We, the undersigned, affirm our unequivocal support for Swarthmore Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and their Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign at Swarthmore College.
This past month, student organizers at Swarthmore have faced targeted online harassment from right-wing social media accounts for their work in solidarity with Palestine. This harassment is not happening in isolation and is no accident. Rather, it is part of a deliberate strategy we see on campuses across the country to intimidate and silence those who organize in support of Palestinian lives and dignity.
While Islamophobia, white supremacy, anti-Semitism, and all forms of injustice are on the rise across the country and the world––and must be vigorously challenged––we deplore these tactics that target movements for justice, falsely and maliciously accusing those organizing for justice in Palestine with anti-Semitism. Indeed, we know that this harassment happening at Swarthmore and on other college campuses across the country is not really about rallying against the rising tides of anti-Semitism; in fact, this kind of unethical behavior does a disservice to the effort to challenge anti-Semitism when it does arise. We also know that this intimidation disproportionately and deliberately targets Palestinian, Black, Indigenous, and Muslim communities.
Above all, we know that this intimidation will not stop the students at Swarthmore, on colleges across the country, or any of us from continuing to organize together as a movement for justice and dignity for all peoples.
To the students at Swarthmore and to all students on campuses across the U.S. who seek a more just world, we’ve got your back.
Signed by:
Ahmad Abuznaid, National Network for Arab American Communities
Sister Aisha al-Adawiya, Women in Islam
Professor Ujju Aggarwal, The New School
Bina Ahmad, human rights attorney
Riham Barghouti, Adalah-NY: Campaign for the Boycott of Israel
Micah Bazant, JVP Artist Council
Elly Bulkin, Jews Against Anti-Muslim Racism (JAAMR)
Professor Angela Davis, Distinguished Professor Emerita, University of California, Santa Cruz
Noura Erakat, human rights attorney
Professor Johanna Fernández, Baruch College, CUNY
Professor Michelle Fine, The Graduate Center, CUNY
Nyle Fort, PhD candidate, Religion and African American Studies, Princeton University
Rachel Gilmer, Dream Defenders
Professor Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Spelman College
Abdeen Jabara, (former) National President, Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee
Andrew Kadi, Steering Committee, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
Professor Robin D.G. Kelley, UCLA
Professor Rashid Khalidi, Columbia University
Maria LaHood, Center for Constitutional Rights
Professor Holly Maguigan, NYU School of Law
Professor Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Syracuse University
Marilyn Kleinberg Neimark, Facing the Nakba Project
Donna Nevel, Jews Say No!
Mark Tseng-Putterman, PhD student, Dept of American Studies, Brown University
Darakshan Raja, Justice for Muslims Collective
Professor Barbara Ransby, University of Illinois at Chicago
Rabbi Brant Rosen, JVP Rabbinical Council
Steven Salaita, writer
Linda Sarsour, NY-based Palestinian Muslim American activist
Professor Alisa Solomon, Columbia University
Rebecca Vilkomerson, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)
Lesley Williams, JVP Chicago Coordinating Committee
Marylin Zuniga, Roses in Concrete Community School
Carol Horwitz, JVP-NYC