Hat tip AMCHA Initiative
I am posting below three documents I just received from my friends and colleagues at the AMCHA Initiative. It has come to light that the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Binghamton University have published a Declaration of Principles and Strategies that have to do with their organizational goal of delegitimizing the Jewish state of Israel. One of their strategies, explicitly stated, is to disrupt pro-Israel events on campus, which would take away the free speech rights of the people concerned). Below is the letter that AMCHA has sent to universities with SJP chapters as well as the Binghamton president in particular. There are links to the referenced document.
AMCHA REVEALS INTERNAL SJP DOC CALLING FOR ILLEGAL
ACTION
15 Groups Call on 100 Presidents of Universities with
SJP Chapters to Prevent Behavior and Protect Jewish Students
Santa Cruz, CA, Oct. 28, 2014 – Fifteen Jewish and
education advocacy groups, today, wrote to the presidents of more than 100 universities with
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters to warn them of an internal SJP
document containing a strategy for disrupting pro-Israel student events, conduct
subject to prosecution under state criminal laws. In 2010, 10 students were
convicted for disrupting Israeli ambassador Michael Oren’s speech at the
University of California, Irvine.
The
foundational document of the SJP group at Binghamton University (SUNY), entitled
"Declaration of Principles and Strategies," describes itself as
“a collection and elucidation of several resolutions and collective decisions
formulated and approved by the membership of Binghamton University Students for
Justice in Palestine.”
In
the “With Regards to Tactics and Strategies Used to Counter Zionist
Normalization” section, the document spells out a strategy for disrupting
pro-Israel events. According to the document, “…it was decided via general
consensus that, depending on the attendance levels of individual SJP members at
such events, the following tactics would be most appropriate...[If more than 6
SJP members are present, these tactics include] engaging in a non-violent
disruption of the event in question."
The
disruption of on-campus events violates New York State law. Sec. 240.20 of the
New York Penal Law outlaws “disorderly conduct,” which includes “without lawful
authority,…disturb(ing) any lawful assembly or meeting of persons.” All U.S.
states have similar laws restricting the disruption of public events if this
same tactic were to be employed by other SJP chapters.
“The document is extremely troubling in that it outlines
a clear strategy for targeting, ostracizing, harassing and silencing students…,”
wrote the groups. “…it advocates behavior consistent with ‘anti-Zionist
normalization’ campaigns being waged by SJP groups across the country, whose
explicit purpose, according to the Anti-Defamation League, is to delegitimize
all pro-Israel perspectives and actively suppress their expression on college
campuses. These campaigns have resulted in dozens of Jewish and pro-Israel
students’ events being disrupted and Jewish and pro-Israel students feeling
harassed, intimidated, and stripped of their constitutionally-protected freedom
of expression and association.”
The
document also prohibits SJP leaders and members from collaborating with
specifically-named Jewish and pro-Israel student organizations. According to
the groups, “…the SJP group’s a priori rejection of any interaction with
Jewish and pro-Israel student groups – or with any other group that is deemed to
have collaborated with them – bespeaks of prejudice, bigotry and a lack of
tolerance and civility, behavior that should not be tolerated from a registered
student group on any campus.”
Earlier this fall, many of these same groups wrote to
more than 2,500 U.S. colleges and universities urging them to protect Jewish
students on campus in light of rising antisemitism in America and abroad. In
particular, the letter raised concerns over SJP, which the signatories note has
a history of “harassing and intimidating Jewish students.” The letter cited
several recent incidents, including one at Temple University in which a
pro-Israel student was physically and verbally assaulted by SJP members, as well
as SJP’s planting of anti-Israel mock eviction notices under students’ dorm
rooms on multiple campuses.
Today’s letter and a letter to the president of
Binghamton University are below.
The
AMCHA Initiative is a non-profit organization, based in California, dedicated to
investigating, documenting, educating about, and combating antisemitism at
institutions of higher education in America. AMCHA Initiative’s efforts are
bolstered by a network of more than 5,000 members and supporters of the Jewish
community -- including university alumni, parents and grandparents, rabbis,
religious school principals and synagogue members -- who have joined together to
speak in one voice to ensure the safety and well-being of Jewish students on
college and university campuses across the country.
Dear
President,
Last month, you received a letter from 14 organizations
informing you about some of the anti-Semitic harassment and intimidation tactics
employed by the group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and urging you to
take adequate steps to ensure the safety of Jewish students on your
campus.
As
a follow-up to that letter, we would like to inform you of a troubling
revelation about one particular SJP chapter that may be relevant to the safety
and well-being of Jewish and pro-Israel students on your own
campus.
A
foundational document of the SJP group at Binghamton University, entitled "Declaration of Principles and Strategies,” recently came to
our attention. The document is extremely troubling in that it outlines a clear
strategy for targeting, ostracizing, harassing, and silencing students on campus
who oppose the boycott of Israel or who support or simply attend a program or
event with which the SJP disagrees.
In
a section entitled "With Regards to SJP's Interaction with Zionist Student
Organizations," the document prohibits SJP leaders and members from
collaborating or cooperating with specifically-named Jewish and pro-Israel
student organizations, as well as with any group that has “aided and abetted
Zionist student organizations.” Although a student organization is certainly
free to choose its partners for collaboration and cooperation, the SJP
group's a priori rejection of any interaction with Jewish and pro-Israel
student groups – or with any other group that is deemed to have “collaborated"
with them – bespeaks of prejudice, bigotry, and a lack of tolerance and
civility, behavior that should not be tolerated from a student group on any
campus.
Far
more troubling, however, is the section of the document entitled "With Regards
to Tactics and Strategies Used to Counter Zionist Normalization," which spells
out a strategy for not only protesting certain student events, but also for
actually disrupting them, simply because the SJP disagrees with the views that
might be expressed there. In calling for the disruption of other student
groups' events, the SJP group is advocating behavior that violates Binghamton’s
Student Code of Conduct, and may well be inciting criminal conduct in violation
of New York State law prohibiting the disturbance of a lawful meeting or
event.
We
are bringing this document to your attention because it advocates behavior
consistent with “anti-Zionist normalization” campaigns being waged by SJP groups
across the country, whose explicit purpose, according to the Anti-Defamation League, is to delegitimize all pro-Israel
perspectives and actively suppress their expression on college campuses. These
campaigns have resulted in dozens of Jewish and pro-Israel students’ events
being disrupted, and Jewish and pro-Israel students feeling harassed,
intimidated, and stripped of their constitutionally-protected freedom of
expression and association. (See HERE for a sample of Israel-related events that have been
disrupted by SJP students on more than 20 U.S. campuses).
Moreover, if members of the SJP orchestrated a
disruption of a campus event, such conduct could subject them to prosecution and
conviction under state criminal laws – which is precisely what happened to
members of the anti-Israel student group at the University of California, Irvine
after they carried out their plan to disrupt a speech by Israel’s
then-ambassador to the U.S.
We
therefore urge you to carefully monitor the behavior of the SJP group on your
campus and to ensure that its members' conduct conforms to university policy and
the law, and that the group does not threaten or infringe on the rights of other
members of your university community.
Sincerely,
Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity (AEPi)
AMCHA Initiative
American Association of Jewish Lawyers and
Jurists
Americans for Peace and Tolerance
David Horowitz Freedom Center
Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET)
Hasbara Fellowships
Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel
National Conference on Jewish Affairs
Proclaiming Justice to the Nations
Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
Simon Wiesenthal Center
StandWithUs
The
Lawfare Project
Zionist Organization of America
***********************************************
President Harvey G.
Stenger
Binghamton
University
State University of New
York
4400 Vestal Parkway
East
Binghamton, NY
13902
Dear President
Stenger,
We represent 15
organizations with hundreds of thousands of members and supporters nationwide,
who are deeply concerned for the safety and well-being of Jewish students on
campuses across the country. We have particular concerns about Jewish students
on your campus, based on the marginalizing, intimidating and bigoted tactics
that we have reason to believe may be used against them by Students for Justice
in Palestine (SJP), a student group established at Binghamton University (BU)
less than one year ago.
We were recently
made aware of an on-line document entitled "Declaration of Principles and Strategies”. The document
purports to be "a collection and elucidation of several resolutions and
collective decisions formulated and approved by the membership of Binghamton
University Students for Justice in Palestine." It outlines "principles and
strategies" generally agreed upon by the BU SJP membership.
As a
foundational document of a student group at your university, the "Declaration of
Principles and Strategies" is extremely troubling. The SJP's document outlines a
strategy for targeting, ostracizing, harassing, and silencing students on your
campus who oppose the boycott of Israel or who support or simply attend a
program or event with which the SJP disagrees.
In a section
entitled "With Regards to SJP's Interaction with Zionist Student Organizations,"
the document prohibits SJP leaders and members from collaborating or cooperating
with eight specifically-named Jewish and pro-Israel student organizations.
Going further, the “Declaration” prohibits collaboration even with any group
that has “aided and abetted Zionist student organizations.” The SJP’s goal is
crystal clear: to single out Jewish and pro-Israel student groups, isolate
them, and cut them off from other student groups in the university community.
Although a
student organization is certainly free to choose its partners for collaboration
and cooperation, the BU SJP group's a priori rejection of any interaction
with Jewish and pro-Israel student groups – or with any other groups that is
deemed to have “collaborated" with them – bespeaks of prejudice, bigotry, and a
lack of tolerance and civility, violating BU's commitment to being "an inclusive
community within a framework of academic freedom and respect."
Far more
troubling, however, is the section of the document entitled "With Regards to
Tactics and Strategies Used to Counter Zionist Normalization," which spells out
a strategy for not only protesting certain student events, but also for
actually disrupting them, simply because the SJP disagrees with the views that
might be expressed there. Particularly troubling is the go-ahead given to SJP
members to employ any other tactic and strategy, provided that the tactic or
strategy is “within the bounds of what is not widely considered to be legally
reprehensible.” One can only imagine what the SJP might deem acceptable and not
“widely considered to be legally reprehensible.”
As you are well
aware, in calling for the disruption of other student groups' on-campus events,
the SJP is advocating behavior that violates BU's Student Code of Conduct, which
repeatedly emphasizes BU’s objective to be “a richly diverse and inclusive
community.” (See http://www.binghamton.edu/student-handbook/rules.pdf.)
Consistent with that goal, the Code requires all members of the BU community to
“conduct themselves lawfully, maturely and respectfully. . . . Conduct that
interferes with or threatens the rights of others, either in or out of the
classroom, or interferes with or prohibits the operation of the University, is
not condoned.”
In addition,
while acknowledging First Amendment freedoms, the Code rightly makes it clear
that those freedoms cannot be exercised at the expense of the rights of others,
noting that ”abusing the rights of any one person or group ultimately endangers
the rights of all.” Accordingly, the Code specifically prohibits “disorderly or
disruptive conduct that interferes with the normal operations of the University
or infringes on the rights of others” – exactly the kind of conduct that the SJP
is apparently encouraging its members to engage in.
Besides
encouraging behavior that violates the letter and spirit of BU’s Student Code of
Conduct, the SJP may well be inciting criminal conduct in violation of New York
State law. Sec. 240.20 of the New York Penal Law outlaws “disorderly conduct,”
which includes “without lawful authority, . . . disturb[ing] any lawful assembly
or meeting of persons.”
The SJP’s
apparent plans at BU are already being carried out by this group on campuses
across the country, resulting in dozens of Jewish and pro-Israel students’
events being disrupted and causing these students to feel harassed and
intimidated. (See HERE for a sample of Israel-related events that have been
disrupted by SJP students on more than 20 U.S. campuses.) According to the
Anti-Defamation League, the explicit purpose of the SJP’s “anti-Zionist
normalization” campaigns is to delegitimize all pro-Israel perspectives and
actively suppress their expression on college campuses. (See http://www.adl.org/israel-international/anti-israel-activity/c/anto-normalization-campaign.html).
We urge you to
review the SJP’s “Declaration of Principles and Strategies” and consider the
implications if they are carried out on your campus. Given the alarming upsurge
in anti-Semitism around the world and right here in the U.S., it is crucial that
the behavior of this group be carefully monitored. We urge you to ensure that
the SJP upholds BU’s goal of diversity and inclusiveness, that the group’s
conduct conforms to university policy and the law, and that the SJP does not
threaten or infringe on the rights of other members of your university
community.
Sincerely,
Alpha Epsilon Pi
Fraternity (AEPi)
AMCHA
Initiative
American
Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists
Americans for
Peace and Tolerance
David Horowitz
Freedom Center
Endowment for
Middle East Truth (EMET)
Hasbara
Fellowships
Institute for
Black Solidarity with Israel
National
Conference on Jewish Affairs
Proclaiming
Justice to the Nations
Scholars for
Peace in the Middle East
Simon Wiesenthal
Center
StandWithUs
The Lawfare
Project
Zionist
Organization of America
Cc: SUNY
Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher
SUNY
Board of Trustees
NY Board
of Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch
NY Board
of Regents Vice Chancellor Anthony S. Bottar
NY State
Senate Education Committee Chair John J. Flanagan
NY State
Assembly Education Committee Chair Catherine Nolan
NY State
Senator Tom Libous (District 52)
NY State
Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo (District 123)
NY State
Comptroller Thomas P DiNapoli
Governor
Andrew M. Cuomo
U.S.
Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand
U.S.
Senator Charles E. Schumer
U.S.
Representative Richard L. Hanna (NY District 22)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If SJP is so concerned with disciplining members who express anti-Semitism, they might call in their own founder to ask him a few questions. That would be Hatem Bazian, currently a professor at UC Berkeley. Over the past several years of his anti-Israel agitation, he has been accused of quoting that warm and fuzzy hadith that talks about the Day of Judgment when the "Jews will hide behind rocks and trees and the rocks and trees will call out to the Muslim, 'Oh Muslim: There is a Jew behind me. Come and kill him"'. Bazian has also been alleged to have told a campus audience he was speaking to that they should count the number of buildings on campus to see how many had Jewish names. I attempted to question him about those allegations when he spoke at UC Irvine a few years back, and he danced all around them. I never did get a straight answer. Maybe the "human rights activists" at SJP can.
As I understand it, SJP is affiliated with Bazian's most recent organization, American Muslims for Palestine. I wonder if Mr Bazian has any connection this latest strategy as expressed by a chapter of the organization he founded. I'm not saying he does, but if he doesn't, I think he should publicly condemn it. I would also think that the University of California at Berkeley would expect as much from one of its professors.
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