AMCHA Initiative Letter to SFSU President Les Wong

With the latest revelation coming out of San Francisco State University including a Tumblr page in which a student allegedly brandishes and knife and fantasizes about killing Israeli soldiers, the AMCHA Initiative has followed up with another letter to SFSU president Les Wong. Dear President Wong, As you know, a posting from the Tumbler account of GUPS president Mohammad G. Hammad has recently been widely circulated.  The posting includes a photograph showing Mr. Hammad holding a large knife and a caption reading "I seriously cannot get over how much I love this blade. It is the sharpest thing I own and cuts through everything like butter and holding it makes me want to stab an Israeli soldier."  This is a horrifying image, all the more so because Mr. Hammad is the leader of a university-sanctioned and funded student organization that recently hosted an on-campus event glorifying the murder of Jews. Following articles about Mr. Hammad's posting in several Jewish media outlets such as the Jewish Journal and the Jewish Press, members of the Jewish community throughout the state and across the country are understandably outraged at such behavior, and deeply concerned for the safety of Jewish students at SFSU. In light of Mr. Hamad's post threatening violence against Jews and his organization's sponsorship of an event that included the glorification of the killing of Jews, we and many members of the Jewish community want to know what your action plan entails -- what concrete steps you have already taken, and what steps you intend to take in the immediate future -- to keep Jewish students safe from antisemitic harassment and attack on your campus. We believe that if a registered student group or its leader threatened violence against any other student ethnic group, the university would take prompt and concrete actions.  We expect nothing less for Jewish students. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Sincerely, Tammi Rossman-Benjamin Co-founder, AMCHA Initiative Leila Beckwith Co-founder, AMCHA Initiative CC: CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White   CSU Board of Trustees  CSU Interim General Counsel Andrew Jones   Kenneth Monteiro, Dean of College of Ethnic Studies at SFSU California State Senator Leland Y. Yee (San Francisco) California State Senator Mark Leno  (San Francisco) California Assembly Member Philip Y. Ting (San Francisco) California Senator Carol Liu, Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Education California Assembly Member Joan Buchanan, Chair of the Assembly Education Committee California Assembly Member Marc Levine California State Senator Marty Block California Assembly Member Das Williams California Assembly Member Jose Medina California Senator Lois Wolk California Assembly Member Richard Bloom California Assembly Member Steve Fox California Jewish community leaders  BCC: Wide circulation in the Jewish community Here the AMCHA Initiative's alert to the community on this incident: AMCHA Calls on SFSU President to Keep Jewish Students Safe Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. San Francisco State University Update: President of SFSU Student Palestinian Group Wants to Stab Israeli Soldiers ACTION ALERT: Share it - Tweet it - Write to President Wong AMCHA Initiative is committed to protecting Jewish students against antisemitism on college and university campuses. The latest incident by the leader of a University-funded student group goes beyond bullying tactics – by directly threatening Jewish lives. The Simon Wiesenthal Center warned San Francisco State University of a potential threat to its Jewish students after AMCHA Initiative discovered General Union of Palestine Students (GUPS) President Mohammed G. Hammad had posted a picture of himself on Tumblr h­­­­­­olding a knife. The caption underneath read, “I seriously cannot get over how much I love this blade. It is the sharpest thing I own and cuts through everything like butter and holding it makes me want to stab an Israeli soldier”. The picture has since been removed though a cache image still remains. This incident follows on the heels of recent antisemitic activity uncovered by AMCHA Initiative where the same group used stencils glorifying the killing of Jews as part of a campus art project event to commemorate the 6th anniversary of the Edward Said mural. The GUPS event was co-sponsored by the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative (AMED). The question begs to be answered – Are Jewish students at SFSU safe from the threat of violence from GUPS President Mohammed G. Hammad and the students he leads? AMCHA urges the University to protect Jewish students from hostile behavior and threats of violence. It appears that under the leadership of Mohammed G. Hammad, GUPS may be escalating its hostility towards Jewish students. SFSU needs to take appropriate disciplinary action to curb this blatant antisemitism. Take Action: Share it Tweet it Write to President Wong You can see AMCHA’s letter to President Wong HERE. Please consider writing your own letter to President Wong, reiterating AMCHA’s request for him to make his action plan public on how SFSU will work to keep Jewish students safe. If you are an SFSU or CSU student, relative, alumnus, faculty, staff or donor, you may want to note your affiliation with the CSU system in your letter. President Wong can be reached at: president@sfsu.edu Please copy or blind-copy the AMCHA Initiative on your letter at: administrator@AMCHAinitiative.org Here are some CSU and state officials that you may also wish to copy on your letter: CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White – twhite@calstate.edu CSU Board of Trustees – lhernandez@calstate.edu CSU Interim General Counsel Andrew Jones – gajones@calstate.edu California State Senator Leland Y. Yee (San Francisco) - senator.yee@senate.ca.gov California State Senator Mark Leno (San Francisco) - senator.leno@senate.ca.gov California Assembly Member Philip Y. Ting (San Francisco) - assemblymember.ting@assembly.ca.gov California Senator Carol Liu, Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Education - senator.liu@sen.ca.gov California Assembly Member Joan Buchanan, Chair of the Assembly Education Committee - assemblymember.Buchanan@assembly.ca.gov California Assembly Member Marc Levine - assemblymember.levine@assembly.ca.gov California State Senator Marty Block - senator.block@senate.ca.gov California Assembly Member Das Williams - assemblymember.williams@assembly.ca.gov California Assembly Member Jose Medina - assemblymember.medina@assembvly.ca.gov California Senator Lois Wolk - senator.wolk@senate.ca.gov California Assembly Member Richard Bloom - assemblymember.bloom@assembly.ca.gov California Assembly Member Steve Fox - assemblymember.fox@assembly.ca.gov I would like to add a note here. Tammi Rossman-Benjamin,who is a friend and  one of the co-founders of the AMCHA Initiative, is under a relentless attack from the pro-Palestinian thugs on California campuses. The below link may give you an idea of the courageous and valuable work she is doing. http://www.jewishcommunityheroes.org/nominees/profile/tammi-benjamin/ Below is her entry from Rate My Professors: http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=430909 Below is an article about Tammi from Jewish Press http://www.jewishpress.com/news/appealing-jewish-prof-civil-rts-office-removing-recourse-for-jews/2013/10/31/ Thanks to Dusty for sending me these.