BDS Movement Gains Support of Activist Chicano Student Group

Leaders of the National Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA), a Chicano student organization, recently voted to endorse the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS). The endorsement was approved at the group’s 18th annual conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 30. A press release issued after the conference noted that BDS is necessary in light of Israel’s “military occupation and settlement of Palestine.”

The Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona helped MeChA arrive at its endorsement and, according to the statement, led several workshops on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the conference.

One of the sessions was called “Concrete Connections,” which compared the U.S.-Mexico border fence to the Israeli security fence in the West Bank, and explored the potential for “cross-movement building” for Palestinians and Latin-Americans. The statement about the conference concluded with, “Together, these civil societies – from Arizona to Palestine – are working towards one goal of fighting oppression and resisting everyday injustice.”

Earlier this week, the Pacific Northwest chapter of MeChA held a regional conference at The Evergreen State College (TESC) in which it endorsed BDS as well. During the conference, MeChA-Evergreen invited other activists involved in the divestment campaign (known as TESC Divest!) to participate in a teach-in connecting the BDS movement to the “indigenous struggles in the Americas.”

A statement issued by the group read, “We recognize that our peoples’ historical and present struggles - against deportation, occupation, exploitation, and dehumanization - in Arizona, in the border, and in the United States - not only coincide, but are also connected to Palestinians’ struggle against Israeli military occupation and settlement of Palestine.”

TESC Divest! has been spearheaded by SJP at Evergreen, as well as the newly formed Olympia, Washington, chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

In recent years, there has been growing collaboration between MeChA, which has approximately 400 chapters around the United States, and Palestinian solidarity groups. Campus chapters of MeChA and SJP (largely on West Coast campuses and especially at University of California schools) have co-sponsored a variety of events seeking to highlight connections between Palestinians and the Latino-American community.

MeChA chapters have even co-sponsored anti-Israel events on campus that have featured extreme speakers and anti-Semites, including an appearance by Amir Abdul Malik Ali at the University of California, Riverside in May 2009. At the appearance, Malik Ali claimed that U.S. politicians are controlled by Israel, warned that although “many are afraid of Zionists…Muslims are not afraid” and described Israelis as “the new Nazis.”

The Persistency of “Pinkwashing” Allegations at Columbia University

Columbia University’s Center for Gender and Sexuality is the latest institution to jump on the “pinkwashing” bandwagon and claim that Israel’s promotion of its progressive record on LGBT rights is an attempt to divert attention from its alleged human rights violations against Palestinians. 

 On April 10, the Center – in conjunction with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) – held an event titled, “The Ethics of Pinkwashing: LGBT Rights in Israel/Palestine,” the second of two pinkwashing events at the university in less than a week.

On April 4, the Center had sponsored an event featuring three professors and professionals employed at the university who traveled on an LGBT delegation to the West Bank several months ago.

The Center’s decision to single out Israel for criticism seems counter-intuitive given their shared commitments to promoting sexual equality rights. Indeed, this relatively new “anti-pinkwashing” campaign, which seeks to minimize Israel’s LGBT values and solely judge it within the context of the Israeli occupation, appears to be an attempt to discredit any and all positive aspects of Israeli society. 

The lead speaker at last week's event, Katherine Franke (the director of the Center for Gender and Sexuality), criticized Israel’s alleged exploitation of LGBT people, describing it as a “self-conscious” and insincere propaganda effort to divert attention from the occupation. Franke argued that “the one has nothing to with the other” and that Israel’s record on LGBT people should be kept distinct from the occupation. In fact, pro-Israel advocates completely agree, albeit from the opposite perspective: Israel has the right to be proud of and promote its LGBT record, which indeed has absolutely nothing to do with the occupation.

Franke also claimed that Israeli security organizations often pressure gay Palestinians to collaborate with the Israeli government in exchange for asylum or promises of safety. She then accused Israel of creating a situation where gay Palestinians are viewed with suspicion and are isolated by Palestinians because it is assumed that they are collaborators, rather than holding Palestinians accountable for their treatment of LGBT people.  

Franke’s co-panelist, Professor Kendall Thomas, claimed that the situation in the West Bank reminds him of the era of segregation and Jim Crow laws in the U.S. Thomas also asserted that Israel’s Jewish character and democracy are on a “collision course” and cannot be reconciled with each other.

Claims of Israeli pinkwashing gained mainstream attention after an op-ed on the subject was published in The New York Times in November. Pinkwashing-related events have since taken place during this year’s Israeli Apartheid Week program, and at several universities and other venues in recent weeks. 

FAU Students Latest Target of Anti-Israel Mock Eviction Tactic

The mock eviction notices taped on more than 200 dorm room doors at Florida Atlantic University last week are part of an ongoing campaign by an anti-Israel campus group to raise awareness to its cause through shock tactics.

Student leaders of FAU’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter said that the fliers are designed to show how Palestinians experience eviction from their homes by the Israeli government. The students also indicated that they had received prior approval from the Housing and Residential Life Department at the university.

SJP is a student organization with more than 75 chapters at American universities. As the primary organizer of anti-Israel activity on campus, SJP has consistently demonized Israel, describing its policies toward the Palestinians as racist and apartheid-like, and compared Israelis to Nazis.

This is not the first time SJP members have used mock eviction notices on campus. In April 2011, similar mock eviction notices were distributed in student dormitories at Yale University to criticize the “actions of the Israeli state” and to promote the group’s upcoming events. The group said in a press release that it aimed to startle Yale students and give them a sense of what evicted Palestinians must feel.

A month later, students from the University of Chicago’s SJP similarly distributed the eviction notices throughout three residence halls as part of SJP’s annual “Nakba” Commemoration Week.

During the 2011 American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) National Conference, a virulently anti-Israel organization that aids and assists SJP activities nation-wide, University of Chicago SJP president Sami Kishawi took credit for his SJP chapter’s method of activism. He also claimed that the mock eviction tactic has proven to be as effective as SJP’s use of mock-checkpoints, which Kishawi explains also helps expose daily Palestinian humiliation to a large number of students.

As was the case at the University of Chicago and at Yale, the eviction fliers at FAU were seen by some students as disrespectful and intimidating.

Israeli Knesset Members Shouted Down by Brandeis Students

Anti-Israel activists, including members of Brandeis University’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), interrupted a presentation by five Israeli Knesset members, including an Israeli-Arab MK, on Monday.

After the event began, the students stood up and revealed t-shirts with the word “apartheid” written in Hebrew and began shouting, “Israel is an apartheid state” and “The Knesset is an apartheid parliament.” They were subsequently removed from the event, which was taking place at a local synagogue in Newton, Massachusetts. 

The event, titled “A Discussion on Israel and the Diaspora,” was co-sponsored by Brandeis University and the Ruderman Family Foundation in an effort to strengthen the relationship between Israeli government officials and the American Jewish community. 

The disruption is notable for two reasons. The first is that Brandeis SJP described the action on its blog as a signal that Israeli Knesset members are “not welcome by students at Brandeis University.” It is, however, fairly certain that many Brandeis students do welcome Israeli politicians, and that only an infinitesimal percentage of students engage in and support these disruptive tactics. For some reason, it seems that the protesters believe their interests (a minority view) should trump those of the majority.

The second point to note is that the individuals involved promoted their disruption as a “mic check” and labeled the action as “Occupy the Knesset!” This language evokes (and refers to tactics used by) the Occupy Wall Street movement and other Occupy protests that took place around the U.S. last summer. Anti-Israel groups have consistently tried to seize on the momentum of the popular social protest movement and apply its tactics to anti-Israel efforts.

A Round-Up of Israeli Apartheid Week Events

With Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) drawing to a close in cities around the United States, here is a sampling of what took place on college campuses and elsewhere this past week:

• Brandeis University: Ali Abunimah delivered a talk in which he discussed his support for a one-state solution and described Israel as a “sectarian government.” Abunimah was quoted saying: “The claim that Israel should be a Jewish state can be asserted, not defended—not legally, politically or ethically…Israel has reached a moral, political and ethical dead-end. The notion that Israel can be both Jewish and democratic violates the rights of Palestinians, which is fine if you don’t see Palestinians as humans, but, if you do, it is wrong.” He also offensively compared the Holocaust to the “Nakba,” a term Palestinians use to describe the 1948 War of Independence and the establishment of the state of Israel. He said, “We must condemn Nakba denial as strongly as we must condemn Holocaust denial.”  

• George Washington University: Members of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter tried to disrupt an event organized by GW’s pro-Israel organization MEOR. The event hosted a former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier, Sergeant Benjamin Anthony.

• Columbia University: Members of SJP staged a “house demolition act” that was intended to mimic Israel’s demolition of illegal Palestinian homes. One of the activists argued that these demolitions are made possible by U.S. tax dollars and Columbia University’s investments, which fund “special Caterpillar bulldozers for Israel to demolish Palestinian homes.”

• New York City: Approximately 100 members of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QAIA) gathered in the lobby of the LGBT Center to protest the Center’s decision not to host events related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. [In March 2011, the Center had decided not to host an IAW event.] Protesters held signs that read "Stop Pinkwashing Israeli Apartheid" and "End Israeli Apartheid," and accused the center of “succumbing to the outspoken in power” and “betray[ing] its historic mission.” After an hour indoors, the protest moved outside to the sidewalk.

Be sure to check out our other posts on IAW, which can be accessed here.

Attempts to Silence Pro-Israel Voices on Campus Continue

Recent disruptions of pro-Israel events on campus illustrate the continuing use of tactics intended to silence Israeli voices and the expression of pro-Israel views.

On February 27, Students from the University of California - Davis chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) staged a walkout during a presentation by former soldiers who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). One student defiantly stood up and shouted obscenities at the speakers, claiming that Israel has “turned the land of Palestine into a land of prostitutes and rapists and child molesters,” and harassed the speaker, asking him, “How many women have you raped? How many children have you raped? You are a child molester.” During his outburst, the heckler defended his actions as a free speech right yet noted, “My only purpose today is that this event is shut down,” an obviously ironic use of free speech rights.  

SAFE representatives prior to Feb. 21 walkout

A disruption also occurred the next day at UCLA when dozens of SJP members with duct tape fastened to their mouths and signs reading “Silenced” walked out in the middle of an IDF soldier’s presentation.

On February 21, representatives from SAFE (Students Allied for Freedom and Equality), an anti-Israel group at Michigan State University, staged a similar walkout of a speech featuring former Israeli soldiers.

While the soldiers were able to finish their presentations in all three cases, these incidents illustrate an unwillingness by anti-Israel groups and individuals to allow the pro-Israel voice a space to be heard, an unfortunate position given that college campuses should serve as a venue for the free exchange of ideas, not a place to “shut down” views one may disagree with.

The strategy first began in earnest in the 2009-2010 school year with loud disruptions of, among others, speeches by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the University of Chicago and Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren at the University of California, Irvine.

Mock “Apartheid” Wall Kicks off Palestine Awareness Week at UCLA

Monday, February 27, marked the start of Palestine Awareness Week at the University of California - Los Angeles. The weeklong event, timed to coincide with the Israeli Apartheid Week is sponsored by the university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the primary organizer of anti-Israel activity on campus.

A large outdoor “apartheid wall” containing extreme anti-Israel imagery and text has been erected at the university’s central public gathering space, Bruin Plaza. Texts on the panels include accusations that Israel is an apartheid state that persecutes and deprives Palestinians of their fundamental rights.

“Apartheid Wall” at UCLA

There are also Holocaust analogies comparing the Nazi ghettos of Europe with conditions facing Palestinians in Gaza. Comparisons to the Holocaust are displayed under the banner of “Never Again? History Repeats Itself.” The panels also feature statistics and “facts” portraying a skewed and inaccurate image of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The “apartheid wall” has also been displayed at a public area across the Student Activities Center in Wilson Plaza in order to more broadly reach the student public.

In addition to the “apartheid wall,” SJP members gathered Tuesday evening to denounce Israel with delegitimizing slogans like “Israel is a terrorist state.” Other events scheduled for Palestine Awareness Week include a one-state solution lecture by UCLA professor Sari Madison and a panel on Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS).

American Muslims for Palestine Takes Aim at High Schools

The virulently anti-Israel organization, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), held its first high school educational training session of 2012 at the Islamic Foundation School in Villa Park, Illinois.

The training session was attended by some 200 students from grades 10 to 12 and consisted of a half-day workshop on a variety of topics, including the Islamic significance of Palestine, according to AMP’s Web site. One session was led by AMP Director of Media and Communications Kristin Szremski on steps students can take to utilize the media in their activism. Szremski was a featured speaker at the University of Pennsylvania BDS conference earlier this month.

AMP promotes its extreme anti-Israel views through various public events designed for students and non-students alike. For example, during its session at the December 2009 MAS-ICNA convention, speakers called on “all Muslims to liberate all of Palestine from the North to the South from Al Quds to the sea” and described Jews as “the worst kind of people.” 

AMP has announced that it will embark on similar events for high schools in Chicago and Milwaukee. Facilitating student activism was the central theme of AMP’s 2011 national conference, where a number of sessions were dedicated to ways students can discuss the issue of Palestine in schools.

AMP has also made a concerted effort to engage in advocacy on college campuses and facilitate increased collaboration among anti-Israel students, in particular the activity of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a student organization that’s a primary organizer of anti-Israel events on campus.

Anti-Israel Activism Hits Brooklyn High School

ADL has information that more than 75 universities and colleges have formal anti-Israel groups that operate under the name “Students for Justice in Palestine.” These groups invite anti-Israel speakers to campus, organize BDS campaigns and coordinate Israeli Apartheid Week events and other similar programs. High schools, however, were not considered a likely venue for student organized anti-Israel activity. Until now.

Students at Brooklyn Technical High School recently formed a Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at their school. The group meets weekly and even has a Facebook page. Are high schools going to be a new frontier for the domestic anti-Israel movement? Leave your comments and thoughts below.