Press Release: UF Divest Coalition Gives Statement on Walk-Out Protest at UF-Hosted Israeli Military Reservist Speaking Event
For Immediate Release
November 7, 2024
contact: ufdivestcoalition@proton.me
Gainesville, FL - Less than one week after attempting to silence Palestinian voices, UF openly allows an Israeli military reservist & self proclaimed "social media activist", Adiel Cohen, to speak on campus and spread genocidal hate speech. Cohen’s Instagram (@adielofisrael) features racist and Islamophobic comments, erasure of the West Bank, and documented participation in the IOF (see attached images).
In response, 21 pro-Palestinian community members organized a peaceful, silent walkout at the start of the event to protest against Cohen's genocidal hate speech & voice their anger at UF's discriminate regulations and disproportionate speaker policies.
Last Thursday, UF withdrew institutional funding and prohibited a symposium on the genocide in Gaza from taking place on campus less than 24 hrs before it was scheduled. The symposium included speakers like Plestia Alaqad, a journalist and poet who documented and escaped the genocide in Gaza, and anti-Zionist Jewish philosopher Judith Butler. The university stated via email that the symposium was cancelled because of the “lack of balanced” and “controversial” subject matter. However, we discovered that UF was pressured by Zionist Matthew Feinberg via an email campaign posted on X (@thewebbie; see posts here & here). The email template (see below) consisted of comments that erase Palestinian sovereignty and history, as well as antisemitic remarks about a speaker, claiming that she is not "truly Jewish". UF never notified us about this email campaign.
It is clear that UF does not enforce equal policies on Zionist speakers on campus, as evident by Cohen’s one-sided perspective that promotes the erasure, ethnic cleansing, and genocide of Palestinian people and history through the inclusion of debunked, racist Zionist propaganda. We do not feel safe being on campus with people who have served in a military that is currently being investigated for conducting genocide.
A representative from UFDC explained the reasoning for the walkout, stating, "One of our demands is for the university to not allow speakers on campus that are affiliated with the Israeli military or who spread lies about the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians since 1948. UF also selectively suppresses our academic freedom, free speech, and UF’s core value of freedom and civility. We just want to be treated equal and like our safety and wellbeing is important, but UF will not acknowledge us. So we are forced to get them to pay attention to us by disrupting through peaceful protests."
For over a year, Palestinians in Gaza have faced extermination, starvation, humiliation, and forced displacement; at UF, Pro-Palestinian students, staff, and faculty have been harassed, censored, and punished by UF administration, professors, students, and police for speaking out against the genocide in Gaza. This is discrimination, an attack on our rights to free speech, and our academic freedoms. We will not rest until we are treated equally and all our people are free - from Gainesville to Gaza.
Email template from Feinberg's campaign below:
CC: Campus Watch, City Council, Governor, Press, Simon Foundation, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, U.S. Representative, U.S. Representatives on Education and the Workforce Committee, U.S. Senators
Dear University of Florida Administration, Deans and Honorable Persons:
We have learned the University of Florida has extended an invitation to bring Saree Makdisi, Umattah Cable, Abi Fletcher, Judith Butler and others to speak at the college as part of a Symposium on Israel and Palestine with the goal of “fostering critical conversation in the humanities.”
This Symposium is a mistake. It is made up of speakers who agree on only one posture: that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Without inviting speakers who disagree with this position and bring contrary evidence in favor of Israel’s position, the University cannot present a critical conversation. Instead, such Symposium will likely inflame students and faculty members who are Hamas sympathizers and anti-Israeli protestors who will likely use this as an excuse to protest further against Israel and pro-Israel groups on campus. This is a bad idea.
The University of Florida prides itself on being a university who embraces the differences of its students and aims to create an inclusive atmosphere. How can the University meet this goal by presenting a symposium so utterly one-sided and largely anti-Israel? It can’t. The only way would be by requiring the group holding the proposed Symposium to invite speakers who present differing viewpoints. The proposed group of speakers will not meet this goal.
The State of Florida has spoken out loudly against pro-Hamas students taking over college campuses. DeSantis was clearly against these sorts of protests when he spoke on local television and told the citizens of Florida that "there was never a Palestinian state . . . when you're talking about from the river to the sea, you're essentially saying you want a second holocaust. That is what Hamas stands for... so when you see that that is not what we want to be producing in terms of leaders around this country.” [1]
Most importantly, the University has imposed strict guidelines that govern express speech on campus. One such standard governs speech limitations: "UF will restrict any speech that violates the law including, but not limited to, genuine threats of violence or harm and statements designed to incite others to engage in imminent unlawful conduct." [2]
Another prohibits discrimination. “It is the policy of the University that each employee and student be allowed to work and study in an environment free from any form of discrimination or harassment as defined in University regulations or law." [3] And the school imposes a standard that governs academic freedom. “Academic freedom requires a responsibility of "scholarly knowledge" and respect for students, staff and colleagues as individuals.” [4]
Looking at the speakers chosen for this Symposium in light of the University of Florida’s standards, it is our opinion that these speakers are exactly the type of speakers the University of Florida should not invite to campus. Each of the speakers view Israel’s role in the Middle East solely as an oppressor of Palestinians. Furthermore, they view the atrocities committed on October 7 as an act of resistance by Hamas on behalf of the Palestinian people. Both of these positions are highly controversial and in our opinion, must be combatted.
As you likely are aware, on the morning of October 7, 2023, 3,000 Hamas terrorists burst across the Gazan border by land, sea and air and killed some 1,200 Israeli citizens, brutalizing others and seizing 251 hostages, many of whom are still being held. Since that day, Hezbollah terrorists have fired more than 10,000 rockets into Israel, displacing more than 60,000 Israelis from their homes and businesses.
Israel left Gaza almost twenty year ago, allowing it to self-govern. When Hamas took over, brutally murdering the Fatah members who were in charge at the time. Hamas used international funds taken from UNRWA aid to create 450 miles of terror tunnels, many of which we now know are used to hide the terrorists under human shields, hide ammunition and harbor hostages. The millions of dollars that could have been spent to help build up an economy and an infrastructure for the Palestinian people were used to destroy. This is nothing Israel could have prevented.
Judith Butler is one who views the October 7th massacre as “armed resistance.” She is one of the many who deem the Hamas invasion as an act against the oppressor and blames Israel for its role in Gaza. Abi Fletcher is a member of Jewish Voice for Peace. The Jewish Voice for Peace is neither Jewish nor peaceful. They advocate for the violent destruction of Israel, Palestinian “liberation” and changing the narrative of what they call a mass genocide. [5]
The other speakers are more obvious with their negative view of Israel’s role in the Middle East. Saree Makdisi, a professor at UCLA, is a Palestinian professor who is strongly in favor of students exercising their rights on college campuses. He was quoted as saying that “barricades—from UCLA to Columbia—are a warning of what the future holds unless we act now to reclaim our universities from the carceral and militarized police systems that seem to be overtaking them before our very eyes.” [6]
Yet the University of Florida seeks to provide the basis for a critical conversation. How can they accomplish any sort of conversation if all speakers agree on the same principal? That Israel is the only country at fault?
As Jewish writers, teachers, educators, and professions, we are offended by this one-sided characterization of Israel on college campuses. Hamas’s charter is clear about not only wiping out democracy and Jews, but Christians and any others they deem ‘infidels’. Article 7 of the Hamas Charter states that “the Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them.” Their hate does not stop here. The chants of “Death to America!” [7] reveal Hamas’ clear hatred of democracy and the capitalistic world. Israel is just the start.
And Hamas has lied to support its claims of Israel’s oppression. They have lied about the number of civilian casualties [8], and were quick to blame Israel when the Al-Ahli hospital was destroyed by Hamas bombs [9]. Furthermore, despite these speakers’ anti-Israel bent, more than 8 in 10 Americans support Israel’s right to defend itself [10]. Moreover, officials close to Hamas have admitted that Hamas, not Israel, was responsible for more than 80% of the loss of Palestinian civilian life in Gaza [11]. Even Germany has repeated its support for Israel’s military offensive, finding no evidence that Israel committed genocide. [12] We have yet another example of complicity by the UNRWA, when it was discovered that Yahya Sinwar’s bodyguard was a teacher employed by UNRWA.
Yet these speakers call Israel a colonizer and label Israel as the oppressor. Israel is a pluralistic society where democracy and equality are the guiding purpose. Given that many countries in Europe and America, especially young adults, are quick to criticize Israel’s role, it is clear that a cultural, intellectual and ethical degeneration has occurred and that the distinction between victim and aggressor has been confused. As Heath stated “western foreign policy has been lost in a mishmash of cowardice, delusion and contradictions, where global ire is reserved for Israel [13].
UF must continue its prominent and ethical leadership in refusing to allow indoctrination of young Americans. Israel is currently fighting armies from every one of its surrounding countries as long as it must legally defend itself from those that seek its destruction. This is the least we as Americans can do while it fights for its survival.
Not having a speaker with a pro-Israel argument to debate, there will be no chance for your students or staff to hear a comprehensive argument regarding the complexity of the situation in the Middle East. Only one biased, anti-Israeli picture painted by these speakers.
We ask that you rescind the invitations to these speakers, or, alternatively, request that you invite dignitaries who uphold democratic values and truth as their guideposts, so the presentation may be fairly presented.
It is your legal imperative as an institution of higher learning to do what you can to stop your campus from becoming a hostile environment.
We hope you will take this letter with the seriousness it deserves and reconsider how the University of Florida wishes to be perceived as an educator.
Very truly yours,
References:
1-Channel 6, South Florida, May 8, 2024
2-https://statements.ufl.edu/statements/2019/april/freedom-of-expression-statement.html
3-https://policy.ufl.edu/regulation/1-006/
4-https://policy.ufl.edu/regulation/7-018/
5-Wikipedia, Jewish Voice for Peace
6-For Whom is Campus to Be Safe, LA Review of Books, May 10, 2024
7-NY Post Anti-Israel protesters chant “Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’ at rally in Michigan 4-8-24
8-YouTube. “Army of Jerusalem” will not liberate Palestinian Land Only, published on MEMRI TV 12, 2002.
9-Abraham Wyner, “Hamas fakes casualty figures: The numbers are not real,” JNS, 12 March 2024.
10-AP News. 10-18-23. “Israel Not Responsible.”
11-The Algemeiner, 10-15-24
12-Ohad Chamu, Channel 12, 10-7-24
13-Heath, Allister, UK Daily Telegraph, 9-18-24
This email template was sent to:
President@ufl.edu;generalcounsel@ufl.edu;derick.agustin@mail.house.gov; catherine.treadwell@mail.house.gov; stuart.burns@mail.house.gov yuri.beckelman@mail.house.gov; liana.guerra@mail.house.gov; trinity.tresner@mail.house.gov;wardhl@gainesvillefl.gov;cchestnut@gainesvillefl.gov; sgcore@gainesvillefl.gov; walkerdn@gainesvillefl.gov; bookea@gainesvillefl.gov; willitscw@gainesvillefl.gov; eastmanbm@gainesvilefl.gov
