The saga of San Francisco State University Professor Rabab Abdulhadi continues. If you recall, when offensive messages about Zionists were chalked around the SFSU campus recently, many Jewish organizations wrote to SFSU President Les Wong. In response, he issued a public announcement to the university that defended Jewish students and announced that Zionists were welcome on campus.
Abdulhadi issued a response that Wong's support of Jewish/Zionist students was a "declaration of war against Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians". What's more, her message was put out on a SFSU web server.
The above information was described in the below post a few days ago.
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-latest-outrage-from-sfsus-rabab.html
Below is how Wong replied to Abdulhadi's outburst (March 26):
https://news.sfsu.edu/announcements/message-president-wong-your-voice-our-identity
Message from President Wong: Your voice, our identity
Monday, March 26, 2018
Dear SF State Community,
We are aware of a post by faculty member Rabab Abdulhadi responding to my recent comments to the campus community. Dr. Abdulhadi’s post expressed her opposition to my comments and to Zionism generally. While she is entitled to voice her own opinion, it cannot be done in a way that implies university endorsement or association.
Dr. Abdulhadi’s post does not reflect the opinions, values, or policies of San Francisco State University. To the contrary, SF State promotes the principles of inclusion, thoughtful intellectual discourse, and sharing of ideas that are central to our academic environment. All are welcome at SF State and a diversity of perspectives helps us grow as an institution.
Yet, this important message can be lost or obscured when individuals within the university post contrary personal beliefs on campus-affiliated web pages, as is the case with this post. As a result, SF State is taking corrective action and will affirm this core principle in its social media policies and practices to avoid confusion and better safeguard the university’s web presence in the future.
Leslie E. Wong
President
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Here is how the AMCHA Initiative (a pro-Jewish-Israel organization based in California) reported it. In addition, they responded with a letter to CSU Chancellor Timothy White and the CSU trustees protesting Abdulhadi's response (using SFSU web pages no less), which was followed by more anti-semitic activity on campus.
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On Mar 26, 2018, at 5:31 PM, White, Timothy <twhite@calstate.edu> wrote:
Ms. Rossman-Benjamin,
Thank you for reaching out to me and the Board of Trustees regarding a post by San Francisco State’s faculty member Rabab Abdulhadi, which was responding to President Wong’s recent comments to the campus community (http://news.sfsu.edu/announcements/message- president-wong-sf-state- community). Because this post appears on a site that affiliates with the San Francisco State University name, it carries the implication that it reflects the views of the university - when in fact Professor Abdulhadi’s statement explicitly contradicts the principles of inclusion that are central to the values, mission and policies of San Francisco State and the California State University (http://news.sfsu.edu/sites/ default/files/assets/ announcements/Chancellor% 20White%20Memo%20-%20CSU% 20Commitment%20to%20Inclusive% 20Excellence%201-29-18.pdf). President Wong and his staff took immediate corrective action with this faculty member regarding the post, and have communicated on this matter to the campus community (https://news.sfsu.edu/announcements/message- president-wong-your-voice-our- identity ). As I write you, it is not yet clear whether this faculty member will comply with the request. If not, the University will explore all appropriate options with respect to this conduct. SFSU is also updating its social media policies and practices to help prevent this type of situation and better safeguard the university’s web presence. Again, thank you for contacting me on this matter.Sincerely,TimTimothy P. White, ChancellorThe California State UniversityOffice of the Chancellor
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And AMCHA's response (May 28):
Hopefully, some house cleaning is coming at SFSU. It would be long overdue. The actions of AMCHA Initiative over the past several years has shown that positive changes can be made to a university system badly in need of change. It will take a long time to overcome the leftist teachings in our universities. When it comes to hatreds like anti-semitism, however, the changes must come promptly and fast. In the past few years, that campus has experienced serious and threatening expressions of hate and violence expressed by pro-Palestinian students. Until, there has been virtually no action taken to make Jewish students feel safe on campus. Hopefully, that is coming to an end, but the public needs to remain watchful.
And AMCHA's response (May 28):
Dear Chancellor White and CSU Trustees,Thank you very much for your swift and appropriate response to our groups' letter regarding the hateful and discriminatory message that was posted on the official social media page of the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas program in the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University. We greatly appreciate your prompt attention to this matter, as well as President Wong’s statement clearly noting that the post was unacceptable, that corrective action would be taken, and that the university’s web presence would be better safeguarded from such misuse in the future. We commend you for standing up against this type of exclusionary behavior that fosters intolerance and puts all students at risk.We would also like to point out that such departmental misbehavior does not happen in a vacuum. If the head of an academic unit is willing to use her program’s official social media platform to target a group of students on campus with hateful and discriminatory messages, it is reasonable to ask whether such messages are also being conveyed in the classroom or conference hall. We hope that you will fully investigate AMED, and any other academic unit on a CSU campus that would misuse the university’s name and resources to promote hatred and bigotry against CSU students.Thank you again for your commitment to addressing this matter,
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Hopefully, some house cleaning is coming at SFSU. It would be long overdue. The actions of AMCHA Initiative over the past several years has shown that positive changes can be made to a university system badly in need of change. It will take a long time to overcome the leftist teachings in our universities. When it comes to hatreds like anti-semitism, however, the changes must come promptly and fast. In the past few years, that campus has experienced serious and threatening expressions of hate and violence expressed by pro-Palestinian students. Until, there has been virtually no action taken to make Jewish students feel safe on campus. Hopefully, that is coming to an end, but the public needs to remain watchful.
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