Students have filed a lawsuit against Fordham University after being denied permission to begin a Pro-Palestine club.
The Students
Ahmad Awad, Sofia Dadap, Sapphira Lurie, and Julie Norris, represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights and Palestine Legal, attempted to begin a Pro-Palestine at the university before being denied permission, fueling a long-standing debate over the Israel-Palestine conflict. A two-year long fight over staring a Students For Justice In Palestine Chapter has been underway, with an application to establish SJP being presented and dismissed repeatedly since 2015.
A former student at the university, Awad, has stated that “SJP was going to allow a different perspective on campus and allowing SJP [would] allow Fordham to continue a standard of free speech and uphold its mission statement. The alleviation of poverty, the promotion of justice, the protection of human rights.”
Debate About The Club
Several issues have risen around the SJP support of boycotting Israeli products and services as well as a non-violent and international movement to raise more awareness about Palestine and end Israel’s abuse of rights against the Palestinian people. The court was lifted on Wednesday with no conclusion, the ruling to be announced at no specified timing.
Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian-American professor and co-director of the Center for Palestine Studies at Columbia University has stated that “College campuses are where people are supposed to be exposed to new ideas” and that “There is absolutely no reason why the policies of a country that is engaged in the longest occupation in modern history, which is entirely dependent on the support of the United States, should not be discussed openly and critically in the United States.”
A definitely heated topic, the students are still awaiting judgment by the court and hope the ruling will be in their favor.
