Against the Blacklisting of Activists and Writers
The cancellation of a lecture by journalist Rania Khalek, who was invited to speak on the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill campus by Students for Justice in Palestine on February 27, 2017, raises important issues of tactics and strategy within movements for social change.
The whole statement, posted on facebook the night before, reads:
“After receiving much feedback and after careful consideration, we have decided to cancel tomorrow's event with Rania Khalek. We do not endorse nor reject her views on the Syrian civil war as they remain relatively unclear according to our members’ diverse opinions of Rania's analyses. Although Rania was not going to speak about Syria, we understand the Syrian conflict is a contentious issue and the invitation was met with a lot of anger. We appreciate the concerns of those who have reached out to us, especially our Syrian supporters and believe her invitation would mistakenly imply SJP to hold such views. SJP supports liberation movements for all oppressed people and recognizes their right to self-determination.”
We note: the UNC-SJP event organizers cancelled the event (which was to be on the intersection of Palestinian rights organizing and the Black Lives Matter movement) based on the speaker's views on Syria, a topic the speaker was “not going to speak about”, that “remain relatively unclear” to them, out of concern that “her invitation would mistakenly imply SJP to hold such views”. This means that:
- No one was prepared to state what disqualified Khalek from speaking.
- The event was cancelled based on assertions about her views made by others.
- The cancellation was based on the notion that there is a political litmus test of views on Syria that are requisites to have a public voice in the Palestinian rights movement.
We also note that some of those who lobbied UNC-SJP to cancel the event have stated publicly that they want to destroy Khalek’s reputation and livelihood. This is a coordinated smear campaign, using many of the same tactics that Palestine solidarity activists have faced from pro-Israel organizations, and with many of the same targets.
The signers of this statement hold a range of views on Syria. Some agree with Khalek; others disagree - in some cases quite vehemently. But we feel that when a group seeking justice in Palestine subjects speakers or members to a political litmus test related to their views on Syria, it inevitably leads to splits, silencing, confusion, and a serious erosion of trust. It runs contrary to the possibility of people learning from one another, changing their minds, and educating one another through their activism. Disagreements about political issues exist inside every movement coalition. They must not be made fodder for targeted vilification of activists in the movement.
Nahla Abdo
Rabab Abdulhadi
As`ad AbuKhalil
Susan Abulhawa
Ali Abunimah
Suzanne Adely
Max Ajl
Sami AlBanna
Michael Albert
Mark Ames
Said Arikat
Reza Aslan
Ajamu Baraka
Khaled Barakat
Carl Beijer
Medea Benjamin
Keane Bhatt
Max Blumenthal
Audrey Bomse
James W. Carden
Joe Catron
Roqayah Chamseddine
Noam Chomsky
George Ciccariello-Maher
Marie Clarke
Helena Cobban
Andrew Cockburn
Dan Cohen
Elliot Colla
Jonathan Cook
David Cromwell
Omar Dahi
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
David Edwards
Karim Eid-Sabbagh
Rami El-Amine
Zein El-Amine
Joe Emersberger
Lee Fang
Nina Farnia
Liza Featherstone
Glen Ford
Drew Franklin
Peter Gose
Kevin Gosztola
Greg Grandin
Glenn Greenwald
Bassam Haddad
David Heap
Doug Henwood
Edward Herman
Brad Hoff
Adam Horowitz
Abdeen Jabara
Bruno Jäntti
Rula Jebreal
Zaid Jilani
Adam Johnson
Charlotte Kates
Sameera Khan
Connor Kilpatrick
Jerome Klassen
Ken Klippenstein
Kyle Kulinski
Paul Larudee
Carlos Latuff
Daniel Lazare
Michael Levin
Yasha Levine
Antony Loewenstein
Mairead Maguire
Abby Martin
Mario Martone
Rania Masri
Todd Miller
Amina Mire
David Mizner
Mnar A. Muhawesh
Corinna Mullin
Elizabeth Murray
Robert Naiman
Jana Nakhal
Jim Naureckas
Ayman Nijim
Ben Norton
Anya Parampil
John Pilger
Adrienne Pine
Justin Podur
Gareth Porter
Vijay Prashad
Syksy Räsänen
Afshin Rattansi
Corey Robin
Brahim Rouabah
Al Awda SF
Gregory Shupak
Bill Skidmore
Norman Solomon
Rick Sterling
David Swanson
Linda Tabar
Dahlia Wasfi
Mark Weisbrot
Asa Winstanley
Col. Ann Wright
Raffi Bilemjian
Owen Broadhurst
Michael Brull
Lynn Comerford
Benjamin Douglas
Juliana Farha
Taryn Fivek
Derek Ford
Ann Garrison
Steve Goldfield
Barbara Harvey
Eoin Higgins
Vivek Jain
Colin Kalmbacher
Paul Lewis
Mary Hughes
Sam Husseini
Peter Kofod
Adam Miyashiro
Adi Mormech
Jaisal Noor
Annie Robbins
Lisa Rofel
Robert Rodrigo
Lillian Rosengarten
Jesse Rubin
John Sidote
Macdonald Stainsby
Robert Sweeny
Kristin Szmerski
Julian Vigo
Johnny Eric Williams
Alexey Yaroshevsky
For more information, email againstblacklisting@gmail.com