UC regent slams Berkeley event featuring failed suicide bomber as ‘disgusting and abhorrent’
The University of California-Berkeley faced increasing backlash after a speaker appeared at the Palestinian Political Prisoners Day event. terrorism conviction.
Israa Jaabis, a failed suicide car bomber, was released from prison in November 2023 as part of an agreement to return Israeli hostages during the October 7, 2023 attacks. Jaabis was convicted of attempting to detonate a car bomb during a traffic stop in 2015. The incident occurred near an area where Israeli soldiers often gather and try to hitchhike. During the attack, Jaabis and Israeli officer Moshe Chen were severely burned.
UC Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine, one of the event organizers, shared the following: Jaabis’ message to students on Instagram.
“First of all, I want to thank [the students] Because they are interested and listen with their hearts. For many reasons, just their participation is enough to make us feel like there is someone who cares about us as liberated Palestinian prisoners,” Jaabis said, according to the video’s English subtitles.
UC Berkeley is facing backlash following an attempted car bomb attack on a convicted felon at a student event.
(Getty Images)
UC Deputy Jay Sures told Fox News Digital He said the event featuring Jaabis was “disgusting and disgusting”.
“When you talk in the broader context of the University of California, I can say that as one of the few Jewish provosts, I am very pleased with the steps that the administration is taking to prevent antisemitism on campus. However, there will be conditions on campuses, on entire college campuses, where there will be groups of people who will promote, justify and glorify antisemitism,” Sures said.
Sures noted that the event was organized by Students for Justice in Palestine, a far-left, anti-Israel group that has been suspended or banned from several universities, including Columbia, American and Duke. He added that the group supported “anti-Zionist behaviour” and said there was “absolutely no doubt that anti-Zionist rhetoric leads to antisemitism”.
“Under First AmendmentThese groups have the right to freedom of expression. “And that’s just part of what it’s like to live in a First Amendment country,” he said.
UC Berkeley Law recently told Fox News Digital that their hands were tied when it came to the event with Jaabis.
“As a public university, UC Berkeley has a non-discretionary obligation to comply with and uphold the First Amendment in a completely content-neutral manner,” said Alex Shapiro, associate dean for communications. he said. “We have no legal authority to sanction or censor constitutionally protected speech.
“However, UC Berkeley If any member of the campus community feels threatened, they are encouraged to contact the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination. OPHD provides support to those harmed, investigates all allegations, and the campus takes appropriate action following any findings.”
Palestinian woman Israa Jaabis, who spent eight years in Israeli prisons with severe burns, talked about her captivity and freedom at the 3rd International Masjid al-Aqsa Women’s Conference held in Istanbul on November 7, 2025.
UCLA Student Council Condemns Activity on Campus with Former Israeli Hostage
Sures recently made harsh headlines after the UCLA Undergraduate Student Association Council (USAC) issued a letter condemning an incident in which Israeli hostage Omar Shem Tov was released. In a letter widely circulated online, Sures said he was “disgusted and appalled” by USAC’s statement.
“While your letter expresses concern about the ‘alarming disregard for Palestinian lives,’ it says nothing about the lives lost by Israel on October 7, including the shooting of many of Omar’s close friends. Your letter also makes no mention of the countless rapes and massacres.” carried out by Hamas that day. It’s like none of this ever happened,” Sures wrote.
Shem Tov told Fox News Digital that the reaction to his appearance on campus reflected a broader reluctance to hear perspectives that challenge existing narratives.
UC Regent Jay Sures told Fox News Digital it was “disgusting and disgusting” that a student group hosted a criminal car bomber.
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“If you want to silence a person who spent 505 days in captivity to protect a biased narrative, it’s worth stopping,” he said. “When a worldview requires you to override your own values, something is wrong. Our hope is that the worldview will change, because values are worth preserving.”
Fox News Digital reached out to UC Berkeley Students for Justice in Palestine for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.
Original article source: UC regent calls Berkeley incident involving failed suicide bomber ‘disgusting and disgusting’
