04/19/2016
On Sunday, April 17th, 2016, a group of 35-40 students from Boston-wide Students for Justice in Palestine protested an event called “Israel Indie Freedom Fest” hosted by Boston University Hillel and Boston University Students for Israel and co-hosted by AIPAC, ZOA, The David Project, CAMERA, Birthright/Taglit, Israel Campus Roundtable, Israeli American Council, among others.
We protested for three interconnected reasons. The first reason we protested was because the “Freedom Fest” not only ignored, but also attempted to erase the history of Al Nakba through its “celebrat[ion] of Israeli Independence day.” Al Nakba refers to the destruction of Palestinian society in 1948 when approximately 750,000 Palestinians fled or were forced into exile by Israeli troops. Their exodus, or Nakba, was nearly half-complete by May 1948, when Israel declared its independence and the Arab states entered the fray. In the event description, “BUSI and BU Hillel” were “celebrat[ing] Israel Independence Day,” neglecting the simultaneous occurrence of the Nakba during “Israel Independence Day.” Our protesters made clear that the creation and independence of a Jewish state in Palestine, through discrimination based on race and religion, is nothing to celebrate.
The second was because of the discrimination perpetuated by Boston University Hillel, the host of the “Freedom Fest,” on January 28th, 2016. Eight BU students, seven of which were students of color, were kicked out of the event “All Students, All Israel” and threatened with arrest after only signing in and entering the event. Video footage, which can be found in the petition attached, of the incident shows that the expulsion of the students from the event was due to discrimination based on the racial and religious backgrounds of students and/or their prior involvement in supporting Palestinian human rights advocacy.
The third reason we protested was because Boston University Hillel partners with Islamophobic individuals and organizations, who cosponsored the event, as exhibited in the Council on American Islamic Relations' Islamophobia Report of 2013. One of several prime examples of Boston University Hillel’s Islamophobic connection is vis a vis an organization abbreviated as CAMERA, a known Islamophobic organization (Islamophobia report, pg. 6) that plans events through Boston University Hillel on Boston University’s campus. CAIR exposes how “Network Interdependence’s Daniel Pipes and his Middle East Forum (MEF) involvement in anti-Muslim sentiment is documented back to his 1990 statement raising concerns about “brown-skinned people” with “different standards of hygiene” immigrating to America… [How] The Committee for Accuracy on Middle East Reporting, or CAMERA, received two grants totaling $70,000” from MEF (Islamophobia report, pg. 6). The racial discrimination at BU Hillel along with their decision to partner with Islamophobic organizations such as CAMERA, illustrate the rampant racism, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestinian human rights sentiment on BU’s campus.
We support the student protesters and allies who stood against discrimination and occupation, at Boston University and in Palestine, at the “Freedom Fest.” On April 17th, we showed Boston University, Boston University Hillel and their co-hosts that oppressive events or events that take pride in oppressive history, such as the “Freedom Fest,” will not go unnoticed.