SFSU stop anti-Palestinian hostility and immediately restore Dr. Abdulhadi's Classes

Demand that SFSU stop anti-Palestinian hostility and immediately restore Dr. Abdulhadi's courses

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/demand-an-end-to-sfsus-aggression-and-hostility-towards-amed-studies
SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATORS

San Francisco State University (SFSU) is once again escalating its harassment of Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, Director and Senior Scholar of Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas (AMED) Studies, and intensifying its efforts to dismantle the AMED Studies program and its independence as it was envisioned when it was founded 2007. Without cause, justification or explanation, SFSU canceled the Palestine course, thus confirming its pro-Israel bias and complicity with Zionist organizations that have long sought to silence Palestinian voices and criminalize teaching Palestine curriculum on campuses nationwide. To add insult to injury, SFSU has furthermore reassigned Dr. Abdulhadi’s signature course “Colonialism, Imperialism and Resistance” to a faculty ally despite their joint opposition and rejection to drive a wedge between them and harass Dr. Abdulhadi just as she return from her sabbatical.

These actions are not out of the blue; they follow President Lynn Mahoney’s three consecutive vetoes of independent and randomly chosen faculty hearing panels, two of which unanimously ruled that SFSU violated the academic freedom of Dr. Abdulhadi and Dr. Kinukawa. The two panels unanimously faulted SFSU collusion with pro-Israel groups to censor the joint open classroom of the two professors on Palestine, gender, justice and resistance. As well, the third Faculty Hearing Panel, unanimously sided with Dr. Abdulhadi and affirmed that SFSU violated Dr. Abdulhadi’s job contract that committed the university to create the AMED Studies as an independent department starting immediately with three tenure-track faculty. Instead of building the program, SFSU has increasingly escalated the hostile work and study anti-Palestinian environment for Dr. Abdulhadi and her colleagues and the AMED Studies program and its students..

SFSU's cancellation of the only Palestine course in the university cannot but be understood for what it is – a new attack on academic freedom and a blatant display of SFSU pro-Israel bias and anti-Palestinian racism, consistent with the history of systematic hostile actions against AMED Studies and Palestine-centered curriculum almost since its inception. Join us in demanding the immediate restoration of Professor Abdulhadi’s fall courses and defending AMED’s independence.

Call/email SFSU officials to demand reinstating Dr. Abdulhadi’s courses and an end of to SFSU hostility to Palestine and AMED Studies:

- President Lynn Mahoney: president [at] sfsu.edu, +1 (415) 338-1381

- Provost Amy Sueyoshi: sueyoshi [at] sfsu.edu, +1 (415) 338-2572

- Dean of Faculty Carleen Mandolfo: mandolfo [at] sfsu.edu, +1 (415) 338-2205

- Dean of College of Ethnic Studies Grace Yoo: gracey [at] sfsu.edu, +1 (415) 338-2703

- Thank SFSU Faculty Union, CFA, for standing up for Dr. Abdulhadi, AMED & Labor Rights!: cfa [at] calfac.org, +1 (415) 338-6232