Local politicians are asking Brooklyn College to cancel a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) event scheduled for Thursday evening, while civil rights and Arab-American groups believe the event should be allowed to go forward.
SJP, a grassroots network of students and recent graduates with chapters on university campuses throughout the country, has planned a conversation between Columbia Professor Katherine Franke and academic Steven Salaita. The event will focus on “the constant push by Zionists to silence academic discourse on the Palestinian struggle and criticisms of Israel,” according to the event’s Facebook page.
Assemblymember Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Brooklyn) has written a letter to Brooklyn College President Karen Gould, urging her to cancel the lecture despite it being co-sponsored by several academic departments. Assemblymember Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) has also asked the university to withdraw its invitation to the speakers for the event. The requests come just a day after a terrorist attack upon worshippers at a synagogue in Jerusalem, which prompted the NYPD to ramp up security at Jewish houses of worship throughout the five boroughs.
“Yesterday, innocent people were attacked with axes and guns while they stood in synagogue with their heads bowed in prayer,” said Hikind. “These men were not settlers —they were rabbis and teachers living in Jerusalem. The Jews attacked in France and Belgium aren’t so-called settlers either. But they are targeted because hatred against the Jewish people is spreading further and further.”
“With daily terror attacks raging throughout Israel and the Middle East, academic departments should be sponsoring events that promote unity and reconciliation — not hatred and division,” Cymbrowitz said.