Muslim civil rights group supports open letter to President Kaler from Students for Justice in Palestine
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/21/2022) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and its Cleveland chapter (CAIR-Cleveland), in support of an open letter from Students for Justice in Palestine, today called for Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) President Eric Kaler to meet with members of student groups who spearheaded the recent passage of a resolution to investigate CWRU’s holdings in companies supporting the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Students for Justice in Palestine today issued an open letter calling the president’s actions in response to Resolution 31-15 an “abuse of power” which has “caused irrefutable harm and has placed a target on the backs of Palestinian students, members of the USG, and every student standing in solidarity.”
In the letter, students requested the CWRU president issue a community-wide statement addressing their concerns and requesting a public meeting to “foster an open dialogue…in the hopes of reaching an understanding.” The students made their requests with the desire to “educate people on all sides of the issue, alleviate student concerns, and pursue the investigation outlined in Resolution 31-15.”
READ: Students for Justice in Palestine Open Letter to President Kaler
In support of the open letter from Students for Justice in Palestine, CAIR-Ohio, Cleveland Chapter Executive Director Julia Shearson said:
“The Students for Justice in Palestine, the campus groups supporting them, and the members of the Undergraduate Student Government who passed the resolution deserve to be heard, and their concerns should be addressed face to face by the president.
Universities should be the bastions of democracy where a free exchange of ideas on the most controversial and difficult topics can take place. Instead of shunning his student body, President Kaler should welcome SJP’s call for an open dialogue as a way to seek understanding.”
CAIR previously condemned CWRU President Kaler’s dismissive and defamatory response regarding the resolution and called for him to retract his statement and meet with students.
The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom also sent a letter to CWRU President Kaler stating: “we regard your statement as a threat to academic freedom and to the constitutionally protected right of free speech.”
BACKGROUNDER:
Case Western Reserve University’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) passed a resolution demanding the university divest from companies that “directly provide weaponry, security systems, prisons, or military support for the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories” within two years.
USG voted 35-17-7 to approve Resolution 31-15, which calls on the university to “fully divest its assets from Israeli apartheid.”
READ THE RESOLUTION.
SEE: USG’s “Students for Justice in Palestine” bill garners controversy
Following its passage, CWRU President Eric Kaler issued a message to students and staff condemning the resolution. In his message, Kaler falsely claimed the foundation of the resolution was “profoundly antisemitic.”
Editorial: President Kaler has created far more division than USG ever could
CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, also called on President Kaler to “immediately apologize, retract his false statement, and meet with students.”
In response to President Kaler’s statement, CAIR-Ohio, Cleveland Chapter Executive Director Julia Shearson said:
“In his message to students and faculty on the passage of the resolution, President Kaler conflates the legitimate grievances of the Palestinian people with antisemitism and hate. In doing so, he commits the logical fallacy of attacking a straw man. Moreover, he dismissively erases the perspective of the Palestinian students on campus, many of whose immediate families are directly impacted by the Israeli occupation.
“If President Kaler wants to promote the university’s stated core values, he should stop denigrating Palestinian students and instead reach out to them and their allies on campus and listen with an unbiased ear to their perspectives.”
In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“We strongly condemn President Kaler’s dishonest, dangerous and defamatory attack on students at Case Western Reserve University.
“By slandering students for expressing support for Palestinian human rights and calling on the university to divest from companies that provide military support for the Israeli apartheid government’s human rights abuses, President Kaler has endangered the very students he is supposed to protect.
“Students at Case Western Reserve University have every right to state widely-known facts that have been attested to by numerous human rights organizations and the United Nations.
“President Kaler must immediately apologize, retract his false statement, and meet with students he targeted to begin repairing the damage he caused.”
He noted that last month, CAIR welcomed an investigation by a UN commission of inquiry into the Israeli government’s system of apartheid against Palestinians.
Mitchell cited a recent open letter by five former European ministers that labeled Israel’s policies against Palestinians as “the crime of apartheid.”
He added that Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Presbyterian Church USA have recently labeled Israel an apartheid state.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing also recognized that Israel is committing apartheid against Palestinians.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]