Constitution Day Panel Discussion Explores Palestinian Community Issues

Thursday, September 28, 2017

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS -- A two-day informational panel led by Dr. Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi, SF State Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diaspora studies, for SF State’s Constitution Day, featured a discussion on academic freedom for professors who stand up for marginalized students and the College of Ethnic Studies.

“We should not be afraid of walking on our own campus,” Abdulhadi said. “People who know me know that I do not walk alone in campus anymore. I am very afraid.”

Blanca Misse, a panelist speaker and SF State faculty member from the French department, also added to the conversation, comparing Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat to Milo Yiannopoulos, a British right-wing spokesman.

“These are not just speakers, they are political representatives,” Misse said. “If you’re inviting a representative of the colonial murder to your campus, you are reporting this violence to your campus. We need to separate freedom of speech that is interested in intellectual debate and other speech that reinforces biases in society and are there to cover bullying and violence.”

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