Organizing In A Climate of Fear: Pro-Palestine Campus Organizers Speak Out

Office Hours Higher Ed

For today’s podcast we’re sharing interviews with two student activists involved in Palestine solidarity organizing on their campuses. Instead of our usual format where we bring all of our guests together for a discussion, today we’re bringing you two interviews back to back. Our guests focus on the ongoing repression that activists are facing at their universities. As our listeners may know, anti-Palestinian repression on campuses is intensifying. At the time of this recording Rutgers has just suspended its SJP chapter and the DOE is launching an investigation into organizing on multiple campuses.

Guests:

Our first guest is Jannine Masoud, a law student at Rutgers University, member of the National Lawyers Guild, and Palestine solidarity activist for over a decade.

Our second guest is going by “X”, and is a law student and student organizer at UCLA School of Law.

Also, a note on our interview with X: due to the intense climate of harassment and doxxing of pro-Palestine organizers, X has asked that their voice be distorted in order to protect their identity. So if you’re wondering why the audio sounds a little strange - that’s why.

Faculty, staff, and student listeners: support your campus SJP or Palestine solidarity group! Pressure your union to sign on to labor calls for a ceasefire now. Demand that administrators protect students from harassment. Demand that your union protect academic workers from retaliation.

If you are a faculty member (which they define to include any campus worker who supports student learning), consider joining the newly formed Faculty for Justice in Palestine.

Relevant links:

Palestinian Freedom, Antisemitism Accusations, and Civil Rights Law - LPE Project

Rutgers-New Brunswick suspends pro-Palestine student group – NBC10 Philadelphia

Penn president resigns after antisemitism criticism | AP News

SJP Statement 12_13_23.pdf

Rutgers Faculty For Justice in Palestine Releases Statement