Usually surprising things come out of left field, but Thursday at San Francisco State University, a surprising thing came from the right.
Students and others roaming the sprawling campus may have glimpsed the David Horowitz Freedom Center’s latest salvo in its fight against what it considers anti-Jewish and anti-Israel bias at universities: posters attacking Palestinian groups on campus.
There were two different posters and both contained the hashtag #NoSupportForCampusTerrorists. Few other details were immediately available.
“Our poster campaign has a dual purpose,” said Freedom Center founder David Horowitz in a statement. “It exposes the truth about Students for Justice in Palestine’s ties to anti-Israel terrorism and its glorification of terrorists like Rasmieh Odeh and it challenges the administration at San Francisco State to defend speech that deviates from the typical anti-Israel narrative that dominates on campus.”
Odeh’s first name is spelled Rasmea, but was spelled Rasmieh on one of the posters.
The Freedom Center claims that posters were distributed at 10 campuses, including UC Berkeley.
SFSU student newspaper the Golden Gate Xpress first reported the news.
Campus officials removed the posters swiftly, per one source, but not before they caught the attention of SFSU President Leslie Wong.
“This week I encountered both the re-emergence of posters on campus attacking and condemning the work of Palestinian activists and their supporters,” Wong wrote in a letter to the SFSU community obtained by J.
It’s not the first time the right wing Freedom Center has used such a tactic to convey its message. Posters bearing similar messages were similarly plastered — and removed — from the SFSU campus in October 2016. At that time the posters were condemned by Bay Area Jewish organizations on and off campus.
Wong himself has been under fire from Jewish community organizations and student groups who say SFSU has exacerbated tensions between Jewish and Palestinian groups on campus. Problems on campus were also the topic of a J. report examining the issue, published Wednesday.
“At the same time a harsh critique of my leadership of SF State was delivered via the J Weekly [sic], conveying the hurt our Jewish students are feeling and portraying the campus response to concerns of the Jewish community as inadequate, at best,” Wong wrote in his letter to the campus community.
Glad to see that Horowitz is willing to call if for what it is, even if certain other members of the tribe remain intellectually addled by their wholesale acceptance of the liberal-left worldview.
No doubt wong will try to equate the posters with the pro-‘palestinian’ thugs who invade, and shout down speakers at, Jewish-sponsored discussions and events.
How interesting that the J. staff’s headline smears the Horwitz Freedom Center as “right-wing”, yet all the various organizations devoted to defeating and diminishing Israel are never referred to as “left-wing”. Why is that, J. staff? Because you are such good impartial journalists?
The J.’s staff writer, Max Cherney, coyly says the same by referring to the Horowitz Freedom Center posters as “coming out of right field”. No amount of anti-Israel rhetoric or calls to violence ever seems to evoke the J. to call an organization “left wing”. Why is that, J. staff? Because you are such honest journalists?
Indeed, the J. even publishes op-ed’s that can only be described as “left-wing” and anti-Israel. I would like to hope that the J. does this only when the anti-Israel screed is by a daughter of a member of the Bay Area Jewish nomenklatura. But alas, the J. staff is more open than that.
The J. staff gladly published a puff piece about the movie about Rachel Corrie. Rachel Corrie was a leading member of ISM / ANSWER an organization whose slogans are “From the River to the Sea”, and “Inti-inti-intifada”. Their self-description is “The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is a “Palestinian-led movement” focused on assisting the Palestinian cause in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.” They work closely with Hamas. Yet, to my knowledge, the J. has never referred to the ISM / ANSWER as left-wing. Why is that J. staff? Because you have such high journalistic standards? Because you are such objective reporters? Because you are to be believed? Trusted?
Nor has the J. staff ever referred to SFSU’s SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine), those who shouted down the mayor of Jerusalem when he tried to speak at SFSU, as ‘left-wing’. Why is that J. staff? Because you are neutral and objective? Because you are to be believed? Trusted?
What is it about the J. staff that they call friends of Israel ‘right-wing’, but they give enemies of Israel op-ed pieces published under the J.’s own imprimatur? Because they are to be believed? Trusted?
What makes the J.staff’s ‘s dubious journalistic ethics so very unpleasant is that it is accompanied by so much self-righteousness.
The posters are pretty spot on and should be on every college campus.
“Campus officials removed the posters swiftly”
Huh? Why? Do “campus officials” routinely take down posters announcing, say, “Israel Apartheid Week”?
Note also that the J doesn’t seem to mind at all, that the posters were taken down. We’re fighting at quite a disadvantage here. The other side gets to say and even do anything it pleases. Our side has to restrict itself to playing up Israel as a source of high-tech innovation and the Middle East’s only LGBT-philic country.
The expression “right-wing” has lost any meaning it might once have had. It should be avoided in any serious political discourse, along with other attack words like fascist, racist, socialist, old white men, angry white men, homophobe, Islamophobe, and the like.
I am sickened and appalled by the repeated attacks on students and faculty on the SFSU campus and the fact that there seems to be many in the Jewish community that endorse them. There is repeated material evidence of intimidation targeting individuals and groups that criticize Israel’s policies but when I search for evidence of anti-Semitism, the closest I can find is offense at criticism of Israel’s policies. Surely students and faculty should be free to criticize Israel’s policies.
I am sickened by folks like you. When Jews cannot exercise their right to free speech and assembly, that is a problem. Is this too difficult for you to understand?
Such COWARDICE! Horowitz is telling the truth and the J – instead of praising him – tries to paint him as an extremist. Par for the course .