Attacks on SJP national conference another attempt to shut down pro-human rights advocacy

(CHICAGO 10/12/2011) – The American Muslims for Palestine condemns in the harshest possible terms attacks made by the Anti-Defamation League against the organizers of the national Students for Justice in Palestine conference, which is taking place at Columbia University this weekend. The ADL, which says it works to protect civil rights for all, instead works diligently to deprive Americans of their guaranteed right of free speech when that speech questions policies and practices of Israel that are illegal under international law and which deprive the Palestinian people of their basic human rights.

“SJP chapters across the country are autonomous student groups with no national structure,” said Dr. Hatem Bazian, AMP chairman and co-founder of the first SJP chapter at the University of California, Berkeley. “These students came together, on their own, to organize this conference. They need to be commended for their dedication and commitment, not vilified and threatened by a multi-million-dollar organization, which has a vested interest in conflating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism.”

The ADL, along with other right-wing individuals, are spreading malicious, libelous and Islamophobic propaganda to smear these students and to pressure Columbia University to prohibit the conference from taking place. AMP calls upon Columbia President Lee Bollinger and his administration to stand firm against this pressure and to uphold his university’s commitment to the free exchange of ideas that have made our universities among the best around the world.

Columbia must stand behind these students because by doing so this venerable institution is also standing for the freedoms of speech and assembly, which are guaranteed by the Bill of Rights for all people.

For AMP's newest booklet: The Anti-Defamation League: Protector of civil rights or silencer of free speech?, click here.

For AMP’s letter to President Bollinger, click here.

For recent article about anti-Semitism charge against Columbia, click here.