OPEN LETTER posted to Israpundit and United American Committee
(See also http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=20716, "Georgetown's Jihad" by Lee Kaplan)
To: Dr. John DeGioia, President, Georgetown University president "at" georgetown.edu
Dr. Daniel R. Porterfield, Office of Public Affairs, Georgetown University https://www4.georgetown.edu/uis/keybridge/keyform/form.cfm?formID=218
Subject: Use of Georgetown facilities by terrorist advocates and accomplices
Dear Dr. DeGioia, Dr. Porterfield,
I am writing to alert you to a very serious prospective abuse of Georgetown University's meeting facilities by an organization with terrorist connections. The Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM, also known as the International Solidarity Movement or ISM), which has scheduled its Fifth Annual Divestment [from Israel] Conference at Georgetown University, February 17-19, 2006, obviously lied to Georgetown staff and administrators about its objectives and background in order to gain the use of GU facilities and the prestige and perceived legitimacy that goes with them. I am confident that, once GU verifies the following items for itself, it will cancel the event and permanently ban the Palestine Solidarity Movement from coming onto GU property for any purpose whatsoever.
This is what the PSM says on its Web site, http://www.palestinesolidaritymovement.org/
Washington, DC, December 23rd, 2005 – The Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM) announced today that its fifth annual conference will be held February 17th through 19th at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. The annual conference comes to Georgetown's campus, which possesses a Catholic and Jesuit identity, on the heels of a series of bold initiatives taken by the decision-making bodies of various Christian denominations to consider the use of divestment as a tactic to non-violently influence a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The event will be hosted by Georgetown University's Students for Justice in Palestine (GU-SJP) on behalf of PSM, a coalition of North American organizations dedicated to implementing divestment and boycott strategies as a component of human rights activism in order to realize both equality and justice for all people residing within Israel/Palestine
Note, incidentally, that a BOYCOTT of Israel, if done in cooperation with a foreign government or possibly a governmental entity like the Palestinian Authority, may violate U.S. antiboycott laws. (I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.) More to the point, however, are four things that ISM/PSM doubtlessly "forgot" to tell GU when it scheduled the use of its facilities.
(1) ADVOCACY OF TERRORISTIC VIOLENCE
ISM/PSM does not commit acts of terrorism but its spokespeople are on record as advocating the use of terroristic violence in Israel. Adam Shapiro, who is going to be one of the Divestment Conference's speakers, has personally advocated terrorism as shown below. Note that freepalestinecampaign.org is a site friendly to ISM/PSM and it is reporting the ISM leaders' remarks.
http://www.freepalestinecampaign.org/attacks_on_ISM.htm
Two of the ISM's leaders, Adam Shapiro and his wife, Huwaida Arraf, defended the use of violence against Israelis in a January 2002 article in the Palestine Chronicle:
"The Palestinian resistance must take on a variety of characteristics -- both nonviolent and violent. But most importantly it must develop a strategy involving both aspects... [W]e accept that Palestinians have a right to resist with arms, as they are an occupied people upon whom force and violence is being used. The Geneva Conventions accept that armed resistance is legitimate for an occupied people, and there is no doubt that this right cannot be denied."
http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=2709
Charlotte Kates, the organizer of the New Jersey Solidarity Movement -- an offshoot of the International Solidarity Movement -- has refused to condemn homicide bombings and other means of “armed resistance.”
(2) FACILITATING, AIDING, AND ABETTING TERRORISM
ISM personnel have committed actions that, if done in the United States, would probably constitute serious felonies (e.g. aiding terrorists, material support to terrorists).
http://home.comcast.net/~jat.action/ISM_info.htm
Susan Barclay, the ISM organizer deported by Israel after she hid Islamic Jihad terrorist Shadi Sukiya in the ISM office in Jenin, told the Seattle Post Intelligencer that, "she knowingly worked with representatives from Hamas and Islamic Jihad -- terrorist groups that sponsor suicide bombings and exist, according to their charters, to demolish the Jewish state entirely." (Seattle Post Intelligencer, Thursday March 20, 2003, Activist's death focuses spotlight on Mideast struggle, By Sam Skolnik, Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter.
http://israelbehindthenews.com/Archives/Jul-04-03.htm#agitate
Days before a British suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt in Mike's Place, a bar in suburban Tel Aviv, the bomber and an associate took tea with members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian group that promotes non-violent resistance to Israeli occupation.
(3) A HISTORY OF VIOLENT THREATS, CONTRARY TO GU's CODE OF CONDUCT
Georgetown University's Code of Conduct's Preamble states, "Especially intolerable in view of the University's commitment to respect for the person are offenses against persons because of their race, religion, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation." However, per http://www.standwithus.com/news_post.asp?NPI=85 (and other online sources),
"Recently, the Director of the Solidarity Movement, George Rishmawi, explained to the San Francisco Chronicle that the recruitment of American student volunteers is useful to the Palestinian Movement because 'if some of these foreign volunteers get shot or even killed, then the international media will sit up and take notice.' When the Solidarity Movement met at the University of Michigan, delegates chanted 'Kill the Jews.'"
A repetition of this behavior— chanting "Kill the Jews" or for that matter a chant to kill anyone else— could easily embarrass the university and might even result in the police being called. I am not an attorney and I don't know the point at which conduct crosses the line from freedom of expression to incitement to riot but these are not the kind of people I would want anywhere near my property, much less on it.
(4) AIDING AND ABETTING PERSECUTORS OF CHRISTIANS
I am not sure how GU's Catholic alumni and benefactors feel about GU allowing its facilities to be used to aid and abet, at least indirectly, the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. Here is what the PSM's Palestinian friends are doing in areas that are now under their control:
http://www.chiesa.espressonline.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=44202&eng=y
"The general plan of Hamas also includes the imposition of a special tax, called al-jeziya, upon all of the non-Muslim residents in the Palestinian territories. This tax revives the one applied through all of Islamic history to the dhimmi, the second-class Jewish and Christian citizens."
"In an interview with Karby Legget, published in the December 23-26 edition of “The Wall Street Journal,” Masalmeh, the leader of the Hamas contingent at the municipal council of Bethlehem, confirmed: “We in Hamas intend to implement this tax someday. We say it openly – we welcome everyone to Palestine but only if they agree to live under our rules.” "
Palestinian Christians Face Persecution
By Chris Mitchell, Christian Broadcasting Network
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/news/051219a.asp?option=print
WEST BANK - Two thousand years after the birth of Christ, Christians are leaving the Holy Land in record numbers, and a new report suggests persecution against Palestinian believers is getting worse.
"…since Israel withdrew from the Palestinian populated areas of the West Bank and Gaza …[Christians] fear for their own lives, they fear for their own family, they fear for the future of their community."
Speaking of anti-Christian persecutions, GU should also be aware that its $20 million donor, Al-Waleed bin Talal, represents a country in which the practice of Christianity is illegal. I am not sure why he is giving money to "promote Muslim-Christian understanding" when the Royal Family he represents routinely persecutes and punishes people for being Christians. (Conversion to Christianity from Islam may even be punishable by beheading.) As just a couple of examples of what Mr. bin Talal represents,
From Catholic World News, 20 September 1996
"In Saudi Arabia, where American troops stand ready to protect an autocratic regime, no form of Christian worship is allowed. It is illegal to celebrate Mass, to wear a cross or crucifix, to read or own a Bible, or even to recite a Christian prayer in the privacy of one's own home. Last December, seven foreigners living in Saudi Arabia were arrested, beaten, and imprisoned for participating in a private Christmas celebration."
http://www.persecution.org/Countries/saudi_arabia.html
"May 18, 2002 - Filipino Christians Benjamin Diaz and Danilo de Guzman were deported to Manila. They were charged for the possession of Christian CDs and a Bible, which were confiscated during a raid on their home in March of 2001. Though sentenced to 150 lashes, the two were deported after a month in prison and paying a fine for possession of the Christian materials."
REQUESTED ACTION
I am confident that, once Georgetown University's administration verifies the truth of the above items for itself, it will tell the ISM/PSM to find another location for its divestment conference and permanently ban it from using GU facilities and resources for any purpose whatsoever.
Regards,
Bill Levinson
Open letter to Georgetown U re: ISM Conference
by Bill Levinson
Georgetown certainly won't knowingly and willfully allow its facilities to be used for this purpose. It's quite obvious that ISM/PSM lied to GU's administrators and staff to schedule this event, just as ISM has lied to numerous churches to gain the use of their facilities.
OPEN LETTER posted to Israpundit and United American Committee
(See also , "Georgetown's Jihad" by Lee Kaplan)
To: Dr. John DeGioia, President, Georgetown University president "at" georgetown.edu
Dr. Daniel R. Porterfield, Office of Public Affairs, Georgetown University https://www4.georgetown.edu/uis/keybridge/keyform/form.cfm?formID=218
Subject: Use of Georgetown facilities by terrorist advocates and accomplices
OPEN LETTER posted to Israpundit and United American Committee
(See also http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=20716, "Georgetown's Jihad" by Lee Kaplan)
To: Dr. John DeGioia, President, Georgetown University president "at" georgetown.edu
Dr. Daniel R. Porterfield, Office of Public Affairs, Georgetown University https://www4.georgetown.edu/uis/keybridge/keyform/form.cfm?formID=218
Subject: Use of Georgetown facilities by terrorist advocates and accomplices
Dear Dr. DeGioia, Dr. Porterfield,
I am writing to alert you to a very serious prospective abuse of Georgetown University's meeting facilities by an organization with terrorist connections. The Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM, also known as the International Solidarity Movement or ISM), which has scheduled its Fifth Annual Divestment [from Israel] Conference at Georgetown University, February 17-19, 2006, obviously lied to Georgetown staff and administrators about its objectives and background in order to gain the use of GU facilities and the prestige and perceived legitimacy that goes with them. I am confident that, once GU verifies the following items for itself, it will cancel the event and permanently ban the Palestine Solidarity Movement from coming onto GU property for any purpose whatsoever.
This is what the PSM says on its Web site, http://www.palestinesolidaritymovement.org/
Washington, DC, December 23rd, 2005 – The Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM) announced today that its fifth annual conference will be held February 17th through 19th at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. The annual conference comes to Georgetown's campus, which possesses a Catholic and Jesuit identity, on the heels of a series of bold initiatives taken by the decision-making bodies of various Christian denominations to consider the use of divestment as a tactic to non-violently influence a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The event will be hosted by Georgetown University's Students for Justice in Palestine (GU-SJP) on behalf of PSM, a coalition of North American organizations dedicated to implementing divestment and boycott strategies as a component of human rights activism in order to realize both equality and justice for all people residing within Israel/Palestine
Note, incidentally, that a BOYCOTT of Israel, if done in cooperation with a foreign government or possibly a governmental entity like the Palestinian Authority, may violate U.S. antiboycott laws. (I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.) More to the point, however, are four things that ISM/PSM doubtlessly "forgot" to tell GU when it scheduled the use of its facilities.
(1) ADVOCACY OF TERRORISTIC VIOLENCE
ISM/PSM does not commit acts of terrorism but its spokespeople are on record as advocating the use of terroristic violence in Israel. Adam Shapiro, who is going to be one of the Divestment Conference's speakers, has personally advocated terrorism as shown below. Note that freepalestinecampaign.org is a site friendly to ISM/PSM and it is reporting the ISM leaders' remarks.
http://www.freepalestinecampaign.org/attacks_on_ISM.htm
Two of the ISM's leaders, Adam Shapiro and his wife, Huwaida Arraf, defended the use of violence against Israelis in a January 2002 article in the Palestine Chronicle:
"The Palestinian resistance must take on a variety of characteristics -- both nonviolent and violent. But most importantly it must develop a strategy involving both aspects... [W]e accept that Palestinians have a right to resist with arms, as they are an occupied people upon whom force and violence is being used. The Geneva Conventions accept that armed resistance is legitimate for an occupied people, and there is no doubt that this right cannot be denied."
http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=2709
Charlotte Kates, the organizer of the New Jersey Solidarity Movement -- an offshoot of the International Solidarity Movement -- has refused to condemn homicide bombings and other means of “armed resistance.”
(2) FACILITATING, AIDING, AND ABETTING TERRORISM
ISM personnel have committed actions that, if done in the United States, would probably constitute serious felonies (e.g. aiding terrorists, material support to terrorists).
http://home.comcast.net/~jat.action/ISM_info.htm
Susan Barclay, the ISM organizer deported by Israel after she hid Islamic Jihad terrorist Shadi Sukiya in the ISM office in Jenin, told the Seattle Post Intelligencer that, "she knowingly worked with representatives from Hamas and Islamic Jihad -- terrorist groups that sponsor suicide bombings and exist, according to their charters, to demolish the Jewish state entirely." (Seattle Post Intelligencer, Thursday March 20, 2003, Activist's death focuses spotlight on Mideast struggle, By Sam Skolnik, Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter.
http://israelbehindthenews.com/Archives/Jul-04-03.htm#agitate
Days before a British suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt in Mike's Place, a bar in suburban Tel Aviv, the bomber and an associate took tea with members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian group that promotes non-violent resistance to Israeli occupation.
(3) A HISTORY OF VIOLENT THREATS, CONTRARY TO GU's CODE OF CONDUCT
Georgetown University's Code of Conduct's Preamble states, "Especially intolerable in view of the University's commitment to respect for the person are offenses against persons because of their race, religion, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation." However, per http://www.standwithus.com/news_post.asp?NPI=85 (and other online sources),
"Recently, the Director of the Solidarity Movement, George Rishmawi, explained to the San Francisco Chronicle that the recruitment of American student volunteers is useful to the Palestinian Movement because 'if some of these foreign volunteers get shot or even killed, then the international media will sit up and take notice.' When the Solidarity Movement met at the University of Michigan, delegates chanted 'Kill the Jews.'"
A repetition of this behavior— chanting "Kill the Jews" or for that matter a chant to kill anyone else— could easily embarrass the university and might even result in the police being called. I am not an attorney and I don't know the point at which conduct crosses the line from freedom of expression to incitement to riot but these are not the kind of people I would want anywhere near my property, much less on it.
(4) AIDING AND ABETTING PERSECUTORS OF CHRISTIANS
I am not sure how GU's Catholic alumni and benefactors feel about GU allowing its facilities to be used to aid and abet, at least indirectly, the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. Here is what the PSM's Palestinian friends are doing in areas that are now under their control:
http://www.chiesa.espressonline.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=44202&eng=y
"The general plan of Hamas also includes the imposition of a special tax, called al-jeziya, upon all of the non-Muslim residents in the Palestinian territories. This tax revives the one applied through all of Islamic history to the dhimmi, the second-class Jewish and Christian citizens."
"In an interview with Karby Legget, published in the December 23-26 edition of “The Wall Street Journal,” Masalmeh, the leader of the Hamas contingent at the municipal council of Bethlehem, confirmed: “We in Hamas intend to implement this tax someday. We say it openly – we welcome everyone to Palestine but only if they agree to live under our rules.” "
Palestinian Christians Face Persecution
By Chris Mitchell, Christian Broadcasting Network
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/news/051219a.asp?option=print
WEST BANK - Two thousand years after the birth of Christ, Christians are leaving the Holy Land in record numbers, and a new report suggests persecution against Palestinian believers is getting worse.
"…since Israel withdrew from the Palestinian populated areas of the West Bank and Gaza …[Christians] fear for their own lives, they fear for their own family, they fear for the future of their community."
Speaking of anti-Christian persecutions, GU should also be aware that its $20 million donor, Al-Waleed bin Talal, represents a country in which the practice of Christianity is illegal. I am not sure why he is giving money to "promote Muslim-Christian understanding" when the Royal Family he represents routinely persecutes and punishes people for being Christians. (Conversion to Christianity from Islam may even be punishable by beheading.) As just a couple of examples of what Mr. bin Talal represents,
From Catholic World News, 20 September 1996
"In Saudi Arabia, where American troops stand ready to protect an autocratic regime, no form of Christian worship is allowed. It is illegal to celebrate Mass, to wear a cross or crucifix, to read or own a Bible, or even to recite a Christian prayer in the privacy of one's own home. Last December, seven foreigners living in Saudi Arabia were arrested, beaten, and imprisoned for participating in a private Christmas celebration."
http://www.persecution.org/Countries/saudi_arabia.html
"May 18, 2002 - Filipino Christians Benjamin Diaz and Danilo de Guzman were deported to Manila. They were charged for the possession of Christian CDs and a Bible, which were confiscated during a raid on their home in March of 2001. Though sentenced to 150 lashes, the two were deported after a month in prison and paying a fine for possession of the Christian materials."
REQUESTED ACTION
I am confident that, once Georgetown University's administration verifies the truth of the above items for itself, it will tell the ISM/PSM to find another location for its divestment conference and permanently ban it from using GU facilities and resources for any purpose whatsoever.
Regards,
Bill Levinson
Posted by Bill Levinson at January 3, 2006 07:32 PM