his decision to crack down on the pro-Gaza encampment, which violated University rules regarding the erection and placement of tents, he noted that civil disobedience has a long and honored tradition in American history. Demonstrators broke the law knowing they could and would be arrested and charged. The willingness to accept punishment, he said, gave their actions moral force.
Moreover, if the anarchists’ Instagram posts are to be believed, tent protesters are subject not just to punishment by local courts but also to University sanctions.
“How is UVA helping us heal?” whines one post. “Administration sends arrested students to disciplinary trials and withholds their degree [and] arrested staff are being required to write apology letters.”
Charlottesville’s militants want civil disobedience without consequences. It is heartening to see that the administration is enforcing the rules and holding students accountable for their behavior.
In related news, the anarchist collective tried to stir up trouble in Charlottesville’s high schools, calling for a student walkout Friday. “The student movement continues,” the group proclaimed. “The people united will never be defeated.”
The post has generated 279 likes, so it appears that some members of the community are sympathetic. However, the high school walkout did not generate enough participation to warrant media attention.
I did like one response to the anarchists’ Instagram post, though: “Disgusting. Bad enough adults don’t know what they’re talking about but you’re dragging kids into it also??? And thinking a high school march out is going to do anything???”
James A. Bacon is contributing editor to The Jefferson Council.
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