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<h1 class="title" id="page-title">Event honoring Edward Said prompts
Zionist smear campaign against San Francisco State students</h1>
<div class="submitted"> <span property="dc:date dc:created"
content="2013-11-26T16:02:19+00:00" datatype="xsd:dateTime"
rel="sioc:has_creator">Submitted by <span class="username" xml:lang=""
about="/users/nora-barrows-friedman" typeof="sioc:UserAccount"
property="foaf:name" datatype="">Nora Barrows-Fr...</span> on Tue,
11/26/2013 - 16:02<br>
<b><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/event-honoring-edward-said-prompts-zionist-smear-campaign-against-san">http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/event-honoring-edward-said-prompts-zionist-smear-campaign-against-san</a></small></small></b><br>
</span> </div>
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<div class="content"> <img typeof="foaf:Image"
src="cid:part1.01070701.08030709@freedomarchives.org" alt="" title=""
height="458" width="618">
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<p>The mural honoring Edward Said at San Francisco State University.</p>
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<p>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 <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/edward-said">Edward Said</a>,
the group asserted that an artistic stencil glorified “the murder of
Jews.”</p>
<p>The university’s president, at the urging of pro-Israel advocates,
has joined the condemnation of the students.</p>
<p>On 7 November, as part of the <a
href="http://www.goldengatexpress.org/2013/11/08/edward-said-mural/">sixth
annual event to celebrate the mural and Palestinian culture</a>,
activists with several allied student organizations, including the <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/general-union-palestinian-students">General
Union of Palestine Students</a> (GUPS) and the Student Kouncil of
Intertribal Nations (SKINS), an indigenous student group, set up
informational tables on the campus’s Malcolm X Plaza.</p>
<p>The SKINS’ table made various stencils available for students to
express themselves using images and slogans. One slogan read “my heroes
have always killed colonizers,” which has been used for years by
indigenous cultural workers in commemorating the resistance to the
genocide of First Nations peoples and other indigenous communities
around the world.</p>
<p>For the last two years, for example, indigenous communities have
held cultural events entitled “My Heroes Have Always Killed Colonizers”
in San Francisco during Indigenous Peoples’ Day — a day reclaimed from
the national holiday celebrating the legacy of Christopher Columbus.</p>
<p>It didn’t take long for local Zionist watchdogs to launch a vicious
attack against the entire event, the student organizations involved,
and even the co-sponsoring academic department on campus, calling it
“anti-Semitic” and insinuating that the stencil “glorif[ies] the murder
of Jews.”</p>
<p>Leading the charge is notorious anti-Palestinian racist <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/tammi-rossman-benjamin">Tammi
Rossman-Benjamin</a> and her <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/amcha-initiative">Amcha
Initiative</a>, who has sent repeated emails to San Francisco State
University administration officials demanding that the university
investigate GUPS and the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas
Initiative (AMED), an academic department in the university’s College
of Ethnic Studies.</p>
<p>In the recent past, Rossman-Benjamin, a lecturer at the University
of California at Santa Cruz, has <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora/uc-santa-cruz-students-administration-break-institutional-silence-lecturers-hate-speech">claimed</a>
that students involved in Palestine solidarity organizing have ties to
“terrorist organizations” and made other racist assumptions which were
caught on video. She and Amcha have also <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/zionist-group-renews-attacks-california-professor">attacked
university professors</a> for publicly supporting and/or listing
reading material on the Palestinian-led <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/bds">boycott, divestment and
sanctions movement</a>.</p>
<p>Additionally, Rossman-Benjamin’s legal complaint against her own
university — which alleged an anti-Semitic atmosphere and
discrimination against Jewish students because of Palestine solidarity
activism — <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/victory-campus-free-speech-us-dept-education-throws-out-anti-semitism">was
recently thrown out by the US Department of Education</a>.</p>
<h2>Stifling debate</h2>
<p>For years, Zionist groups such as Amcha have worked tirelessly to
undermine Palestinian self-determination and Palestine solidarity
student activism at San Francisco State University. In 2007, when the <a
href="http://www.palestineposterproject.org/poster/edward-said-mural-final">Edward
Said mural</a> was being planned, a pitched battle was waged against
Palestinian students and the muralists by outside political forces and
the administration itself.</p>
<p>The mural originally <a
href="http://muzzlewatch.com/2007/02/26/mural-celebrating-edward-said-and-palestinian-culture-a-theat-to-jews/">depicted
symbols</a> of the Palestinian <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/right-return">right of return</a>
— a key and an image of Handala, the cartoon figure representing the
struggle of refugees — but local and national Zionist organizations
successfully forced the removal of the symbols from the final mural.
During a period of sustained pressure from influential Zionist groups,
the president of San Francisco State University at the time said he
considered the symbols “inflammatory.”</p>
<p>Neighboring murals at the campus’s Cesar Chavez Student Center — of
Malcolm X, Cesar Chavez and Filipino and Asian and Pacific Islander
communities — depict militant resistance to colonialism and
displacement, but have been ignored by the Zionist groups and the
university administration.</p>
<p><a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/rabab-abdulhadi">Rabab
Abdulhadi</a>, an associate professor of ethnic studies at San
Francisco State University, told The Electronic Intifada that she
believes this current attack is yet another instance of attempts to
stifle discussion and debate about Palestine on campus.</p>
<p>“This is intended to intimidate university officials from continuing
to support academic freedom and freedom of speech on campus, which is
the real point of campus life,” she said.</p>
<p>“It’s a well-orchestrated attack — we’ve seen these kinds of attacks
[by Amcha] against the University of California and California State
University campuses. This is a continuation. And we’ve been attacked
from early on.”</p>
<h2>“Justice for all”</h2>
<p>In 2002, Abdulhadi noted, the university administration sanctioned
GUPS for its anti-war activities, and the pressure against students
continued when plans were being made to create the Edward Said mural
years before it was completed.</p>
<p>Ironically, she added, Amcha’s assertions “actually feed into
anti-Semitism. They’re saying all Jews are colonizers, and all Israelis
are participating. This is real anti-Semitism. [The event] was about
justice for all, and everyone should be interested in it.”</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://president.sfsu.edu">statement</a> posted last
week, San Francisco State University President Leslie Wong said he was
“deeply disturbed” by the “incendiary language” of the stencil.</p>
<p>He added:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am dismayed by the glorification of violence that this message
conveys. There is no place at SF State for celebrating violence or
promoting intolerance, bigotry, anti-Semitism or any other form of
hate-mongering. We are a university community committed to furthering
civil dialogue. Each of us must remain vigilant in working to achieve
this goal.</p>
<p>The university is a place where dialogue, debate and the
marketplace of ideas are cherished. We must also maintain a safe
environment. Engaging in expressions that threaten and intimidate are
counter to these goals. In addition to conveying my firm commitment to
a safe and civil campus environment directly to any students involved,
I will be meeting with members of the campus community to express my
concerns, and to learn more about their perceptions of our current
campus climate. University leadership will continue to gather
information about this occurrence and address it appropriately. We
prize our role as a forum for open discourse and we will continue to
work toward a campus culture that cherishes civility.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>“Less valuable” than Zionists</h2>
<p>Since the historic 1968 student-led protests that led to the
formation of the first ethnic studies department in the US the
following year, students at San Francisco State University have fought
hard to protect representation on campus. The <a
href="https://www.facebook.com/GeneralUnionofPalestineStudents">General
Union of Palestine Students at SFSU</a> — the last remaining chapter of
the 54-year-old organization — was opened in 1973.</p>
<p>Loubna Qatami, a graduate of San Francisco State University and an
organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement, was an active member of
GUPS as a student. In a personal letter to SFSU President Wong, seen by
The Electronic Intifada, Qatami recounts the barrage of attacks
Palestine activists endured by the administration and outside political
groups.</p>
<p>Her letter states, in part:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I came into SFSU when it was popularly understood that the
administration did not care to protect Arab and Muslim students from
the rampant culture wars taking place on our campus after [11 September
2001]. I was there when GUPS was scorned for actions against the Iraq
war.</p>
<p>I was there when College Republicans defamed flags that had
Islamic religious writing on them. I was there when the College
Republicans had students throw shoes at these flags. I was there when
other students called us “terrorists,” “camel-riders,” and when they
said “there is no such thing as Palestine” and the university found it
of no interest to address such matters.</p>
<p>I was the one, President Wong, who checked the GUPS email account
with thousands of death threat emails! I was the one that opened up the
GUPS door in the mornings and found pictures of the Twin Towers blowing
up with captions titled “Terrorists.”</p>
<p>Mr. President, I was there when President [Robert] Corrigan used
every indirect policy excuse to roadblock the inauguration of the
Edward Said Cultural Mural and called images so central to the
Palestinian community and cause, the key and Handala cartoon, a
reflection of a “culture of violence” and “hate to Jews.”</p>
<p>… Despite being told we were not counted as part of the system,
despite being told we were less valuable than Zionist voices on campus,
we were the students who committed to believing SFSU was different.</p>
<p>We were the students who were both attacked and unprotected. Yet
we were the students that reflected the overwhelming majority of
student perspectives and interests on campus. Our student allies were
the first to come to our defense and to say that an attack on GUPS was
an attack on the SFSU student body. Yet time after time, voices from
outside campus, Zionist voices with national anchor institutions,
non-profit organizations … and right-wing media campaigns stole our
place at SFSU. These forces stifled the voices of the majority of the
student body.</p>
<p>These power structures marginalized my community, time and time
again with nothing done by the university administration.</p>
<p>… We ask of you to maintain the university as a space of public
knowledge, freedom of speech and intellectual exchange. We ask you to
rise to the occasion of protecting your student body, those most
marginalized who are in fact being attacked by culture wars that impact
ethnic studies, student organizations and students of color on campus.
Rather than investigating a “stencil” we ask you to investigate the
broader political backing, rationale and agenda of the people waging
this war on our student body. We urge you to practice your commitment
to social justice.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>“Belligerent smear campaign”</h2>
<p>Local and national solidarity groups and coalitions, including the
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN), <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/mecha">Movimiento Estudiantil
Chican@ de Atzlan</a> (MEChA) and SKINS have drafted letters and <a
href="http://www.change.org/petitions/president-leslie-wong-condemn-baseless-attack-against-gups-and-amed">a
petition</a> denouncing Amcha’s attacks and demanding the university
protect freedom of speech.</p>
<p>In a petition to San Francisco State University President Wong,
MEChA and SKINS say that they represent students who are “horrified by
the baseless attack and allegations of anti-Semitism that have been
leveled against the General Union of Palestine Students, the Arab and
Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative, the Cesar Chavez Student
Center [and] the organizers of the sixth annual anniversary of the
Palestinian Cultural Mural honoring the late Professor Edward Said.”</p>
<p>The petition adds:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are proud to continue the rich legacy of justice-centered
student activism at SFSU. GUPS has historically stood for justice
in/for Palestine and has linked our struggle with that of all people’s
struggles for self-determination, justice and peace.</p>
<p>We are concerned over our own safety and the safety of our
friends, allies, and all those standing in solidarity with our
movement, especially when their photos and names have been posted
online as if to make them a moving target for violence.</p>
<p>This belligerent smear campaign meant to slander the Palestinian
movement on campus has directly created a hostile environment that
makes it impossible for us to express our views and exercise our
academic freedom.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The petition concludes by demanding that Wong “condemn this smear
campaign, uphold our academic freedom as a core value of SFSU, and
ensure our safety and the safety of all.”</p>
<p>Sara Kershnar of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
(IJAN) told The Electronic Intifada that several groups, including a
cadre of anti-Zionist Jews, are demanding a meeting with the SFSU
president.</p>
<p>“This is about the right of people who are struggling for liberation
to have their expression of that struggle protected,” Kershnar said.
“It’s not the same as hate speech, expressions of fascism or racism or
homophobia. Those are very different things, and we look to
institutions to make the correct distinction.”</p>
<p>She added that it’s important for the administration to know that
these political Zionist organizations do not represent general Jewish
values and opinions.</p>
<h2>“Manipulation” of Jewish history</h2>
<p>The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network’s letter states, in
part,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As Jews committed to ending racism, sexism, homophobia and all
forms of oppression, we stand with the General Union of Palestinian
Students (GUPS) and the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas
Initiative (AMED), and we stand against the baseless attacks on them by
Tammi Benjamin and the Amcha Initiative. We urge President Wong to
recognize this attack for the politically motivated attempt to silence
Palestinian students and faculty that it is.</p>
<p>These attacks on student activists are political attacks and are a
reflection of politically motivated, false charges of anti-Semitism
targeting Palestinian and Arab students around the country. On campuses
from UC Berkeley to Rutgers, organizations like the Amcha Initiative
and the Zionist Organization of America, and others, have attempted to
manipulate the Title VI Civil Rights Act to serve its political ends.
This is cheapening and weakening crucial civil rights protections by
characterizing protected political speech as anti-Semitism. This is but
one example of the outrageous lawfare being used to target Palestinian
students and professors and their supporters.</p>
<p>Furthermore, these attacks come in a climate in the United States
that is extremely hostile to Arabs and Muslims. From acts of vigilante
violence to racist ads displayed on buses in San Francisco to
government use of immigration law to target well-respected Chicago
community activist Rasmea Odeh, Arabs and Muslims face a climate of
intimidation and repression that extends far beyond campus.</p>
<p>As Jewish people well-versed in the history of anti-Semitism
backed with state power, we reject Ms. Benjamin’s manipulation of our
history. As people committed to ending racism, sexism, homophobia,
anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism and all other forms of oppression, we
reject this attempt to undermine the true meaning of racism. Tammi
Benjamin and Amcha do not speak for Jews when they irresponsibly
slander Palestinian students; rather, they intervene politically to
support Israel and Zionism.</p>
<p>GUPS, AMED and the Cesar Chavez Student Center are incredibly
important parts of the SFSU campus and are a space where
under-represented voices are heard. Whenever people would use political
clout and intimidation to silence those who are vulnerable, it is
incumbent upon all of us to defend them.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the interest of full disclosure, I have signed on to this
statement.</p>
<p>Kenneth P. Monteiro, the dean of the Department of Ethnic Studies,
did not respond to a request for comment by Monday afternoon.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, as activists wait to meet university officials, Professor
Abdulhadi said she has been extremely gratified by the huge amount of
support by allied student groups. Dozens of student representatives
from a wide spectrum of communities of color and grassroots
organizations attended a coalition meeting last week to address this
situation. “The extent of support is amazing,” she said. “It really
shows that we are a part of a coalition of justice on campus.”</p>
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