Tag Archives: SJP

EVENT
Real Talk: Expulsion, Occupation, and Demolition

From sjpevent Henry Prine ’18:

Meet Palestinians from Susiya and Umm al-Khair, West Bank. Join Fatma,
Hamoudi, Aysar, Eid, Nima, and Sadin for a conversation about their
lives in Palestine. They are not academics. They are living in
undocumented villages in the South Hebron Hills. These villages are
located in Area C, the part of the West Bank under full Israeli
control since 1993.

Expelled from their original land, Susiya, in 1986, these Palestinians
have been under constant threat of demolition by the state of Israel.
People stay up every night in case Caterpillar bulldozers ride up
accompanied by soldiers. Come listen to their stories, and join the
conversation that even a US Senator has. They are excited to meet you.

There will be food served. Thai food. Facebook event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1724225127807536/)

Date: Wednesday, September 30
Time: 4:15-6:00 PM
Place: Allbritton 103

FEATURED
[UPDATED] Wes Drops Sabra: Stirring up the Hummus

Update (12/9/14 12:13PM): The WSA Dining Committee has released the following statement based on developments over the weekend:

As many people on and off campus are aware, Wesleyan recently switched from stocking Sabra hummus to a local brand, Cedar’s. Though we made this change in the interest of sustainability and reducing our carbon footprint, it unfortunately has been misinterpreted in the media and elsewhere as a political statement in support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. In order to clarify our continued political neutrality, and to give students a choice, we will be stocking both Sabra and Cedar’s hummus, starting in January.

Obviously, this is big news that counteracts the political/ethical implications of destocking Sabra hummus. Given that this is the first notice of these changes, we have no statement from those involved in the campaign to remove Sabra, as of yet. We will update this article again with any further developments.

Update (12/9/14 7:08PM): A statement has been released by Yael Horowitz ’17, Students for Justice in Palestine, and “another group of concerned students”:

We are extremely disappointed in the University’s decision to put Sabra Hummus back on the shelves. It is not an ethical response, but is instead motivated by public relations and the opinions of President Michael Roth. Student opinion is against Israeli apartheid and occupation, and we will continue to make this known. This is not the end of the conversation.

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EVENT
Mizrahi Mothers, Wrapped in the Flag: Ultra-Nationalism, Apartheid, and the Divinity of Bureaucracy in Israel, a talk by Smadar Lavie

Henry Prine ’18 writes in:

Israeli anthropologist Smadar Lavie will be delivering a talk about her new book, Wrapped in the Flag of Israel: Mizrahi Single Mothers and Bureaucratic Torture (Berghahn Books, 2014). The project explores the relationship between Mizrahi social protest movements in the State of Israel, violence in Gaza, protest movements in the surrounding Islamic World, and the possibility of further conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians, or Israel and its Arab neighbor states.

Smadar Lavie is a scholar in residence at the Beatrice Bain Research Group, UC Berkeley’s critical feminist research center, and is also a visiting professor at the Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century University College Cork. She is the author of The Poetics of Military Occupation, receiving the Honorable Mention of the Victor Turner Award for Ethnographic Writing, and co-editor of Displacement, Diaspora, and Geographies of Identity. She is the winner of the American Studies Association’s 2009 Gloria Anzaldúa Prize and the recipient of the 2013 “Heart at East” Honor Plaque for service on behalf of Mizrahi communities in the State of Israel.

This event is funded by the Department of Anthropology & Wesleyan Students for Justice in Palestine, and is co-sponsored by the Middle Eastern Studies program, along with the New Haven chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace.

This event is free and open to the public, and is wheelchair accessible.

For more information contact J. K?haulani Kauanui, Associate Professor of American Studies and Anthropology at jkauanui[at]wesleyan[dot]edu.

Date: Today!
Time: 4:30-6 PM
Place: Judd Hall, Room 116

Mizrahi Mothers Wrapped in the Flag: Ultra-Nationalism, Apartheid, and the Divinity of Bureaucracy in Israel

Professor J. Kehaulani Kauanui writes in:

Israeli anthropologist Smadar Lavie will be delivering a talk about her new book, Wrapped in the Flag of Israel: Mizrahi Single Mothers and Bureaucratic Torture (Berghahn Books, 2014). The project explores the relationship between Mizrahi social protest movements in the State of Israel, violence in Gaza, protest movements in the surrounding Islamic World, and the possibility of further conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians, or Israel and its Arab neighbor states.

Smadar Lavie is a scholar in residence at the Beatrice Bain Research Group, UC Berkeley’s critical feminist research center, and is also a visiting professor at the Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century University College Cork. She is the author of The Poetics of Military Occupation, receiving the Honorable Mention of the Victor Turner Award for Ethnographic Writing, and co-editor of Displacement, Diaspora, and Geographies of Identity. She is the winner of the American Studies Association’s 2009 Gloria Anzaldúa Prize and the recipient of the 2013 “Heart at East” Honor Plaque for service on behalf of Mizrahi communities in the State of Israel.

This event is funded by the Department of Anthropology & Wesleyan Students for Justice in Palestine, and is co-sponsored by the Middle Eastern Studies program, along with the New Haven chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace.

This event is free and open to the public, and is wheelchair accessible.

Date: Tomorrow, Monday, November 17, 2014
Time: 4:30pm – 6:00pm
Place: Judd Hall, Rm. 116
Facebook: Event

FEATURED
Flashmob in Usdan, Students Demand Justice for Accused Immigrant Rights Activist

Around 12:30 today, there was a flashmob in Usdan in support of Rasmea Odeh, the prominent Chicago area immigrants’ rights activist jailed by US authorities late last month. Students involved performed a rendition of traditional Palestinian folk dance and distributed fliers. Some members from Students for Justice in Palestine were among the flash mobbers. The action comes after the involved students tabled in Usdan yesterday, collecting signatures for a petition demanding the charges against Odeh be dropped.

The 67 year old US citizen is accused of falsifying a line on her immigration form over 20 years ago. She fled Palestine after allegedly suffering rape and torture at the hands of the Israeli military in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Her trial will begin in Detroit tomorrow.

See pictures of the action below:

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FEATURED
Students Publish Disorientation Guide to Activism at Wes

So maybe you’re a freshman, nervous and overwhelmed by all the information coming at you about classes, housing, what to bring from home – and are feeling like you can’t even begin to think about bigger issues on campus. Or maybe you’re a senior and feel like you’ve gotten this far and never really involved yourself in any social/political engagement on campus, so now it’s way too late and where would you even begin if you wanted to. Wherever you might stand, activism at Wes can seem like a huge, widespread and unnavigable thing.

Thankfully, some very committed students are trying to change that sentiment and make activism within the Wesleyan world an approachable and cohesive community. This past week, the Disorientation Guide was released through the University Organizing Center site to bring together the wide-ranging issues affecting us into one document. The entire Disorientation zine can be downloaded here, and I strongly recommend that everyone take a look at it.

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FEATURED
Wesleyan Joins “Open Hillel” Movement

In recent months, colleges around the nation have started challenging Hillel International over their policy surrounding Israel discourse. The movement first started at Harvard, where the local Hillel was barred by the national organization from co-sponsoring a discussion with a Palestinian student group.

Swarthmore became the first “Open Hillel” in early December, declaring that they will no longer abide by the guidelines presented by Hillel national. In their official statement, Swarthmore’s Hillel declared that, “All are welcome to walk through our doors and speak with our name and under our roof, be they Zionist, anti-Zionist, post-Zionist, or non-Zionist.”

Hillel’s official guidelines specify that groups or speakers that deny the right of Israel to exist, support the BDS (boycott, divest and sanction) movement or, “delegitimize, demonize or apply a double standard to Israel” will not be hosted by the organization.

The movement has been met with backlash, especially from the national Hillel organization. As quoted in the New York Times, Eric Fingerhut, the president and chief executive of Hillel, responded to the movement by stating that, “ ‘anti-Zionists’ will not be permitted to speak using the Hillel name or under the Hillel roof, under any circumstances.”

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FEATURED
The College Bubble: A Higher Ed Round-Up

Elizabeth Warren continues to be a powerful force in the campaign to fix the student loan system. Warren spoke at a recent hearing for the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions committee, saying that although the interest rate necessary to cover the cost of the student loan program without making a profit would be about 2.5%, the government is charging students nearly twice that amount for undergraduate loans, and even more for graduate and direct loans. But Warren has come under fire from critics who say that the figures she is using in her argument are wrong.

In the follow-up to the controversy surrounding the suspension of Northeastern‘s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine by the school,

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FEATURED
The College Bubble: A Higher Ed Round-Up

The recent news that a Wesleyan student is suing Psi U due to rape allegations has sparked debate over the role of fraternities in sexual assault, and their presence on college campuses. Zach Schonfeld ’13 has written two in-depth articles on the matter. The first explores the history of various universities that have decided to get rid of their fraternities, and the follow-up wondering if Wesleyan will be the next to do the same.

A recent piece in The Nation explores the worrying fate of publically engaged academic intellectuals in the university system, reflecting on the recent firings of two Columbia professors.

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FEATURED
Roth Denounces ASA, Alums Respond

roth toast

In case you missed it, Wesleyan’s own Great Helmsman, Michael Roth, was all over the headlines during winter break for his crushing denunciation of the American Studies Association (ASA) and their decision to join the global academic boycott of Israeli academic institutions. The controversial op-ed ran in several major papers, including the Hartford Courant and the LA Times, drawing mixed reactions. Alums have responded with a petition, calling Roth out on his participation in anti-apartheid organizing at Wes in the 1970’s and critiquing his position. Roth has called the ASA resolution (it’s short, I encourage folks to read it for themselves) a “repugnant attack on academic freedom.” The ASA says their resolution is an act of scholarly solidarity with longstanding calls from Palestinian civil society for a boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign against the Israeli state and the apparatus of occupation.

Roth’s basic argument is that the resolution restricts the “academic freedom” of scholars inside Israel and unfairly singles out the country. His critics have said that such restrictions are exactly what the resolution seeks to address, pointing out that the resolution in fact stresses greater dialogue with Israeli academics, albeit free of their official institutional affiliations.

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