The Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA) today said an apology offered by Seattle University Provost Shane Martin did not address the fact that he grabbed a student and tried to snatch away her Palestinian flag during commencement.
The provost issued an apology after video of him grabbing a Palestinian flag out of the hands of a Muslim female student during commencement. The apology, however, did not address the grabbing of the flag. “I apologize for a misunderstanding that our student {student name} has raised since the ceremony. I did not observe or hear any request from {student name} that she wished to avoid physical contact as part of her Muslim faith,” the apology stated.
SEE: Controversy surrounds Seattle U over swiped Palestinian flag | FOX 13 Seattle
CAIR-WA previously condemned the incident.
In a statement, CAIR-WA Executive Director Imran Siddiqi said:
“Mr. Martin’s apology does not address the main issue at hand, namely that he tried to snatch the student’s Palestinian flag out of her hand very aggressively during commencement and touched her without her consent. This cannot be chalked up to a mere misunderstanding. She stated out loud that she does not shake hands with men due to her Muslim beliefs, and he violated that right. It is also an issue of aggressively attempting to prevent a student from peaceful protest. We do not accept that Mr. Martin did not hear her ask and believe if he had been more focused on the student graduating as she was walking across the stage rather than the flag, this could have been prevented. We urge Mr. Martin and Seattle University to address this incident fully.”
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CONTACT: Imraan Siddiqi, Executive Director at CAIR-WA, [email protected]