Students for Justice in Palestine: promoting hate on campus

September 23, 2014 has been proclaimed by Hatem Bazian as an "International day of Action" against Israel. Bazian,  who once infamously called for an "intifada" in America, was a founder of Students for Justice in Palestine, the group that will be spring boarding  the "Day of Action"



Students for Justice in Palestine, also known as SJP, or more popularly as Students for Just us in Palestine has a long history of threatening pro-Israel activists, shouting down free speech, and intimidating those who disagree with them. This year, they sport free legal protection for their rights, while they run roughshod over everyone elses

The comically named Center for Constitutional Rights, the Palestinian Solidarity Legal Support Group, and the National Lawyers Guild  have joined together to cover for their bad behavior.

Roz Rothstein, founder of the educational organization StandWithUs has documented  the hateful intolerance of SJP in the Times of Israel.

• In February 2014 SJP violated the free speech rights of two Israelis at a pro-Israel event at Cal Poly Pomona. It brought professional anti-Israel activists and students from other schools to shout the speakers down, preventing them from making their presentations and robbing audience members of the opportunity to hear Israeli perspectives on the conflict.
• When SJP brought divestment campaigns to the University of Michigan and other campuses, numerous Jewish students and members of student governments were subjected to threats, hate speech, and other forms of intimidation.
• At UC Irvine and San Francisco State University (SFSU), SJP disrupted Israel Independence Day celebrations. Its members attempted to shout down pro-Israel student speakers at SFSU, physically pushed people away from informational booths, and assaulted three Jewish students at Irvine.
• UCLA’s SJP chapter employed an especially sophisticated intimidation tactic, filing judicial complaints against two student senators who had gone on sponsored educational trips to Israel.
• Temple SJP is currently being investigated because a student associated with the group hit a pro-Israel student in the face during Welcome Week.
• SJP at Loyola University of Chicago is currently being investigated for harassing Hillel students and blocking their Birthright Israel informational table.

In all of these instances, SJP demonstrated its total disregard for freedom of speech, its eagerness to silence pro-Israel voices, and its desire to prevent uninformed students from hearing or seeing Israel’s side of the story.

No one expects September 23 to be any different.

CAIR representative spys on pro-Israel teacher

From an article by Cinnamon Stillwell: Spies in the classroom CAIR vs Campus Watch

When on October 1, 2013, Samantha Bowden crept unannounced into the classroom of University of Central Florida communications professor Jonathan Matusitz, she wasn't hoping to advance her education on the sly. Rather, Bowden, the communication and outreach director for the Florida branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL), was doing something of which Campus Watch has been frequently accused, but has never done: spying on a professor in an effort to embarrass him and, with luck, even harm his career.

Since its inception in 2002, Campus Watch (CW)—a project of the Middle East Forum that reviews and critiques Middle East studies in North America with an aim to improving them—has been charged with an array of outrageous calumnies. They include paying students to infiltrate classrooms as "spies" or "informers"; targeting "pro-Palestinian" professors; and tracking "anti-Israel" comments." 

For a complete list of the false accusations made against Campus Watch since its inception in 2002 for allegedly sending "spies" and "informers" into university classrooms, see here

The article continues:

Indeed, CAIR has been caught red-handed doing exactly that with which academia and its allies have fallaciously charged Campus Watch and instead of outrage, the incident has been met with silence...

Campus Watch challenges these professors to denounce CAIR's harassment with the same fervor they've demonstrated over the years leveling spurious accusations of spying against CW. To do otherwise would be to demonstrate the hollowness of their concerns.

Will the Center for Constitutional rights Legal solidarity Initiative which purports to  "track incidents of repression, and to provide legal advice, representation, resources and advocacy support" condemn the egregious assault on Prof. Matusitz's academic freedom? 

Apparently not. According to their website, they only offer legal support to Muslim and Arab students, or to Palestinian solidarity activists. They will continue to ignore intimidation tactics by CAIR activists in the name of "justice".

That doesn't mean the rest of us will.

San Diego State University Professor Ghassan Zakaria eliminates truth in his classroom

Just as the authorities dismiss the claims of Jewish students of hostile campus climate...

From ABC News, Channel 10 in San Diego

A map distributed in a language class at San Diego State University labeled Israel as Palestine, leading to an outcry from the local Jewish community.

 Sources told Team 10 the map was handed out by a professor on the second day of class in an Arabic language course. Sources said students were upset and unsure how to protest the erroneous map because they feared speaking out publicly could have a negative impact on their grades. 

One student talked with Team 10, on the condition of anonymity."I don't really believe it was the right place for dialogue," the student said. "It is a language class, it's not a class about conflict." 

Students gave the map to the non-profit, pro-Israel San Diego group, "Stand With Us."The group sent a newsletter to its members and urged the community to contact the department's chairman and Arabic program director. The group also posted the map to its Facebook page. The electronic newsletter states the map "not only fails to label 'Israel' as a legitimate country," but that "it falsely portrays the entire territory of Israel as 'Palestine....'"

 The department chair said the professor used Palestine in place of Israel on the labels to "reflect the view of Arab-speakers in the region." Team 10 contacted SDSU late Tuesday morning with questions about the handout, and on Tuesday afternoon the school issued this statement:

 "While SDSU encourages scholarly debate and discussion of varying opinions, presenting inaccurate information to students in not acceptable. SDSU's Provost has conferred with the department chair, who spoke with the faculty member. This inaccurate portrayal will not reoccur."

As of today, the map  has been altered and redistributed, with Israel scrawled by hand

From Channel 10

Sources said the new map students received Wednesday was only a slight improvement. They said it marginally showcased Israel's true and legitimate existence in the region.

Sources also added that their ideal solution would have been to distribute a real and accurate map of the Middle East rather than adding the obviously handwritten word "Israel" to an incorrect map of the region.

As of late Wednesday evening, the professor had not issued an apology to the Jewish community.

Will  the new Palestine Solidarity Legal Support advocacy project advocate for Ghassan Zakaria's right  to spread lies and misinformation in the name of academic freedom?

Perhaps.

The stated goals of the initiative sponsored by the Center for Constitutional Rights, in collaboration with the National Lawyers Guild mentions nothing about ensuring truth or accuracy, as they seek to

* Track incidents of repression of Palestinian rights activism
* Provide legal advice, referrals or representation
* Undertake advocacy to support activism
* Provide activists with legal and advocacy resources

We should fear for  all students in today's 'truth optional' academic environment