US UNIVERSITIES PROVIDE SPACES FOR FIGHTING AGAINST ISRAELI APARTHEID

Washington, 4 Rajab 1435/3 May 2014 (MINA) – American universities and college campuses today they are increasingly providing critical spaces of resistance in the fight against Israeli apartheid and the occupation of Palestine.

While several faculty associations in the US have recently made international headlines for endorsing the call to boycott Israeli universities and academic institutions, the US-led movement Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) has also been at the forefront of the solidarity movement for Palestinian rights, and is arguably even leading the way, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

SJP was first established at the University of California, Berkeley in 2001, and has since grown into a national network with over 160 branches at universities and colleges across the US. SJP held its first national conference in 2011 at Columbia University. Since then, it has held two more conferences and has established regional networks as well.

The movement has also faced many obstacles. SJP is actively targeted by university and college administrations, which face persistent and systematic pressure from pro-Israel groups, including: the Anti-Defamation League, an unabashedly pro-Zionist organisation that is well known for its advocacy for Israel and public attacks against those who criticise Israel’s occupation of Palestine

The organisational strength of the pro-Israel academic lobby has meant that members of SJP, much like their Palestinian counterparts in the occupied territories, are often targeted and repressed. As a result, in many cases they are forced to abide by different standards from the rest of the student body.

As the Electronic Intifada reported in March, the SJP chapter at Northeastern University in Boston was actually suspended for one year and several members were threatened with expulsion after the group handed out 600 mock eviction notices under doors in residence halls in order to teach students about the experiences of Palestinians who receive housing demolition orders from Israel.

However, the SJP chapter at NYU is now facing possible disciplinary action after recently staging a similar protest. The students handed out mock eviction notices to students in two residence halls; and yet as Mondoweiss pointed out, the pro-Israel media immediately reported that they were targeting Jewish students only, even though all residents of both halls had received the flyers.

SJP is also frequently confronted by political threats. The Socialist Worker reported last year that the California State Assembly passed the HR 35 resolution in 2012, labelling criticism of Israeli apartheid and the occupation of Palestine as “anti-Semitic” and recommending “broad censorship measures of University of California students and faculty advocating for Palestinian rights and justice”. (T/P04/E01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)