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Berkeley High School has turned down a student group’s request to hold a rally next Wednesday in favor of tolerance toward South Asian, Muslim, and Arabic students. 

Principal Frank Lynch said that under equal-access laws, the school might have to approve a rally expressing the opposite viewpoint. 

“If we had a rally which would be a peaceful demonstration along the lines of acceptance and anti-war, we would then be putting ourselves in a position where, if somebody wanted to come in and do a rally about pro-war, then we’d have to let those people onto campus,” he said. “We think in the long run it would create more headaches.” 

Lynch said no pro-war groups had asked to hold a rally. However, he added, “I’m using ‘yet’ as the operative word.” 

Josh Parr, an outreach coordinator at the school’s Student Learning Center who advises the student groups leading an effort to educate Berkeley High students on South Asian, Arabic, and Muslim cultures, criticized the decision, saying the campus had hosted “hundreds” of peace rallies in the past. 

“I don’t think (the decision) was well-thought through,” he said. “When you consider that they let the army come and recruit on campus last year, but then they won’t let the students have a peace rally, it seems there’s a large contradiction.” 

Organizers had somewhat different descriptions of what sort of event they envisioned. Parr termed it a “peace rally and press conference” to coincide with an anticipated City Council proclamation of a “no-hate zone” in Berkeley, while a student active in the effort spoke of Pakistani food, dances, poetry, and a speaker. After hearing of the school administration’s decision, Sarena Chandler, the student director on the school board, said, “We’re not making a political statement against anything, just trying to provide people with information.” 

To that end, Culture and Unity and Youth Together, two student leadership groups formed by students of color, will send small teams about the school Monday and Tuesday to teach tolerance, media savvy, the history of scapegoating in America, and South Asian, Muslim and Arab cultures. 

“This is just a beginning,” said junior Maliyah Coye, a member of one of the groups helping organize the teach-in, Thursday. “I don’t see (these) workshops being ‘it’ on people’s education against ignorance.” 

Lynch called the teach-ins “absolutely wonderful.” 

At Wednesday’s School Board meeting, eight Berkeley High students of South Asian extraction gathered at a small table and, passing around a microphone, described how they and others had been intimidated on and off campus since last week’s terrorist attacks. One told of a female student who had been followed and jeered on her way to school for wearing her hijab, or traditional head scarf. She went home, took it off, and had her father accompany her back to school. The students asked for students who intimidate Muslims to be suspended and for the school to check IDs at the campus entrances.  

Michele Lawrence, the district superintendent, told the students to report any incidents to their counselors. 

“You should not be feeling this alone, and we will be stepping up our vigilance in ID checking,” she said. 

Sarmed Anwar, an 11th grader, said after the meeting that when he broke ahead of the team during cross-country practice one afternoon this week, a man outside the school grounds made a disparaging comment. 

“People from outside who are not even in the school are like, yelling over the fences,” he said. 

The students said they were also concerned by reports and rumors of abuse filtering in from elsewhere in California and around the country. 

“We are scared because of what we have heard from other schools,” said Hira Qureshi, a senior. 

“This shouldn’t happen,” said Deborah Ortiz, a member of the group, “because we’re human beings and we should have the sense to know that those kids need to be left alone.” 

Barbara Lubin, director of the Middle East Children’s Alliance, a Berkeley-based nonprofit organization, said it was common right now for parents to forbid their children from wearing their hejabs. 

“It’s absolutely despicable that young people, Muslim people, have to hide their beliefs and hide what’s really important to them,” she said. “It’s an important part of their belief to cover their heads.” 

Principal Lynch said the school had dealt with “a couple of situations that have occurred to individuals,” which would be handled “as a case-by-case situation.”  

“If kids are taunting, or there’s an assault or something, we’re putting the tag of a hate crime on it,” he said.