After more than a week of angry reaction by pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian student groups, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat abruptly canceled a scheduled April 6 appearance at San Francisco State University that was not publicly promoted.
Instead, Barkat plans to attend a private local event that same day sponsored by AIPAC.
In an April 5 statement about his decision, Barkat pointed to SFSU’s handling of his appearance, noting that the university had “offered a ticketed, limited event, and no legitimate effort was made on the part of the University to publicize the event.” The speaking engagement was intended to be open to the public, and not private or semi-private event.
He further charged that “by failing to provide the necessary public forum… the University has contributed to the continuing marginalization and demonization of the Jewish state.”
The uproar comes exactly one year after Barkat’s last appearance at SFSU, when anti-Israel students shut down his speech.
The new controversy erupted almost immediately after word got out on March 29 that SFSU President Les Wong had personally invited Barkat to speak without consulting or coordinating with faculty or interested campus groups, including Hillel, on how best to promote and handle the appearance.
Wong admitted he had little time to prepare. His director of news and news media, Mary Kenny, said it was Barkat who gave the April 6 date as the only one that would work for him. In a written statement on April 5, he said Barkat had canceled due to “lack of publicity and dissatisfaction with organization of the event.” Wong added: “Given the short notice of his visit, we quickly put together a plan that prioritized the safety of the Mayor and our community while facilitating respectful dialogue. Certainly, our plan was not perfect, but it was the best we could do given the time available to prepare.”
That wasn’t good enough for some students and pro-Palestinian activists, unhappy for different reasons.
An open letter to Wong, signed by 25 Jewish students, called the invitation to Barkat “a reckless political stunt.” The students criticized the administration’s failure to publicize the event (it was not advertised on any SFSU event calendars, web pages or social media) and for scheduling it during Islamic Awareness Week on campus.
Though the signers of the letter said they would normally welcome Barkat, they further chided Wong for actions that persist at “undermining Jewish student life, and enabling an environment causing actual discrimination against Jewish students.”
For their part, activists calling themselves Bay4Palestine released a statement titled “Get Ethnic Cleanser Nir Barkat Out of SFSU.” The statement blasted Wong for extending the invitation to “a person who symbolizes Zionist settler colonialism,” and demanded that the university president “revoke the call for invitation of Nir Barkat” and “end ties with fascists, racists and Zionists on SFSU campus.”
In April 2016, Barkat’s appearance at SFSU was disrupted by protesters organized by the General Union of Palestine Students, or GUPS, who chanted anti-Israel slogans and prevented Barkat from speaking.
Though Barkat managed to huddle in a corner to meet with students who wanted to hear him speak, the incident sparked a flurry of condemnations and an admission from the university that it had “failed our students.”
In promising to better manage free speech issues in the future, the university instituted a five-point plan, which included training SFSU staffers and campus police, as well as crafting protocols for dealing with protesters.
In addition, the university touted a newly created post of director of human relations that would “promote civil discourse, foster intercultural learning and cross-cultural understanding within a social justice framework,” according to a report SFSU released last September several months after the Birkat debacle.
To date, no one has been appointed to fill that position.
Barkat, clearly still stung by the treatment he received a year ago, ended his statement this week by saying, “The University has demonstrated that they will protect the rights of anti-Israel students to drown out diverse voices through violent incitement.”
time for leslie to step down. if he isnt a jew hater himself, he enables jew haters on the sf state campus
How would the appearance of the mayor of apartheid Jerusalem be different from one by the mayor of apartheid Johannesburg when white racists ran the regime?
First, the mayor of Johannesburg would never have been invited to speak and secondly, if there had been any white South African students on campus at the time, they would have been too embarrassed to support his visit.
Hillel and the Jewish students on campus clearly have no problems in supporting Israel’s version of apartheid. Nor do, I suspect, will those reading this post.
Apartheid is a term used by those classified as Israeli, and Jew haters. The Arab population all over Israel unlike EVERY Arab country
have full Israeli citizenship as well as equal rights and can attend
any Israeli school and University they choose.
Since 1967, Israel has de facto been one apartheid state controlling all activities from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean. From 1948 until 1966 the Arab Palestinians who remained in what became Israel lived under a military government. This means that in its 69 years, Israel has only been free of apartheid just about one year.
There are winners and losers in wars. It was a David and Goliath
war, where 4 Arab nations fought a tiny nation and guess what?
And if it were the other way around guess what again. However
In it’s stupidity Israel gave back the entire Gaza Strip and all but
51sq. miles which leads to Jerusalem which Israel will NEVER
give up. And if it were the other way around, guess what again.
Call it whatever you want “Apartheid Smartheid” who really cares what you call it. Give me one year when those 2 areas were not occupied by foreigners. The latest Jordan, Egypt and Syria. Does that mean if it was the other way around, you would also call it Apartheid?
Why isn’t anyone up in arms about what is happening in Egypt
with the suicide bombings of churches. Why isn’t anyone up in
arms as to what is happening in Syria with gassing children and
women. Why isn’t anyone up in arms with what is happening in
Iran threatening America and Israel with total annihilation. Why
isn’t anyone up in arms about the crazy in power in North Korea
threatening the west with Nuclear bombs. Stop and look at the
Daisy’s and stop with the stupid crazy word “Apartheid”, instead let’s look at how many Israelis were murdered by crazies.
From 1948 until 1966 the Arab Palestinians who remained in what became Israel lived under a military government.
The Arabs who remained in Israel, knew they had no reason to run away like the spineless ones who did thanks to Arab propaganda which is well documented, and which evidences the Arabs admital of what they then realized was a mistake in telling Arabs in Israel to flee, until they could come back over the corpses of Jews and have everything. Not that this wold be likely since Arabs dont like to share with each other. These runaways would have been refugees regardless of who won. And there have been Arabs and Druze serving in the IDF for decades and similarly in the Knesset.
And why the hell did these Arabs not demand a state between 1948 and 1967 when Jordan and Egypt held Gaza and the liberated territories of Judea and Samaria? Seems only when Jews took back possession of their ancestral lands did it become such an urgent issue. Since they didnt, the facts remained that Israel won the lands from Egypt and Jordan, not any phony fabricated non existent country called Palestine, which became Palestine in 135 A.D., was occupied by Arabs who attacked the Byzantine Christian Kingdom, then by the Turks and now full circle back to its rightful owners.
So why dont you focus your humanitarian concerns on the Indians whose lands you have stolen with all the deviousness of an Arab signing a peace treaty he never means to keep and stay out of something you cant and dont understand because you grandstand rather then think about facts on the ground and in history.
Factually not true. You are either naively or dishonestly spreading lies.
Hypocrite. No outrage at what Arab and Muslim countries do to christians, owes and gays? That is ok with you liberals? But the death cult Palestinians who prefer diverting funds and concrete meant for schools, homes and hospitals into war materials, and since their inception have not tried to have peace, are being mistreated? If they would have used the billions of dollars given them to build a productive society rather than using it for violence, they could be as successful as Israel.
Listen to that Mayor whine. No one is demolishing his home or stealing it from him.
I didn’t see him whine, and why the hell would they demolish or steal his home?
I can hear him whine from here. And you’re right he’s Jewish so no one will steal his home. That is how the Others are mistreated.
If a child misbehaves they must be punished.
Palestinians are a death cult…they starve their own children to buy guns and bombs. They divert concrete meant for schools and homes to build tunnels. They don’t want peace, they just want to kill Jews.
Ca universities will not protect free speech. It has been shown again and again. Until recently – before the press starting reporting, place like SFSU and Berkley were able to get away with it. How they just say, I can’t guarantee your safety.
I find it very funny at Syria, Egypt and Jordan have such distain for Palestinians. They deport palestinians who enter their countries. They enforce stringent border controls. They limit goods coming into the country. But poor for liberals cry (sob, sob) because Israel is so mean.