Dr. Wim Wiewel
President
Portland State University

Dear President Wiewel,

My organization, “JewHatredonCampus.org,” has published a list of the 10 Most Anti-Semitic college campuses, which includes Portland State University. Our list has been published on websites that reach more than 100 million viewers.

The specific events meriting the inclusion of Portland State on this list include:

The strong presence on campus of a group calling itself Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (SUPER) which has initiated harassment of Jewish and pro-Israel students on multiple occasions, posted inflammatory messages on social media, and demonized Israel, the Jewish state.

The organization of an “Israeli Apartheid Week” at Portland State featuring a mock apartheid wall plastered with anti-Israel propaganda designed to portray Israel, the only liberal democracy in the Middle East, as an apartheid state. This event is part of an international genocidal campaign to delegitimize and destroy the state of Israel. Students reported that the “apartheid wall” was displayed throughout the entire spring term, weather-permitting.

An event featuring Professor Omar Barghouti, founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The BDS movement is an anti-Semitic campaign – described as such by former Harvard president Larry Summers, whose purpose is to destroy the Jewish state. Barghouti, ignoring the existence of 57 Islamic states, has declared, “Let’s be very honest, forget democracy. This is an ethnocracy… this is a Jewish supremacist state.”

An event featuring anti-Israel poet Remi Kanazi who spoke about the BDS movement through a spoken word workshop, “America is the Belly of the Beast.” Kanazi has said, “I don’t want to coexist. I want to exist as a human being. And justice will take care of the rest.”

Students report that SUPER defaced event posters of the Cultural and Historical Association for Israel (CHAI) last year for multiple events. During spring quarter 2014, sidewalk graffiti that read, “Israel did 9/11,” was suspected to have been perpetrated by SUPER members.

The president of SUPER verbally assaulted a Jewish student who was tabling for the movie The Case for Israel. On another occasion, another student was called “a murderer” and was told she should be ashamed of herself for displaying an Israeli flag.

We believe that these activities violate Portland State University’s policy on “Prohibited Discrimination and Harassment” which states that:

Portland State University’s faculty, staff, and students are responsible for maintaining an environment for work and study free from prohibited discrimination and harassment. Portland State University (PSU) is committed to providing all students, faculty and staff an equal opportunity in education and employment and an environment free from discrimination, harassment and retaliation… Discrimination means excluding from participation, denying the benefits of, or otherwise subjecting an individual or group of individuals to different treatment based on “Protected Class,” which includes age, disability, national origin, race, color, marital status, veteran status, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, genetic information…

Additionally, Portland State’s Mission Statement holds that:

The pursuit of our vision rests on our success in transforming undergraduate education, our growing research programs, our strong collaboration with the community, and the core values we hold. These values describe not only what PSU is now, but what it will be in the future: Learning and Discovery, Access to Learning, A Climate of Mutual Respect, Openness and Reflection and Community and Civic Engagement…PSU values diversity and fosters a climate of mutual respect and reflection that supports different beliefs and points of view and the open exchange of ideas.

 References: https://www.pdx.edu/ogc/sites/www.pdx.edu.ogc/files/Policy_on_Prohibited_Discrimination_and_Harassment.Final_.pdf; https://www.pdx.edu/portland-state-university-mission 

Evidently, in the eyes of the Portland State administration, Jewish students are not protected under these policies. This is the primary reason for Portland State’s inclusion in the list of 10 Most Anti-Semitic campuses, and one we would like you to remedy.

These actions, which have been led by SUPER on your campus, violate Portland State’s anti-discrimination policy and create a hostile environment for Jewish and pro-Israel students on your campus. Why is SUPER receiving funding and other campus privileges from Portland State, when its very purpose violates Portland State University policy?

As an organization dedicated to combating campus anti-Semitism, we offer our assistance in rectifying this disturbing situation on your campus and ensuring that Jewish students at Portland State University can live and study in an environment free from fear and harassment.

I would recommend that your first step be to conduct an immediate inquiry into whether the organization SUPER, which is responsible for these actions, is violating your policy on “Prohibited Discrimination and Harassment” and your “Mission Statement.” If you conclude this is the case, then you should remove their campus privileges and funding. This will send a strong message that harassment and intimidation of any minority, including Jews, will not be tolerated at Portland State.

Please contact me at the address below to let me know your plan of action, or if there is any way we can assist you to ensure that Portland State once again becomes a safe and welcoming environment for Jewish students.

Respectfully,

David Horowitz
www.jewhatredoncampus.org