Members of Jewish communities across the US and around the world support Professor Rabab Abdulhadi and call on SF State President Wong to stand firmly behind her against Tammi Rossman-Benjamin’s vicious attacks.
Posts Tagged: Campus
IJAN Stands with Professor Rabab Abdulhadi Against Intimidation and Silencing
Category: Backlash Defense ,The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network stands with Professor Rabab Abdulhadi in the face of baseless political attacks against her by Tammi Rossman-Benjamin and her AMCHA network. These attacks are designed to silence Professor Abdulhadi and prevent her from carrying on her scholarship. Below, see the full statement from professor Abdulhadi refuting AMCHA’s claims. To support Professor Abdulhadi and oppose intimidation on campus, please visit: bit.ly/supportrabab
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I write to provide a response to the false allegations made against me by the AMCHA Initiative in its latest escalation of the McCarthyist repression campaign to silence discussion of Palestinian rights on campus.
The accusation that I misrepresented the nature and purpose of my January 2014 trip to Palestine and Jordan is false.
The record, including documents which AMCHA cites, demonstrates that my application for travel authorization was transparent and accurate. In five separate documents, I noted that the purpose of the trip was to attend an international conference and to research, network, and collaborate with potential university partners towards a possible memorandum of understanding between San Francisco State University (SFSU) and Palestinian universities.
A New War on Speech
Category: Backlash Defense Overview, NEWS & OPINIONS ,by Selma James and Sara Kershnar Published in Jacobin Campaigns against Rabab Abdulhadi and other activists are calls for state-sponsored political harassment. In the United States, it’s on campuses that the push against Israeli colonialism is having its greatest success. Despite attempts to quash faculty and student speech, the movement continues to surge. Professors worldwide rallied… Read more »
Rising Tide of BDS At UC Davis Almost Wins
Category: Uncategorized ,This week, University of California Davis student Senate voted on a targeted divestment resolution. The vote was 5 for the resolution, 5 against, with 2 senators abstaining. Though the resolution did not pass, the UC Davis Divestment Campaign was successful in shifting the debate on campus away from the terms set by the opposition, and the fact that the student senate vote resulted in a tie is indicative of the growing momentum and support behind the BDS Movement on campuses. IJAN organizers attended the UC Davis Finance and Business subcommittee hearing earlier in the week (where the resolution did pass)., and it was clear that the room was largely in support of divestment.
Defending and Strengthening Campus Organizing
Category: Backlash Defense ,From Northeastern University to San Francisco State University to New York University, IJAN has been involved in organizing local, statewide and national defense against campus backlash. We are outraged by the misuse of anti-Semitism and the struggle for civil rights to repress freedom of speech, academic freedom and anti-racist organizing and to protect the ongoing… Read more »
Letter in Support of NYU Students for Justice in Palestine
Category: Backlash Defense ,It is disturbing but unsurprising that as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters continue to lead the way in championing the Palestinian cause on college campuses and indeed across the nation, yet another SJP – in this case, at New York University – is accused of antisemitism for its defense of Palestinian rights. In this case, as with all false claims of antisemitism, the International Jewish anti-Zionist Network stands with NYU SJP in rejecting such charges.
The facts speak for themselves, and show a consistent pattern of pro-Israel supporters exploiting and misusing the history of anti-Jewish persecution in an attempt to stop criticism of Israel, and to attack Palestinians organizing for their rights, as well as those who support them in that work.
On the morning of April 24, NYU SJP distributed eviction notices to over 2000 students “at large” living in two student residence halls. The notices ordered them to leave their dorm rooms, noting that they would be demolished within three days. At the bottom of the fliers was a clear advisory, stating, “This is not a real eviction notice.” Such fliers are a widely-used tactic, meant to raise awareness of the home demolitions that the Israeli Occupying Forces carry out constantly in the occupied West Bank –189 homes in 2012 alone.
IJAN Stands with GUPS and AMED Against Slander and Intimidation
Category: Backlash Defense, Uncategorized ,TAKE ACTION:
Recently AMCHAInitiative launched false accusations of anti-Semitism at the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) and the Arab and Muslim Ethnicitiesand Disasporas Initiative (AMED) and is campaigning to have the above groups sanctioned by the SF State University. Below is a letter sent to President Wong by IJAN. Please support GUPS and AMED:
1. Write or call the office of SFSU President, Dr. Leslie E. Wongpresidnt@sfsu.edu to counter the campaign waged by Benjamin andAMCHA Initiative.
2. Support GUPS statement by signing the petition https://www.change.org/petitions/president-leslie-wong-condemn-baseless-attack-against-gups-and-amed
3. Organize events to educate and publicize the struggle for justice in/for Palestine as an indivisible part of justice for all and insist on our right to academic freedom and campus activism.
(See IJAN’s letter to President Wong and the full statement from AMED and GUPS below)
IJAN Attends National Students for Justice in Palestine Conference
Category: Uncategorized ,IJAN congratulates Studentsfor Justice in Palestine on an extremely successful context. We wereinspired by all of the incredible work that students across the US are doing. IJANwas honored to speak with the Palestinian Youth Movement and the Malcolm X GrassrootsMovement on the closing panel of the National Students for Justice in PalestineConference, "Beyond Solidarity with Palestine: The Case for Joint Struggle."
The closing session was kicked off by a speaker from Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de AztlánMEChA powerfully articulating themeaning of joint struggle through sharing its commitment to the struggle forPalestine in the context of its broader work. Nadia Barhoum and Mira Nabulsiof PYM, Sanyika Bryant of MXGM and Sara Kershnar of IJAN spoke to theimportance of organizing in support of Palestinian self-determination in acontext that builds the power of all of our movements to confront our sharedenemies. The well received panel featured a detailed discussion of what joint struggle is and is not and offered studentsand other organizers questions to ask themselves as they are doing their work.
We look forward to working closely with student organizersin the future and left the conference heartened and inspired by the powerfulwork happening inside a climate of intimidation and the targeting of students.
EI: Event honoring Edward Said prompts Zionist smear campaign against SF State students
Category: Backlash Defense, Uncategorized ,http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/event-honoring-edward-said-prompts-zionist-smear-campaign-against-san By Nora Barrows-Friedman, Tuesday 11/26/2013 An anti-Palestinian group is mounting an attack against students at San Francisco State University. Following an on-campus event honoring a mural of the late Palestinian scholar Edward Said, the group asserted that an artistic stencil glorified “the murder of Jews.” The university’s president, at the urging of pro-Israel advocates,… Read more »
Stanford Daily: SPER Hosts National Palestinian Conference
Category: Education and Training, NEWS & OPINIONS, Uncategorized ,http://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/10/29/sper-hosts-national-palestinian-conference/ By Sam Kurland October 29th, 2013 This past weekend, Stanford Students for Palestinian Equal Rights (SPER) hosted nearly 300 college students from more than 70 campuses across the country to express solidarity with the Palestinian liberation movement. The third annual conference was organized by the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a national student… Read more »
