Faculty for Justice in Palestine SFSU Statement of Support for Student Protests

Beginning with the Students for Gaza rally at 12:15 Monday April 29 on Malcolm X Plaza, we call on SFSU administration to respect any and all collective displays of support for the Palestinian liberation struggle that our students undertake, and not to repeat the shameful, punitive and dangerous forms of repression imposed by universities across the country, such as the deployment of police forces; suspension, expulsion, and eviction from campus housing; forcible destruction of student solidarity artwork; and more.

Specifically, FJP-SFSU calls on President Mahoney to do the following:

—Refrain from dispatching police forces against potential student demonstrations;
—Refrain from academic retaliation against students; and
—Respect students’ right to protest on their campus against injustice.

SFSU is the home of the nation’s first College of Ethnic Studies, achieved through student and community struggles and the longest strike in university history (‘68-’69). Since that time, students have led movements to end apartheid in South Africa; to support labor rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, disability justice, and the movement for Black lives; and to call for liberation more broadly. Student activism for Palestinian liberation—including boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against the Israeli apartheid government; ending the genocide against the people of Palestine; and ending Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land—is part and parcel of these interconnected histories of struggle.

SFSU students are astute observers of history, engaged critical thinkers, and thoughtful political organizers. They know that change doesn’t happen without struggle, and they are taking action in solidarity with a worldwide movement in support of the liberation of the Palestinian people and divestment from colonialism, imperialism, ethnic cleansing, and genocidal wars.

We honor the scholar activists that have been doing this work for years and decades, and we will continue to support and empower our students in becoming the leaders we need.


Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP), San Francisco State University
https://www.instagram.com/fjp.sfsu.comms/