(ANAHEIM, CA, 11/16/18) — The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today condemned the outrageous and discriminatory attempts by the Los Angeles City Council and others to cancel the National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) Conference, scheduled for Nov. 16-18 at UCLA.
CAIR-LA also condemns the UCLA administration’s hostile treatment of the campus and national chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
CAIR-LA was informed on Oct. 31 about a “cease and desist” letter from UCLA Vice Chancellor Michael Beck to SJP after the school inaccurately interpreted the group’s use of a bear on a flyer as an infringement of the Bruins’ trademark.
In a letter to UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block, CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush wrote:
“UCLA’s irresponsible cease and desist letter, and the discriminatory conclusions outlined in it, have a direct bearing on the hostility of the environment created for Muslim and Arab students on UCLA’s campus. Indeed, the targeted individuals of such an environment almost always end up being those individuals that are identified as Muslim or Middle Eastern — an already vulnerable student community in the current Islamophobic political climate.”
SEE: Letter from CAIR-LA to UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block
Additionally, CAIR-LA received reports of at least two recent attacks on campus of two Muslim women by a group of pro-Israel protesters.
“Disturbingly, UCLA is adding its name to a list of organizations actively quelling students’ First Amendment rights, adopting Islamophobic and anti-Arab rhetoric on this issue,” Ayloush said. “Thus, UCLA has taken up the mantle of organizations such as the website and blacklist Canary Mission. Canary Mission uses McCarthyite tactics to slander, defame, and intimidate individuals advocating for Palestinian human rights activists — including UCLA students and faculty members.”
CAIR-LA encourages UCLA’s administration to refrain from any policy or action that would not only restrict the SJP conference in moving forward, but also condemn any discriminatory behavior or violence targeting SJP and its members. CAIR-LA calls on the school’s administration to unequivocally reaffirm UCLA’s commitment to freedom of speech for students, staff and faculty when advocating for Palestinian human rights.
CAIR-LA is Southern California’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
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CONTACT: CAIR-LA Communications Coordinator Forrest Lee, 714-776-1847 or flee@cair.com