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<h1 class="title" id="page-title">California university comes to
defense of professor targeted by Zionist groups</h1>
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<span property="dc:date dc:created"
content="2014-06-26T20:29:10+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 Thu, 06/26/2014 - 20:29</span> </div>
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<p><b><small><small><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/california-university-comes-defense-professor-targeted-zionist-groups">http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/california-university-comes-defense-professor-targeted-zionist-groups</a></small></small></small></small></b><br>
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<p>A professor at San Francisco State University has been cleared
of accusations made by Israel-aligned groups of “misusing funds”
by traveling to Palestine and Jordan earlier this year and
meeting with Palestinian leaders and political figures.</p>
<p>Just days ago, San Francisco State University forcefully
concluded that such accusations have “no merit” and that the
university “will not censor our scholars nor condone censorship
by others.” In addition, the dean of the college of Ethnic
Studies has admonished the accusers for their “propaganda-style
tactics.”</p>
<p>Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, a senior scholar and associate professor
of ethnic studies and race and resistance studies, has been the
target of a months-long campaign led by the Santa Cruz-based <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/amcha-initiative">Amcha
Initiative</a>, a Zionist watchdog group that harasses student
Palestine solidarity activists and faculty members critical of
Israel’s policies.</p>
<h2>“Fundamental to scholarship”</h2>
<p>Amcha and other Israel-aligned watchdog groups including the <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/simon-wiesenthal-center">Simon
Wiesenthal Center</a> Campus Outreach, <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/standwithus">StandWithUs</a>,
the <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/zionist-organization-america">Zionist
Organization of America</a> and <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/scholars-peace-middle-east-spme">Scholars
for Peace in the Middle East</a> <a
href="http://www.amchainitiative.org/amcha-write-sfsu-president-leslie-wong-regarding-sfsu-professor-of-ethnic-studies-rabab-abdulhadi-egregious-misuse-of-university-and-taxpayer-funds/?utm_source=Amcha+Updates&utm_campaign=4e92edf9ab-SFSU+Money+Funded+Terrorist+Meetings&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_81f4770217-4e92edf9ab-">accused</a>
Abdulhadi in May of “misrepresenting” the nature of her trip and
“neglect[ing] to inform” San Francisco State University
officials of her planned meetings with Sheikh Raed Salah and
Leila Khaled, whom Amcha and the other groups identify as
“terrorists.”</p>
<p>They also accused the professor of “egregious abuse of
university and taxpayer funds as well as potential violations of
California state law prohibiting the use of state resources for
personal or political purposes.”</p>
<p><a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/raed-salah">Sheikh
Raed Salah</a>, a Palestinian citizen of Israel and a
political and religious leader, has been a target of
anti-Palestinian groups in the US and UK. He was arrested by
British authorities on baseless charges in 2011, <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/content/court-victory-raed-salah-deals-blow-uk-anti-terror-policy/11146">which
were thrown out by a judge</a> a year later. He has also been
jailed multiple times by Israel.</p>
<p><a href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/leila-khaled">Leila
Khaled</a> is a Palestinian refugee and an <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/content/bio-shows-why-leila-khaled-remains-icon-resistance/11324">icon
of the Palestinian armed resistance</a> due to her involvement
in two separate airline hijacking operations in 1969 and 1970.</p>
<p>In a public, <a
href="http://palestinelegalsupport.org/download/Public%20Statement%20-%20Abdulhadi%20-%20June%202014.pdf">eight-page
statement she released last week</a>, Abdulhadi writes: “My
stated intention to research and network with scholars in the
region and throughout the world is a legitimate and important
use of state funding. As Senior Scholar at the Arab and Muslim
Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative, it is part of my job
duties to establish educational and research collaboration on
Palestine and between Palestinians in the U.S. and elsewhere in
the world. Research and discussion between actors in the US and
Palestine is fundamental to my scholarship. It is one of the
reasons why SFSU hired me in the first place.”</p>
<p>The professor adds that “meeting with diverse and controversial
figures in Palestine furthered the educational purpose of the
trip.” She notes that there is “no law or university regulation
that prohibits meeting and speaking with figures seen as
‘controversial’ in US media and dominant discourses. Such
activity is clearly protected under the First Amendment and is a
necessary part of gathering and sharing information. Such
encounters are the very lifeblood of academia, journalism and
other fields of knowledge production and are also protected by
academic freedom.”</p>
<h2>“No merit”</h2>
<p>In a brief statement released on 24 June, San Francisco State
University and its president, Les Wong, say the university
reviewed the allegations and has concluded that Amcha’s claims
“have no merit.”</p>
<p>The university’s <a
href="http://news.sfsu.edu/news/allegations-improper-faculty-travel-investigated-no-merit-found">statement</a>
reads in full:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Recently the AMCHA Initiative, Simon Wiesenthal Center Campus
Outreach and others have made allegations against Professor
Rabab Abdulhadi regarding her travel. San Francisco State
University takes allegations about the use of state funds
seriously, investigates any issues and responds as
appropriate.</p>
<p>The records for Professor Abdulhadi’s travel have been
reviewed, and they comply with established rules without fault
or violation. Therefore, we conclude that the allegations made
against Professor Abdulhadi have no merit. The CSU’s Travel
Procedures and Regulations can be viewed at: <a
href="http://fiscaff.sfsu.edu/content/csu-travel-policy">http://fiscaff.sfsu.edu/content/csu-travel-policy</a></p>
<p>Faculty can and do communicate with others relevant to their
research, communicating by various methods that can involve
travel. Professor Abdulhadi’s academic work in race and
resistance studies requires examination of some of the world’s
most challenging and controversial issues. San Francisco State
University will continue to respect academic freedom, and we
will not censor our scholars nor condone censorship by others.</p>
<p>San Francisco State University remains committed to providing
a safe and civil campus environment that supports all members
of its community.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In addition, the dean of the College of Ethnic Studies <a
href="http://ethnicstudies.sfsu.edu/ethnicst/content/application-statement-current-or-going-circumstances">issued
a statement of his own</a> on 25 June, admonishing Amcha “for
their continued ill intent and propaganda style tactics.”</p>
<p>“Historically, Amcha’s awareness of fact has not discouraged
its unrelenting and mean-spirited attacks,” Dean Kenneth
Monteiro says.</p>
<p>Monteiro <a
href="http://ethnicstudies.sfsu.edu/ethnicst/content/application-statement-current-or-going-circumstances">adds</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
[F]or a number of years, Amcha has gone well beyond just
expressing its views, and developed a reputation for
misrepresentation of facts against individuals and institutions.
Moreover, it appears to also try to provoke very powerful people
to punish those with whom it disagrees. It has done that to
individuals at San Francisco State University and campuses
across California. Recently, Amcha has made a number of
sensationalized and false claims about students and faculty at
our campus. Further it has promoted these claims to sympathetic
media. Most perniciously, it has lobbied powerful civic and
private figures, including the state Governor and dozens of
elected statewide and local leaders, encouraging them to punish
individuals and institutions based on misleading or false
claims.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
… Sensationalized attacks based on incomplete or inaccurate
information such as these (at times accompanied with requests
for monetary donations) exploit the worst fears of many, causing
unfair and unnecessary distress for both Amcha’s intended
targets as well as its stated allies. Coupling misinformation
instigation or direct attack academic organizations or
individuals degrades the campus climate for all.
</blockquote>
<h2>Spying</h2>
<p>In January, The Electronic Intifada’s <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/people/asa-winstanley">Asa
Winstanley</a> and I published <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/content/documents-reveal-zionist-group-spied-us-student-delegation-palestine/13130">an
investigatory report on Amcha’s lengthy history of spying on
student activists</a> and faculty who support the
Palestinian-led <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/bds">boycott,
divestment and sanctions</a> movement.</p>
<p>Amcha’s co-founder, <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/tammi-rossman-benjamin">Tammi
Rossman-Benjamin</a>, is a lecturer at the University of
California at Santa Cruz. She has previously claimed that
students involved in Palestine solidarity organizing have ties
to “terrorist organizations” and that “many of them are foreign
students who come from countries and cultures where
anti-Semitism is how they think about the world.” Her racist
statements <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora/us-university-lecturers-shocking-hate-speech-against-arab-muslim-students-condemned">were
caught on video</a> in 2012.</p>
<p>Students at University of California at Santa Cruz at the time
called on the university to condemn her hate speech. The
administration declined to comment and took no disciplinary
action.</p>
<h2>History of failure</h2>
<p>Rossman-Benjamin and Amcha have <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/zionist-group-renews-attacks-california-professor">targeted
other professors in California</a> who are outspoken in their
criticism of Israel, accusing such educators of “anti-Semitism”
and “misuse” of public resources. To date, none of these
allegations have resulted in punishment of the professors.
Meanwhile the group’s attempt to use civil rights law claims in
order to shut down discussion on Israel <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/victory-campus-free-speech-us-dept-education-throws-out-anti-semitism">was
thrown out by the US government last year.</a></p>
<p>The National Lawyers Guild’s San Francisco Bay Area chapter <a
href="http://palestinelegalsupport.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/UC-CSU-Letter-Re-AMCHA.pdf">stated
in a recent letter</a> to the University of California’s Board
of Regents and the California State University Board of Trustees
that Amcha’s history of “relentless bullying” of professors and
educational institutions “can be foiled by universities issuance
of clear, strong statements upholding principles of academic
freedom in general, and discussion of Israel-Palestine in
particular — and by promptly rejecting the unconstitutional
demands by Amcha and others whenever they occur.”</p>
<h2>“Series of incidents”</h2>
<p>Lawyers with the Palestine Solidarity Legal Support, which has
supported Dr. Abdulhadi in protecting her freedom of research
and scholarship, <a
href="http://palestinelegalsupport.org/2014/06/19/san-francisco-state-university-president-defends-professor-rabab-abdulhadis-travel-and-research-after-latest-mccarthyist-campaign/">stated
in a press release</a> that “Amcha’s attack was the latest in
a series of incidents intended to stifle and criminalize any and
all discussion of Palestine or Palestinians.”</p>
<p>Since San Francisco State University’s rejection of the
accusations this week, Amcha says that it has now <a
href="http://www.amchainitiative.org/sfsu-defends-taxpayer-funded-pro-terror-trips-by-professors-bulletin/">demanded</a>,
along with the other Israel-aligned watchdog groups, that the
California State Controller conduct a state audit of the
university.</p>
<p>In the Palestine Solidarity Legal Support press release,
Abdulhadi says: “All over California, the Amcha Initiative’s
accusations have repeatedly proven to be all smoke and no fire.
SFSU President Wong’s statement confirms there was no wrongdoing
here. But we must do more to protect California scholars from
Amcha’s McCarthyist campaigns, which aim to strait-jacket Ethnic
Studies scholars, especially those studying Palestine.”</p>
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