[News] As Israel intensifies tactics to suppress dissent, censorship in U.S. increases
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Tue Feb 6 15:11:51 EST 2018
https://palestinelegal.org/2017-report
February 2018
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Israel intensifies tactics to suppress dissent, censorship in
U.S. increases
*Executive Summary*
Hurricane victims in Dickinson, Texas were required
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/10/20/texas-town-makes-hurricane-harvey-aid-applicants-pledge-not-to-boycott-israel/?utm_term=.2a3aa6fab953>
to pledge not to boycott Israel as a condition of receiving relief aid.
A New York City bookstore hid a children’s book, /P is for Palestine/,
behind the cash register after widespread demands
<https://palestinelegal.org/news/2017/11/29/nyc-book-store-receives-calls-to-censor-palestine-childrens-book>
for censorship. A Palestinian-American professor at San Francisco State
University was sued
<https://palestinelegal.org/case-studies/2017/11/3/years-long-suppression-campaign-sfsu/#LawfareSuit>
for researching and teaching about Palestine. A black student leader at
the University of Wisconsin was condemned
<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/us/politics/kenneth-marcus-civil-rights-israel-bds.html>
for speaking out against the connections between white supremacy and
Zionism by Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Education’s
(DOE) Office for Civil Rights.
As the movement for Palestinian rights continues to grow, the Israeli
state <https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5063599,00.html> and
its proxy organizations
<http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-uc-israel-palestinian-adv-snap-story.html>
in the U.S. are investing heavily in punitive measures
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/reveled-israel-s-top-secret-global-legal-operation-to-fight-bds-1.5460218>
to intimidate and chill the free speech of those who wish to express
criticism of Israeli policies.
Palestine Legal responded to *308 incidents of suppression* of
U.S.-based Palestine advocacy in 2017, a 19% increase from 2016
<https://palestinelegal.org/2016-report>. The incidents included
baseless lawsuits, administrative disciplinary actions, violence,
censorship, and false accusations of terrorism and antisemitism. *Eighty
percent* targeted students and scholars at 73 campuses across the
country. Additionally, Palestine Legal responded to 57 legal questions
from activists who were concerned their rights were threatened.
Over four years, from January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2017,
Palestine Legal has responded to a total of *958 incidents of
suppression* targeting speech supportive of Palestinian rights, and an
additional 257 requests for legal assistance in anticipation of such
incidents. This data reflects only what was directly reported to
Palestine Legal, and therefore is not an exhaustive account of the
suppression.
Separately, elected officials introduced at least *32 legislative
measures *in 2017**targeting Palestine advocacy, particularly support
for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns. BDS seeks to hold
Israel and corporate actors accountable under international law for
violations of Palestinian rights. The legislative measures include at
least two bills in Congress. Since 2014, at least *102 bills have been
introduced* in the U.S targeting speech supportive of Palestinian
rights. To date, *24 states have enacted*
<https://palestinelegal.org/righttoboycott/> anti-boycott measures.
The first such law to be challenged was blocked by a federal judge
<https://www.aclu.org/news/first-judge-blocks-kansas-law-aimed-boycotts-israel>
in Kansas in January 2018 because "the First Amendment protects the
right to participate in a boycott like the one punished by the Kansas law."
The following illustrates the most notable trends in suppression of
Palestine advocacy in 2017.
*Meritless Lawsuits and Legal Threats on the Rise*
Palestine Legal responded to 36 lawsuits and legal threats launched
against activists in 2017, up from 13 in 2016. This reflects the
intensification of legal bullying to suppress support for Palestinian
rights. For example:
*Legislation*
Lawmakers, prompted by Israel lobby groups, introduced at least 32
legislative measures in 2017 to condemn or restrict advocacy for
Palestinian rights. These include:
* Municipal and state legislation aimed at countering boycotts for
Palestinian rights through the creation of political blacklists;
prohibitions on government contracts with entities that support
boycotts for Palestinian rights; and/or prohibitions on state
investments in companies that support boycotts for Palestinian
rights. States such as Wisconsin
<https://palestinelegal.org/wisconsin>, Texas
<https://palestinelegal.org/texas>, and North Carolina
<https://palestinelegal.org/northcarolina> enacted unconstitutional
laws in 2017. Overall, 24 states have enacted such measures.
* A federal judge in January 2018 enjoined Kansas
<https://www.aclu.org/news/first-judge-blocks-kansas-law-aimed-boycotts-israel>
from enforcing its anti-boycott law because it violates the
Constitution. The decision explains, “The Kansas Law’s legislative
history reveals that its goal is to undermine the message of those
participating in a boycott of Israel. This is either viewpoint
discrimination against the opinion that Israel mistreats
Palestinians or subject matter discrimination on the topic of
Israel. Both are impermissible goals under the First Amendment.”
* Legislation introduced in Virginia
<https://palestinelegal.org/news/2017/1/30/virginia-lawmakers-considering-unconstitutional-bill-aimed-at-censoring-palestine-advocacy-1>,
South Carolina
<https://palestinelegal.org/news/2017/3/2/south-carolina-lawmakers-considering-unconstitutional-bill-aimed-at-censoring-palestine-advocacy>,
and Tennessee
<http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/Billinfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0581&ga=110>
attempting to codify an overbroad and widely discredited definition
of antisemitism aimed at stifling Palestine advocacy. All three
measures were defeated.
* In Congress, the controversial Israel Anti-Boycott Act
<https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/720> was
introduced. If enacted, the bill would impose severe financial
penalties and up to 20 years in prison for certain actions taken in
support of boycotts for Palestinian rights “fostered or imposed” by
an international governmental organization like the E.U. or the U.N.
The bill failed to pass in 2017 and was highly criticized
<https://theintercept.com/2017/07/19/u-s-lawmakers-seek-to-criminally-outlaw-support-for-boycott-campaign-against-israel/>
for its draconian measures. More than 100 groups
<https://palestinelegal.org/news/2017/8/9/civil-rights-groups-to-congress-oppose-unconstitutional-israel-anti-boycott-act>,
along with the ACLU
<https://www.aclu.org/letter/aclu-letter-senate-opposing-israel-anti-boycott-act>,
called on legislators to reject this legislation. At least one
senator withdrew
<https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-key-new-york-senator-withdraws-support-from-anti-bds-bill-1.5439384>
support, and its sponsor has indicated
<https://theintercept.com/2017/07/25/cardin-amend-israel-boycott-bill-bds/>
he will amend it to alleviate First Amendment concerns.
*Rampant False Accusations of Antisemitism and Terrorism Lead to Threats
and Censorship*
142 reported incidents in 2017 involved accusations of antisemitism
based solely on speech critical of Israeli policies. 123 reported
incidents in 2017 involved unsubstantiated accusations of support for
terrorism, based solely on speech critical of Israeli policies. For example:
* In March 2017, San Francisco Hillel filed charges of religious
discrimination
<https://palestinelegal.org/case-studies/2017/11/3/years-long-suppression-campaign-sfsu/#HillelCharges>
against organizers of a Know Your Rights fair at SFSU after Hillel
was not provided a table at the event. A five-month investigation by
campus officials determined that the discrimination charge was
unfounded and that there was no evidence of anti-Jewish animus.
Instead, investigators faulted organizers for “retaliation” and
“viewpoint discrimination” against Hillel. The event organizers
appealed the decision, which is pending.
* After students at Tufts University voted in April 2017 to support
the university’s divestment from companies engaging in human rights
abuses in Palestine, they received a wave of hate mail
<https://medium.com/@sjptufts/hate-mail-threats-and-intimidation-the-backlash-from-supporting-palestinian-human-rights-d62cbd1f7d1a>,
blackmail threats, and accusations of antisemitism. Jewish members
of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for
Peace (JVP) experienced unique targeting, as they were repeatedly
called “kapos” (a term for Jews who were selected to serve as
administrators in Nazi concentration camps) and emailed graphic
Holocaust images.
* Consul General of Israel in New York Dani Dayan accused
<https://palestinelegal.org/news/2017/6/16/consul-general-israel-refers-to-ccny-students-questions-as-verbal-terrorism>
SJP members at the City College of New York of “verbal terrorism”
after they asked critical questions regarding Israeli human rights
abuses during the Q&A portion of a May 2017 event. The event was
sponsored by Students Supporting Israel (SSI) and featured Dayan.
The right-wing Zionist Organization of America made baseless
allegations about SJP’s conduct at the event, including
unsubstantiated accusations of antisemitism. SJP members faced
racist harassment and physical aggression by a member of SSI. The
administration launched a months-long investigation into the event,
and ultimately changed the university’s policies related to inviting
outside speakers.
* The David Horowitz Freedom Center plastered at least 15 campuses
<https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/10/03/david-horowitz-is-putting-up-posters-calling-brooklyn-college-students-terrorist-supporters/>
in 2017 with posters naming individual students and professors
believed to support boycotts for Palestinian rights, calling them
“terrorist supporters.” The 2017 poster campaigns were preceded by
similar campaigns in 2015 and 2016, attempting to defame individual
students and professors as supporters of terrorism and responsible
for “Jew hatred” based solely on their public support for
Palestinian rights.
* UC Irvine (UCI) punished
<https://palestinelegal.org/news/2017/8/31/uci> SJP with two years
of probation because they chanted slogans critical of Israeli
policies at the end of the Q&A portion of a May 2017 event featuring
Israeli soldiers. The chanting occurred only after one of the
soldiers physically assaulted a student, and it followed days of
harassment by the soldiers who had followed Palestinian students on
and off campus. The Brandeis Center, SSI, Hillel and others falsely
accused the students of chanting threatening and antisemitic
remarks, and demanded
<http://www.ocweekly.com/news/uci-students-for-justice-in-palestine-sanctioned-again-8389976>
that the students be criminally prosecuted and punished under campus
policies. In response to the pressure, UCI investigated SJP for
disruption and found them responsible.
* The homes of two leaders of U.S. organizations working for justice
in Palestine were canvassed with posters
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/charlotte-silver/us-activists-homes-targeted-pro-israel-intimidation-campaign>
featuring their pictures alongside baseless accusations that they’re
likely to engage in terrorism solely because of their advocacy for
Palestinian rights. The posters pictured JVP director Rebecca
Vilkomerson and AMP founder Hatem Bazian and warned in bold letters,
“Today terror abroad. Tomorrow terror at home!” The posters were
left on cars lining the blocks surrounding both homes – one in
Berkeley, CA, and one in Brooklyn, NY.
* In November 2017, The New School was subjected to an intense
campaign by Israel advocates demanding that the university cancel a
panel on combatting antisemitism featuring speakers critical of
Israeli policies. Panelists included co-chair of the National
Women’s March and Palestinian-American community organizer Linda
Sarsour, JVP director Rebecca Vilkomerson and other Jewish
activists. More than 21,000 people signed a petition calling on the
New School to censor the panel, a major donor threatened
<http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/250101/following-controversial-panel-major-new-school-donor-threatens-to-cut-off-funding>
to cut-off funding if the panel proceeded and /New York Daily News/,
/New York Post/, Fox News and other outlets featured articles
falsely accusing panelists of antisemitism. The sold-out panel
continued as planned
<https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/attacks-antisemitism-panel-new-school-proof-need-fresh-discourse/>.
* In October 2017, the American Jewish Historical Society cancelled
two events
<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/arts/jewish-center-faces-backlash-after-canceling-play-criticized-as-anti-israel.html> in
response to a campaign arguing that the organization should not
affiliate with artists and groups that support Palestinian rights.
The first event was a discussion on the Balfour Declaration
<https://www.jvpnyc.org/events/2017/10/26/the-balfour-declaration-support-for-a-jewish-homeland-or-jewish-state-is-there-a-difference> hosted
by JVP. The second event was a reading of a new play by playwright
Dan Fishback
<https://forward.com/opinion/384837/anti-zionist-creator-canceled-ajhs-play-rubble-rubble-speaks-out/>,
exploring how some Jewish families are divided over the politics of
Palestine-Israel. The cancellations drew sharp criticism from those
in the arts, calling it “right-wing censorship.”
*Employees Fired, Academic Positions Eliminated*
Palestine Legal documented numerous instances of people who were fired,
suspended, investigated on the job, or denied job opportunities due to
their perceived support for Palestinian rights. Those that were public
and reported in the media include:
* A Quaker high school in Philadelphia fired two teachers
<http://www.philly.com/philly/education/Friends-Central-teachers-suspended-for-inviting-Palestinian-professor-to-speak-are-not-welcome-back-nex-year.html>
after they invited Palestinian-American Sa’ed Atshan, a peace and
conflict studies professor at Swarthmore College, to speak about
Israelis and Palestinians who support human rights, nonviolence and
equality. Atshan, himself a Quaker, was invited back to the school
after his talk was cancelled, but said
<http://mondoweiss.net/2017/08/palestinian-professor-cancelled/> he
could not in good conscience speak there unless the fired teachers
were reinstated. The teachers filed
<http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2017/03/06/suspended-teachers-file-discrimination-complaint-against-friends-central-school/>
discrimination complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission.
* Fresno State University in California abruptly cancelled a search
<http://cognitiveliberty.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Samiian-resignation-letter.pdf>
in April 2017 for a chair in Middle East Studies (MES) named after
the late Palestinian-American intellectual Edward Said after the
search committee had narrowed the candidates down to four finalists
<http://mondoweiss.net/2017/07/gatekeepers-california-university/>
of Palestinian or Arab descent. The Director of the MES program
resigned in protest, explaining that the search was cancelled
because of pressure from pro-Israel faculty members.
* Professor N. Bruce Duthu, a Native American studies scholar at
Dartmouth College, was forced to resign from his appointment as dean
of the faculty
<https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/05/23/popular-native-american-studies-scholar-declines-deanship-dartmouth-amid-concerns>
for arts and sciences at Dartmouth College after critics attacked
him for signing the Native American and Indigenous Studies
Association's 2013 statement
<http://www.naisa.org/declaration-of-support-for-the-boycott-of-israeli-academic-institutions.html> in
support of a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. Duthu was not
a vocal supporter of the boycott resolution but was treasurer of the
association at the time it adopted the statement. His critics
included pro-Israel faculty, right-wing media outlets, and Senator
Ted Cruz who tweeted, “Our universities are more & more becoming
hotbeds for Leftist intolerance and anti-Israel hatred.”
*Attempts to Censor Support for Boycotts for Palestinian Rights*
Palestine Legal responded to 141 cases in which advocates for boycott,
divestment and sanctions (BDS) for Palestinian rights faced censorship,
legal threats and other suppression. For example:
* Cal State Long Beach President wrote
<http://web.csulb.edu/newsroom/president-jane-close-conoley-letter-to-asi-students-on-boycotting-divestments--and-sanctions/>
student senators in April 2017 urging them to stop a student
divestment initiative, claiming erroneously that their campaign was
to blame for the rise in white supremacist vandalism on campus.
Meanwhile, the administration took no action in response to graffiti
threatening to “kill all Muslims on Friday.”
The letter singled out the student government leader, who is black, for
condemning white supremacy. Brandeis Center also called on the student
government to adopt a widely-discredited re-definition of antisemitism
that classifies virtually all Palestine advocacy as inherently
antisemitic. The student government adopted this definition
<http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/education/university/uw-madison-student-council-adopts-anti-semitism-resolution-code-of/article_1dca4d79-f9b7-5d8f-bdd8-def837fc123e.html>
in September.
*Violence and Threats of Violence*
Palestine Legal responded to 23 incidents of violence and threats of
violence against activists for Palestinian rights. Many of the
threatened individuals asked to remain anonymous. Some examples include:
* A Palestinian-American teacher was brutally beaten
<https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-ifnotnow-urges-aipac-to-denounce-attacks-against-protesters-1.5455512>
outside the AIPAC conference in Washington, DC in March 2017 by
members of the Jewish Defense League
<https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/jewish-defense-league>
(JDL), a violent hate group the Southern Poverty Law Center says
“preaches a violent form of anti-Arab, Jewish nationalism,” and
which has been labeled by the FBI as a rightwing terrorist group.
JDL members charged at protesters with flagpoles, yelling “kapos” at
Jewish protesters and causing multiple injuries. One JDL member was
indicted for assault with a hate crime enhancement
<https://forward.com/fast-forward/390829/jewish-defense-league-member-indicted-for-assault-outside-aipac-convention/>
in December.
* Student activists at New York University received a series of death
threats
<https://www.nyunews.com/2017/05/01/nyu-sjp-demands-further-action-from-nyu-after-death-threats/>
and violent warnings cautioning them not to engage in further
advocacy in support of Palestinian rights. For example, one message
read, “You will all be shhot [sic] at your next protest SJP members.
It will be a family affair…” and “WE WILL PAINT THE STREET WITH
PALESTINIAN/MUSLIM/BLACK LIVES MATTER/STUDENTS FOR JUSTICE IN
PALESTINE/BLOOD…”
* An anonymous website posted pictures of student activists with
sniper targets on their faces, along with their home addresses,
email addresses and telephone numbers.
* A student was shoved and threatened in a campus elevator by another
student who disagreed with her support for Palestinian rights.
* The author of children’s book /P is for Palestine/, Golbarg Bashi,
received death threats in advance of her November book signing in
New York City. Police were alerted. Uniformed JDL members threatened
children
<https://forward.com/opinion/390530/we-had-a-p-is-for-palestine-party-for-kids-and-the-jdl-showed-up/>
attending a Hanukkah storytime reading the following month.
*Incidents by State*
Palestine Legal responded *to 958 incidents* of suppression and *102
legislative measures* in *38 different states* (including the District
of Columbia) from January 1, 2014 – December 31, 2017. The five states
with the highest number of reported incidents, including legislative
measures, are:
* California: 291
* New York: 268
* Illinois: 81
* Massachusetts: 45
* District of Columbia: 28
--
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