UC Berkeley is under fire for an event involving a convicted felon in a botched drive-by shooting

The University of California-Berkeley is facing a backlash after a Palestinian Political Prisoners’ Day event that included a speaker with a conviction for terrorism.

Israa Jaabis, the suicide bomber, was released from prison in November 2023 as part of a deal to return Israeli hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attack. 2023. Jaabis was convicted of attempting to detonate a bomb in 2015 during a traffic stop. The incident took place near an area where Israeli soldiers used to gather and try to climb the mountains. Jaabis and the Israeli officer, Moses Chen, were severely burned during the attack.

UC Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine, one of the organizers of the event, posted Jaabis’ message to students on Instagram.

“First of all, I would like to thank you [the students] to pay attention, to listen with their hearts. For many reasons, even their arrival is enough to make us feel – as freed Palestinian prisoners – that someone cares about us,” said Jaabis, according to the English subtitles of the video.

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UC Regent Jay Sures told Fox News Digital that the event involving Jaabis was “disgusting and disgusting.”

“I think if you’re talking about the larger context of the University of California, I can tell you, as one of the few Jewish leaders, I’m very satisfied with the steps the administration has taken to try to stop anti-Semitism on campus. Having said that, there will be situations on every campus, on every college college, where there will be opposition groups and they will strengthen people,” said Sures.

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 University, American University and Duke University. He added that the group promotes “anti-Zionistic behavior” and said that “there is no doubt that anti-Zionistic speech leads to antagonism.”

“Under the First Amendment, these groups have a right to free speech. And that’s part of what it’s like to live in a country where you have the First Amendment,” he said.

UC Berkeley Law recently told Fox News Digital that when it came to the event with Jaabis, its hands were tied.

“As a public university, UC Berkeley has a nonpartisan responsibility to uphold and uphold the First Amendment in a completely neutral manner,” said Alex Shapiro, assistant provost for communications. “We do not have the legal power to punish or clarify constitutionally protected speech.

“However, as UC Berkeley has repeatedly informed the student body, 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 victims, investigates all allegations, and the campus takes appropriate action following any findings.”

Israa Jaabis, a Palestinian woman who spent eight years in Israeli prisons and was severely burned, spoke about her captivity and her freedom at the Third Al-Aqsa Women’s Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 7, 2025. (Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Sures recently made headlines when he criticized the UCLA Undergraduate Student Association Council (USAC) after it released a letter criticizing an event featuring freed Israeli prisoner Omer Shem Tov. In a letter that was widely distributed online, Sures said he was “disgusted and shocked” by USAC’s statement.

“Although your letter expresses concern about the ‘worrisome disregard for Palestinian life,’ it says nothing about the Israeli lives lost on October 7, including the shooting of many of Omer’s close friends. And your letter does not mention the countless rapes and mass murders committed by Hamas that day. It is as if nothing happened,” wrote Sures.

Shem Tov, in a statement to Fox News Digital, said that his reluctance to appear at the center shows an unwillingness to hear ideas that challenge the existing narrative.

UC Regent Jay Sures told Fox News Digital that it was “abhorrent and disgusting” that a group of students would treat a convicted car bomb victim. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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“If you’re willing to silence a survivor of 505 days in captivity to protect a perceived narrative, it’s worth pausing,” he said. “When the worldview requires you to go beyond your values, something is misdirected. The hope is that the worldview changes – because the values ​​are worth keeping.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to UC Berkeley Students for Justice in Palestine for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.