The Middle East Forum’s petition to end San Francisco State University (SFSU)'s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with radical An-Najah University in the West Bank has topped 1,870 signatures! Additionally, the Forum has sent a letter to the leadership of several committees in the Senate and House requesting that Congress investigate and conduct oversight concerning this dangerous partnership.
The campaign has received significant media coverage, including from San Francisco’s CBS affiliate, SFSU’s student newspaper, Golden Gate Xpress, the Algemeiner, Jewish News Service (JNS), CNS News, and ZipDialog, the blog of University of Chicago professor and journalist Charles Lipson. On Global Patriot Radio, Campus Watch West Coast Representative Cinnamon Stillwell discussed the campaign in a wide-ranging interview.
Tellingly, opponents of academic accountability have denounced the Forum’s efforts: they include the MOU’s architect, San Francisco State University professor Rabab Abdulhadi (read our response here); the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS), the virulently anti-Israel SFSU student group notorious for disrupting Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat’s lecture earlier this year; Stanford professor David Palumbo-Liu; and the Middle East Studies Association, the politicized umbrella group for the field of Middle East studies noted for its willingness to downplay Islamist terrorism.
There’s still time to sign our petition and let SFSU President Leslie Wong know that the MOU he approved with a Palestinian university that promotes terrorism and extremism is outrageous and unacceptable. Our thanks to those who have already signed. Please pass it on!