Action Alert: Support BDS and Brooklyn College SJP

Please make the calls requested below and forward widely. For background see: http://mondoweiss.net/2013/01/brooklyn-discussed-different.html and http://mondoweiss.net/2013/01/brooklyn-forward-explains.html Action Alert from Brooklyn College Students for Justice in Palestine Brooklyn College SJP has issued […]

Please make the calls requested below and forward widely. For background see:
http://mondoweiss.net/2013/01/brooklyn-discussed-different.html
and
http://mondoweiss.net/2013/01/brooklyn-forward-explains.html

Action Alert from Brooklyn College Students for Justice in Palestine

Brooklyn College SJP has issued the following alert, in response to Zionist attacks, as detailed above, on their planned upcoming event about BDS on February 7 featuring Omar Barghouti and Judith Butler:

 

So I’m sure by now you all have heard about the latest attack on academic freedom at our school (Brooklyn College) by those who side with occupation, apartheid and human rights violations.

Like in Palestine, they want to silence the truth and those who seek to promote justice and equality for all.

Please join us in encouraging Brooklyn College to hold the line against those-especially bullies like Allan Dershowitz who would stifle the open exchange of views on campus.

Please email the people below the following letter. You can also call and leave them a message.

Thanks for all the support and hope you to see you all at the event.

Brooklyn College SJP

PEOPLE TO EMAIL:
President Karen Gould
(718).951.5671
klgould@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Provost William Tramontano
718.951.5864
tramontano@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Director of Communications and Public Relations Jeremy Thompson
718.951.5882
JeremyThompson@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Political Science Dept chairperson – Paisley Currah
718.951.5306
pcurrah@brooklyn.cuny.edu

LETTER

To whom it may concern,

My name is ____________________. I am emailing you to express my support for the event on BDS with Judith Butler and Omar Barghouti organized by Brooklyn College Students for Justice in Palestine.

As the most multi-cultural borough in the city of New York, Brooklyn prides itself in its diversity and understanding of different cultures and its ability to connect different struggles and bring people together under one roof.

Brooklyn College is a public institution of higher education that is known for its excellence in academic freedom and learning. As we all know, human rights and equality for all is something that should matter to everyone regardless of religion, ethnicity or political affiliation. As a student/faculty/staff of Brooklyn College, it is imperative that my school upholds the right to academic freedom as IT IS part of the First Amendment rights enshrined in the United States Constitution.

Academic freedom is a component of freedom of speech which is part of the Bill or Rights in our Constitution. The Supreme Court made it evident with the decision made in the case of Keyishian v. Board of Regents (1967) where they stated: “Our Nation is deeply committed to safeguarding academic freedom, which is of transcendent value to all of us and not merely to the teachers concerned. That freedom is therefore a special concern of the First Amendment, which does not tolerate laws that cast a pall of orthodoxy over the classroom. The vigilant protection of constitutional freedoms is nowhere more vital than in the community of American schools.”

In addition, the Court has drawn a clear link between the importance of academic freedom and the health of our modern liberal democracy. In Sweezy v. New Hampshire (1957), the Court observed: The essentiality of freedom in the community of American universities is almost self-evident… Teachers and students must always remain free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding; otherwise our civilization will stagnate and die.”

As a student/faculty/staff of Brooklyn College I stand behind the decision made by the Political Science Department to co-sponsor/endorse the BDS event being organized by Students for Justice in Palestine and other New York based community groups on February 7th.

This event will educate people on why the Israeli-Palestinian issue is a global issue and why so many individuals from all backgrounds support the non-violent BDS campaign to pressure Israel to comply with international and humanitarian law.

Sincerely

your name

MESSAGE FOR WHEN YOU CALL

My name is ____________________. I am calling to express my support for the BDS event with Judith Butler and Omar Barghouti organized by Students for Justice in Palestine. I stand behind the decision made by the Political Science Department to co-sponsor/endorse the BDS event being organized by Students for Justice in Palestine on February 7th. As a student at Brooklyn College/member of the community, it is fundamental that my school upholds the right to academic freedom as IT IS part of the First Amendment rights of the US Constitution.