San Francisco State University proud of new relationship with An-Najah University, the "greenhouse for martyrs."

The President of San Francisco State University took a principled stand this week supporting a University boycott of Indiana, after the state passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA , a  law widely interpreted to be anti-gay.

From Les Wong,  in an email sent to the students of SFSU  

Dear Faculty, Staff and Students:

I am dismayed, if not extremely disappointed, in the recent legislation signed into law in Indiana. It is unconscionable for this great University to spend its resources in a state that attempts to legislate discrimination of any kind.

By this note, I am informing the campus community that no San Francisco State University funds from any source--general funds or auxiliary--will be used to support employee or student travel to Indiana. This action is effective today, Monday, March 30, 2015 until further notice. Any travel authorized prior to today may proceed as planned with approval of the appropriate vice president.

We are researching similar legislation reputed to be existent in other states to determine further action.
As a member of the NCAA Division 2 President’s Council, I will not attend a required meeting of the Council to be held in April in Indianapolis. A copy of this note is being sent to NCAA President Mark Emmert and to CSU Chancellor Timothy White.

Our commitment to social justice on this campus remains a point of pride for me. The vice presidents, deans and Academic Senate's Executive Committee all endorse this action.

Les Wong, President

President Wong's stand in support of social justice flies in the face of recent actions on the San Francisco State University campus, including the recent Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between SF State and An-Najah National University in Nablus, marking SF State’s first MOU with an academic institution anywhere in the Arab and Muslim world.

An-Najah National University is widely considered a breeding ground for terror and intolerance in the disputed Palestinian territories.

From the venerable Anti-Defamation League's overview on the Islamic Palestine Block Student Cell at An- Najah University

An-Najah University, in the West Bank city of Nablus, has been a flashpoint in the conflict between Israel and Palestinians since at least 1980, when violent anti-Israel protests led the Israeli military to close the school intermittently. Today the student council of An-Najah is known for its advocacy of anti-Israel violence and its recruitment of Palestinian college students into terrorist groups. The council, almost completely controlled by factions loyal to Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah, glorifies suicide bombings and propagandizes for jihad against Israel. Hamas has described An-Najah as a "greenhouse for martyrs." 

From Matthew Levitt, director of the Washington Institute's Stein Program on Terrorism, Intelligence, and Policy, 

Al-Najah is the largest university in the territories and "the terrorist recruitment, indoctrination and radicalization of students for which al-Najah is known typically take place via various student groups," among them the Hamas-affiliated Islamic Bloc. "Of the thirteen members of Al-Najah's 2004 student council, eight," he says - "including the chairperson - belong to Hamas's Islamic Bloc."

This is yet another inglorious moment  for San Francisco State- a university  with a considerable history of turning a blind eye to terrorism and anti-semitism within its own halls