Thread by @pal_legal

Middlebury students were attacked for speaking out against Israeli apartheid & ethnic cleansing—like what’s happening in #SaveSheikhJarrah and #DefendGaza.

@Middlebury refused to protect students from racist attacks, and we call on them to do so today.
palestinelegal.org/news/2021/5/12…

After Students for Justice in Palestine launched a campaign to end Israeli apartheid, the group’s posters were vandalized, its Palestinian co-president received threats, and @Middlebury pressured SJP's Jewish co-president to delete language critical of Zionism from their website.

Instead of protecting its students, Middlebury issued a muddled statement associating advocacy for Palestinian equality with antisemitism.

@Middlebury has since refused to make a public statement condemning anti-Palestinian racism and recognizing SJP’s right to exist.

We wrote @Middlebury demanding it take swift action to protect Palestinian students and students supporting Palestinian rights.

The College’s failure to do so may violate the university’s obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. palestinelegal.org/s/Letter-to-Mi…

.@Middlebury was well-informed of the hostile anti-Palestinian environment. However, the college has refused to take any steps to ensure that Palestinian students are able to exist on campus as Palestinians without being bullied or retaliated against.

“@Middlebury's failure to condemn these acts of anti-Palestinian harassment has stripped Palestinian students of our safety, security, and ability to fulfill our academic potential,” said Kamli Faour, the Palestinian co-president of SJP at Middlebury.

.@Middlebury also violated the rights of SJP's Jewish co-president, accusing the student—the grandchild of Holocaust survivors—of antisemitism and bullying them into removing language critical of Zionism from SJP’s site.

This is censorship and an erasure of anti-Zionist Jews.

“They are shifting the conversation away from what’s really important: dismantling Israeli apartheid and the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Zionist voices continue to dominate the narrative at @Middlebury and that needs to stop." - Matt Martignoni, the Jewish co-president of SJP.

TAKE ACTION: Students at Middlebury have been bullied, harassed and censored for challenging Israeli #Apartheid. Tell Middlebury to protect the rights of Palestinians and their allies.

@Middlebury will you say no to anti-Palestinian racism on your campus?
act.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/a/tell-middleb…