Fwd: Demand Fordham University reinstate Students for Justice in Palestine

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Laura Barrios, MPower Change" <info@mpowerchange.org>
Date: September 15, 2021 at 1:34:21 PM EDT
To: Burhan Ghanayem <bighanayem@gmail.com>
Subject: Demand Fordham University reinstate Students for Justice in Palestine
Reply-To: "Laura Barrios, MPower Change" <info@mpowerchange.org>

As salaamu alaykum, Burhan—

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is a national student-run organization that fights for freedom and justice for the Palestinian people at over 200 college campuses across the U.S. & Canada.

But for the administrators of at least one school, SJP is not welcome.

Fordham University administrators are waging a nearly decade-long legal battle to prevent students from fighting for Palestinian rights on their campus, with huge potential consequences for free speech & student activism across the nation.

I'll cut to the chase: if Fordham's administrators don't hear a massive outcry as school gets back in session this year, their decisions could have negative consequences for students who wish to campaign for a free Palestine nationwide.

Let's make sure that they hear that massive outcry this back-to-school season: co-sign our message to the Fordham administration demanding they reinstate Students for Justice in Palestine at Fordham — or write your own — here.

This fight has been going on for years now — and academic institutions across the country are paying close attention.

In 2015, students at Fordham began unofficially meeting to self-educate about and discuss Palestinian liberation. But the administrators at the university, which has a long tradition of associating itself with social justice causes, shocked everyone by overturning their initial approval of the club — the first time a Dean had ever done so at Fordham. They banned SJP as a student group, claiming it would "cause polarization" on campus.¹

Since then, Fordham University has fought a years-long legal battle against incoming classes of students attempting to form a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter.

If you believe students should be encouraged to fight for what's right — instead of having to fight their own administration for the right to do so — then let Fordham University's leadership know now.

To make their case, Fordham's administrators have sided with right-wing tactics aimed at silencing students and academics advocating for Palestine. These lobby groups have intimidated students, created blacklists, initiated lawsuits, and pressured universities to create bureaucratic barriers against any open criticism of Israel on campus.²

Despite all that's stacked against them, Fordham's SJP members persisted, and courts initially sided with students' right to organize for Palestinian rights.³ But the administration at Fordham wouldn't let up — and they appealed the case.⁴

This past May, more than six years after the first Fordham SJP meeting, the court left the decision with Fordham administrators on whether or not to allow SJP at Fordham to continue — potentially setting a terrifying precedent for free speech & Palestinian human rights advocacy on campuses nationwide.

Fordham has always had the power to let students organize in support of Palestinian rights without harassment or punishment.

Send an email to Fordham University administrators demanding they let Fordham students organize as Students for Justice in Palestine now.

This is not just about a single school. This has implications for all of us.

Thankfully, there's reason to believe we can win this one.

The more attention this story gets, the less motivation that Fordham — a school that usually prides itself on a reputation of advocating for social justice — has to keep prolonging something they hoped would go away quietly.

As students head back to class this September, let's show up loudly in support of Fordham SJP.

Add your name now: Demand Fordham Reinstate SJP.

Thank you for all that you do.

In solidarity,

Lau, Sijal, Sadaf, and the MPower Change team

Sources:

1."Awad, et al. v. Fordham University," The Center for Constitutional Rights.

2."The Palestine Exception to Free Speech: A Movement Under Attack in the US," Palestine Legal.

3."The Campaign to "Kill" the BDS Movement Against Israel Extends Far and Wide," Jacobin, 06 Oct 2020.

4."This university claims to be pro-justice. So why is it banning Palestine activism?", 972 Magazine, 25 Feb 2021.

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