Last year the Sierra Club faced backlash from a number of human rights organizations after it planned a series of educational trips to Israel.
Nine groups (Adalah Justice Project, Adalah-NY: Campaign for the Boycott of Israel, Jewish Voice for Peace, NDN Collective, Palestinian Youth Movement-NYC, The Movement for Black Lives, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, and Visualizing Palestine) sent a letter to the organization detailing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and its recent efforts to “greenwash” apartheid.
“In contrast with the global human rights community, The Sierra Club is instead reinforcing racist Israeli myths that European Zionsts established a state on ‘A land without a people’ and ‘made the desert bloom’,” it read. “The trip descriptions tout Israel’s success ‘in preserving significant spaces for nature reserves, forests, and national parks’..But Israel’s apartheid and colonization are not green. As Visualizing Palestine notes, Israel uses parks, nature reserves and forests to conceal the ruins of depopulated Palestinian villages, appropriate land and curtail Palestinian access and development. 182 Palestinian villages that were depopulated by Israel are concealed in Israeli parks and forests, preventing refugees from returning.”
Journalists and photographers from Gaza continue to expose ourselves to danger because we believe that Gazans’ stories must be shared with the world in their voice, not distorted by journalists from foreign press.
Acting Sierra Club Executive Director Dan Chu dashed off a statement declaring that the trips were officially back on. “Let me be clear: the Sierra Club’s mission is to enjoy, explore and protect the planet, and we do not take positions on foreign policy matters that are beyond that scope,” explained Chu. “We do not have a deep understanding or knowledge necessary to do so, nor is it our place to do so. Furthermore, we have and always will continue to loudly condemn anti-semitism and any and all acts of hate. We are committed to working more intentionally, thoroughly and thoughtfully so we can prevent this from happening again.”
The reversal was celebrated by the pro-Israel Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who apparently consulted with the group before they flipped. “We appreciate that the Sierra Club acted quickly to reverse the announced cancellations of trips to Israel which placed the famed American conservation organization directly into the crosshairs of BDS, anti-Israel, and anti-peace zealots,” Cooper told the Times of Israel.
The story wasn’t over though. This week members of the Sierra Club unit of the Progressive Workers Union (PWU) passed a resolution pledging solidarity with the Palestinian people. The resolution passed with 86% of the vote.
“Our members overwhelmingly voted to recognize that colonialism is part of the climate crisis here and abroad, making it clear that we have the power to put our values into practice, even when our employers don’t,” said Sierra Club employee and PWU member Zach Kopkin in a statement. “For decades, Palestinians have been fighting for freedom from Israel’s oppression. Now we are officially committed to standing alongside Palestinians in their struggle against Israeli apartheid and land theft.”
“Sierra Club leadership refused to listen to their employees’ demands for racial and Indigenous justice,” said Adalah Justice Project Executive Director Sandra Tamari. “Today, we proudly support the Sierra Club workers of the Progressive Workers Union, who boldly declare that true earth justice starts by centering Indigenous peoples worldwide, including the Palestinian people.”
The Adalah Justice Project is holding a webinar on the issue with Sierra Club workers this evening.
The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has opened a formal investigation into a complaint alleging that Florida State University discriminated against Palestinian student Ahmad Daraldik.
Shortly after Daraldik was elected student senate president at the school in 2020 pro-Israel groups and students dug up an antisemitic post that he made as a 12-year-old and launched a vast smear campaign against him which came to include a number of local politicians and the FSU leadership.
“While I made my comments from the perspective of a Palestinian child who lived under military occupation I have since realized they were wrong and offensive,” explained Daraldik in a letter. I would never frame my experience like this or make such comments today. I choose solidarity instead, and hope you join me in coming together to heal and move forward.”
His comments didn’t deter the attacks as he was eventually removed from his position by the student supreme court.
Florida’s Director of Emergency Management, Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat and former member of the state’s House of Representatives, tweeted out an article about Daraldik and wrote, “Where are the Democrats? Where are the progressives? Where is the cancel culture? Where is the PC? When it’s Jews, apparently it’s okay! Instead of removing #pawpatrol perhaps worry about Holocaust denying antisemitism. Remove him #Floridastate.”
12th District Rep. Byron Donalds (who was running for his seat at the time) denounced Daraldik and the BDS movement. “As a member of Congress and Co-Chair of the International Religious Freedom Caucus, I have worked hard to fight global anti-Semitism, particularly the BDS movement that has become pervasive across our college campuses,” he said. “Any type of hatred and divisiveness perpetrated at our institutions of higher learning must be called out. I am confident that the FSU Administration will unequivocally condemn this toxicity and ignorance on campus.”
In 2016 Florida passed an anti-BDS bill that blocks public entities from contracting with companies that boycott Israel.
In April 2021, Daraldik filed a complaint with the Department of Education claiming that FSU’s anti-Palestinian environment violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“I came to FSU for the opportunity to learn and grow in a safe environment. Instead, I was met with racist attacks and smears just for being a Palestinian student leader and for speaking about my life as a Palestinian growing up under Israel’s violent system of apartheid,” said Daraldik in response to the investigation beginning. “I hope this investigation will lead to accountability so that no other student has to face the racism and discrimination I’ve experienced as a Palestinian student at FSU.”
“This is an important step that shows OCR is taking anti-Palestinian discrimination seriously,” said Palestine Legal senior staff attorney Radhika Sainath. “The law is clear – Palestinian students are entitled to the same educational opportunities as other students. Palestinian students like Ahmad shouldn’t be forced to hide their identity.”
🛂 65 Senators signed onto a letter urging the Biden administration add Israel to the Visa Waiver Program this year. The letter was promoted by AIPAC in Washington. Signatories include Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and John Fetterman (D-PA). Warnock openly defended Palestinians before running for office, but has fallen in line on the issue since being targeted by the pro-Israel crowd. Fetterman has no such past.
The administration has also received a letter from 19 House members urging them to ensure equal treatment of all U.S. citizens before considering admitting Israel into the program. “We are concerned about the denial of entry for Americans expressing their First Amendment rights,” it reads. “Frequently, American citizens who have expressed solidarity for Palestinian human rights through advocacy work, or even social media posts, have been denied entry into Israel. This problematic policy of denial for First Amendment protected activities has been acknowledged by the Department of State in its travel advisory to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, yet there is no existing mechanism for tracking bases of denial. We urge your agencies to provide explanation of how these treatments, restrictions, and denials are being tracked and accounted for when determining the viability of Israel’s entry into the VWP.”
“Indeed, this exclusionary policy has extended to our own colleagues. Both Representative Rashida Tlaib and Representative Ilhan Omar have previously been barred by Israel from entering for a planned visit to Israel and the OPT,” it continues. “The extraordinary decision by Israel to prevent democratically elected representatives from entering the country makes plain Israel’s enforcement of discrimination against political views at the border and rejection of the democratic value of freedom of speech. When First Amendment protected activities are used as a basis of denial of entry, there can be no equal treatment at Israel’s border.”
Signatories on this one: Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), along with his colleagues Donald Beyer (VA-8), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Cori Bush (MO-1), André Carson (IN-7), Valerie Foushee (NC-4), Jesús García (IL-4), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Pramila Jayapal (WA-7), Summer Lee (PA-12), Betty McCollum (MN-4), James McGovern (MA-2), Eleanor Norton (DC-At Large), Ilhan Omar (MN-5), Mark Pocan (WI-2), Ayanna Pressley (MA-7), Delia Ramirez (IL-3), Jan Schakowsky (IL-9) and Rashida Tlaib (MI-12).
🧑🔬 In October 2020, Trump rolled back a ban on U.S. taxpayer funding being used for research projects in the illegally-occupied West Bank. That ban had existed for over 50 years so it’s no great surprise that Biden reversed the decision shortly after assuming office.
The administration has only taken steps to implement the ban recently, which has led to some Republicans denouncing Biden for refusing to legitimize illegal settlements. Sen. Ted Cruz’s statement on the issue hilariously implies that The White House is boycotting Israel somehow:
Joe Biden and Biden administration officials are pathologically obsessed with undermining Israel. Since day one of their administration they have launched campaigns against our Israeli allies that are granular, whole of government, and done in secret.
This new boycott of Israeli Jews is yet another example. The State Department is telling the entire U.S. government not to cooperate with Jews in Judea and Samaria. And of course it was sent to Congress in secret, and only revealed because reporters found out.
The Biden administration defends funding scientific research in Wuhan with the Chinese Communist Party, but they’re discriminating against and banning cooperation with Jews based on where they live.
I will do everything possible to reverse this decision and prohibit such antisemitic discrimination by the U.S. government in the future.
It’s not surprising that Cruz manages to play a number of racist hits quickly here, but note the “Judea and Samaria” bit. Not long ago Republicans adopted the same tired two-state solution rhetoric as the Democrats. Now a number of them are more upfront about their objectives: one big Israeli state, Palestine engulfed entirely.
🤔 ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt says it’s antisemitic when people tweet ‘Free Palestine’ at him.
🇮🇱 Don’t judge us ‘by what we do,’ Israel’s president tells Americans.
🤝 Why is Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) attending a meeting on antisemitism that includes far-right racist lawmaker Simcha Rothman?
🕵️ Human rights group wants Israel Bonds investigated for failing to register as a foreign agent.
🏫 At +972 Natasha Roth-Rowland interviews Arno Rosenfeld reports on college campuses at The Forward, on the supposed “antisemitism crisis” at U.S. schools. Some interesting stuff in here:
One of the things I’ve been the most struck by is how personal antisemitism is. That’s probably true of a lot of forms of discrimination, but because most Jews — especially on college campuses — are not identifiably Jewish, we get to choose how we engage with our Judaism on campus. We get to choose who we tell about our Judaism. So people can genuinely experience antisemitism in wildly disparate ways.
For example, I know some Jewish college students who talk about Zionism like Shabbat observance. They say, “I was brought up with this Judaism where Israel was an integral part, and to tell me that I have to set Israel aside if I want to participate in an event on campus would be like telling me that it’s fine if you’re Jewish, but you can’t keep Shabbat, or you can’t eat kosher.” That’s genuine for those students. But there are other Jewish students who tell me that anti-Zionism is integral to their Jewish identity, or at least being critical of Israel is, and so they don’t feel welcome in Jewish spaces on campus. They feel they don’t have a Jewish home on campus, and that’s antisemitic to them.
📱 Josh Ruebner on Twitter: “Anyone at the U.S. Embassy Jerusalem care to explain why you RT’ed the racist Israeli foreign minister praising the state of Iowa for passing laws to strip away our First Amendment right to speak and advocate for Palestinian rights?”
🍁 Important update from Palestine Legal on a story we have covered:
In April 2023, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) entered into a resolution agreement with the University of Vermont (UVM) over a Title VI complaint brought by two Israel advocacy groups, the Brandeis Center and Jewish on Campus (JOC), on behalf of anonymous Zionist students.
Anti-Palestinian groups are attempting to use this agreement—which does not mention Zionism or the politicized International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism—to chill speech supporting Palestinian rights by claiming OCR has created a new policy incorporating criticism of Israel and anti-Zionism into anti-discrimination laws. This is false.
In fact, OCR refused all six demands in the Title VI complaint relating to the IHRA definition, including that the university employ the IHRA definition of antisemitism and its contemporary examples when examining discrimination complaints, that the university provide trainings on the IHRA definition and that it investigate and condemn speech criticizing the political ideology of Zionism.
Indeed, in the accompanying letter, OCR noted that it could not find a single student witness willing to speak with their investigators about any of the allegations in the complaint—not even the pro-Israel students whose stories allegedly formed the basis for the complaint spoke to OCR investigators.
📺 Illinois State Rep Abdelnasser Rashid with his family in Turmus Ayya when armed Israeli settlers attacked. Watch him interviewed on CNN.
“The US government has not gathered the courage or the moral compass to do the right thing and to ask Israel to abide by international law to respect Palestinian human rights.”
Stay safe out there,
Michael
Michael Arria is the U.S. correspondent for Mondoweiss. His work has appeared in In These Times, The Appeal, and Truthout. He is the author of Medium Blue: The Politics of MSNBC. Follow him on Twitter at @michaelarria.
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