Report Reveals 9 Israel Lobby Tactics To Silence Students |
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Report Reveals 9 Israel Lobby Tactics To Silence Students |
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Report Reveals 9 Israel Lobby Tactics To Silence Students
Screen Shot 2015-10-02 at 12.24.00 AM
Above Photo: St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee
Lawyers have responded to nearly 300 incidents of "censorship, punishment,
or other burdening of advocacy for Palestinian rights" filed by Palestine
solidarity activists on more than 65 US campuses in the last year and a
half.
Palestine Legal and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) detail the
assault in a new 124-page report, " The Palestine Exception to Free Speech:
A Movement Under Attack in the US ."
"As the movement for Palestinian rights is growing in the US, so too are
concerted efforts to silence any and all criticism of Israel," said Radhika
Sainath , staff attorney with Palestine Legal and cooperating counsel with
CCR.
A video featuring students and members of faculty who have experienced
silencing, repression and intimidation was also released by Palestine Legal
and CCR and can be viewed above.
Tactics of suppression
The report, which is the first of its kind, documents the suppression of
Palestine advocacy in the US and identifies nine separate tactics Israel
lobby groups use to crush Palestine solidarity activism - especially on
campuses.
The groups say that 85 percent of the hundreds of incidents to which
Palestine Legal has responded since 2014 involving the targeting of students
and scholars "include baseless legal complaints, administrative disciplinary
actions, firings, harassment and false accusations of terrorism and
anti-Semitism."
Such tactics have a chilling effect on speech, the report says. "These
strategies . [result in] intimidating or deterring Palestinian solidarity
activists from speaking out. The fear of punishment or career damage
discourages many activists from engaging in activities that could be
perceived as critical of Israel," the report says.
Sainath told The Electronic Intifada that "on the one hand, we've seen that
peoples' lives and reputations have been destroyed because of speaking out
critically about Israel's policies - one example is professor Steven
Salaita, [whose story] is covered in the report."
Salaita was fired from the University of Illinois after he expressed his
criticism of Israel's attack on Gaza in the summer of 2014.
Bureaucratic barriers
In school-related cases, Sainath said that one tactic of suppression is the
use of bureaucratic barriers. This is when "administrators throw up all of
these hurdles, making it really difficult for students to organize events
supporting Palestinian human rights," she explained.
"These are hurdles like security fees for meetings, reviewing speaker bios
and flyers - this can be really exhausting for students, especially students
who might also be working part-time jobs in addition to their studies. It
makes it really hard to organize."
Despite the various attacks and attempts at chilling speech, Sainath said
that students and professors are still organizing and still speaking out.
"In some ways, according to people we've interviewed, this is having a
little bit of a contrary effect where a lot of people . are seeing how those
speaking out for justice in Palestine are being treated differently and
[they're saying] maybe there's something wrong here," she said.
Palestine Legal and CCR are planning to send the report to campus
administrators while encouraging students to bring it to school officials as
well.
Meanwhile, lawyers and students say they are bracing for an array of dirty
tactics being planned by Israel lobby groups. Earlier this year, Republican
party mega-donor Sheldon Adelson , along with Haim Saban , billionaire
supporter of the Democratic party, poured tens of millions of dollars into
Israel lobby groups on campus with the explicit intent of suppressing
Palestine rights-based organizing.
"One of the things that we're concerned about and preparing for is a wave of
anti-boycott legislation," Sainath said, "as well as increased efforts to
stop students from introducing referendums or resolutions for Palestinian
rights."
Political litmus tests
Also
today, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) released a 79-page report, " Stifling
Dissent: How Israel's Defenders Use False Charges of Anti-Semitism to Limit
the Debate over Israel on Campus ."
It lays out in detail the methods that Israel lobby groups use to stifle
debate about Palestine. It also includes numerous case studies and accounts
of employment discrimination against US professors who have been targeted
for their political views on Israel.
Tallie Ben-Daniel, academic
advisory council coordinator for JVP, told The Electronic Intifada that the
report grew out of concerns over "the climate of repression" around speech
critical of Israel, especially following Salaita's firing.
Ben-Daniel said that young Jews "are more critical of Israeli state policy
than ever before, and are building coalitions through their Palestine
solidarity work - and yet are silenced by the very organizations that are
supposed to represent them on campus."
One section of JVP's report "details how Jewish students are subjected to a
political litmus test on Israel in order to participate in Jewish
institutional life on campus."
Organizations such as Hillel , JVP points out, demand that their members
abide by guidelines which prohibit co-sponsoring or supporting events of
speakers who are critical of Israeli policies and who support the
Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign.
Ben-Daniel added that JVP's report "only tallies the cases that gained
national attention - there are innumerable more Jewish students who in all
probability do not participate in institutional Jewish campus life because
of this litmus test."
JVP says that the report is meant to educate and provide resources to
students and faculty alike who may be facing repression or silencing on
campus and in classrooms.
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Report Reveals 9 Israel Lobby Tactics To Silence Students
Screen Shot 2015-10-02 at 12.24.00 AM
Above Photo: St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee
Lawyers have responded to nearly 300 incidents of "censorship, punishment,
or other burdening of advocacy for Palestinian rights" filed by Palestine
solidarity activists on more than 65 US campuses in the last year and a
half.
Palestine Legal and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) detail the
assault in a new 124-page report, " The Palestine Exception to Free Speech:
A Movement Under Attack in the US ."
"As the movement for Palestinian rights is growing in the US, so too are
concerted efforts to silence any and all criticism of Israel," said Radhika
Sainath , staff attorney with Palestine Legal and cooperating counsel with
CCR.
A video featuring students and members of faculty who have experienced
silencing, repression and intimidation was also released by Palestine Legal
and CCR and can be viewed above.
Tactics of suppression
The report, which is the first of its kind, documents the suppression of
Palestine advocacy in the US and identifies nine separate tactics Israel
lobby groups use to crush Palestine solidarity activism - especially on
campuses.
The groups say that 85 percent of the hundreds of incidents to which
Palestine Legal has responded since 2014 involving the targeting of students
and scholars "include baseless legal complaints, administrative disciplinary
actions, firings, harassment and false accusations of terrorism and
anti-Semitism."
Such tactics have a chilling effect on speech, the report says. "These
strategies . [result in] intimidating or deterring Palestinian solidarity
activists from speaking out. The fear of punishment or career damage
discourages many activists from engaging in activities that could be
perceived as critical of Israel," the report says.
Sainath told The Electronic Intifada that "on the one hand, we've seen that
peoples' lives and reputations have been destroyed because of speaking out
critically about Israel's policies - one example is professor Steven
Salaita, [whose story] is covered in the report."
Salaita was fired from the University of Illinois after he expressed his
criticism of Israel's attack on Gaza in the summer of 2014.
Bureaucratic barriers
In school-related cases, Sainath said that one tactic of suppression is the
use of bureaucratic barriers. This is when "administrators throw up all of
these hurdles, making it really difficult for students to organize events
supporting Palestinian human rights," she explained.
"These are hurdles like security fees for meetings, reviewing speaker bios
and flyers - this can be really exhausting for students, especially students
who might also be working part-time jobs in addition to their studies. It
makes it really hard to organize."
Despite the various attacks and attempts at chilling speech, Sainath said
that students and professors are still organizing and still speaking out.
"In some ways, according to people we've interviewed, this is having a
little bit of a contrary effect where a lot of people . are seeing how those
speaking out for justice in Palestine are being treated differently and
[they're saying] maybe there's something wrong here," she said.
Palestine Legal and CCR are planning to send the report to campus
administrators while encouraging students to bring it to school officials as
well.
Meanwhile, lawyers and students say they are bracing for an array of dirty
tactics being planned by Israel lobby groups. Earlier this year, Republican
party mega-donor Sheldon Adelson , along with Haim Saban , billionaire
supporter of the Democratic party, poured tens of millions of dollars into
Israel lobby groups on campus with the explicit intent of suppressing
Palestine rights-based organizing.
"One of the things that we're concerned about and preparing for is a wave of
anti-boycott legislation," Sainath said, "as well as increased efforts to
stop students from introducing referendums or resolutions for Palestinian
rights."
Political litmus tests
Also
today, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) released a 79-page report, " Stifling
Dissent: How Israel's Defenders Use False Charges of Anti-Semitism to Limit
the Debate over Israel on Campus ."
It lays out in detail the methods that Israel lobby groups use to stifle
debate about Palestine. It also includes numerous case studies and accounts
of employment discrimination against US professors who have been targeted
for their political views on Israel.
Tallie Ben-Daniel, academic
advisory council coordinator for JVP, told The Electronic Intifada that the
report grew out of concerns over "the climate of repression" around speech
critical of Israel, especially following Salaita's firing.
Ben-Daniel said that young Jews "are more critical of Israeli state policy
than ever before, and are building coalitions through their Palestine
solidarity work - and yet are silenced by the very organizations that are
supposed to represent them on campus."
One section of JVP's report "details how Jewish students are subjected to a
political litmus test on Israel in order to participate in Jewish
institutional life on campus."
Organizations such as Hillel , JVP points out, demand that their members
abide by guidelines which prohibit co-sponsoring or supporting events of
speakers who are critical of Israeli policies and who support the
Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign.
Ben-Daniel added that JVP's report "only tallies the cases that gained
national attention - there are innumerable more Jewish students who in all
probability do not participate in institutional Jewish campus life because
of this litmus test."
JVP says that the report is meant to educate and provide resources to
students and faculty alike who may be facing repression or silencing on
campus and in classrooms.
Report Reveals 9 Israel Lobby Tactics To Silence Students |
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