Islamic Bloc at An-Najah |
The Middle East Forum’s petition to end San Francisco State University (SFSU)'s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with An-Najah University in the West Bank continues to build steam and was covered by San Francisco’s CBS affiliate yesterday! But the question remains: why would SFSU President Leslie Wong choose to partner with a Palestinian university that promotes terrorism and extremism?
An April 2015 SFSU reception provides the answer. Alongside the MOU’s author, Rabab Abdulhadi, director of SFSU’s Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative, Wong trumpeted the agreement and his own role in bringing it to fruition with a mysterious 2012 trip:
“When I returned from Palestine two years ago . . . I said I want to be one of the first major universities to sign an agreement with An-Najah or any of the other Palestinian universities, or any of the universities in the Arab world.”
Noting how “pleased” he was to have “attracted a group of radicals around me, so that when I propose ideas that would shake the academic community, they say we’re right behind you,” Wong praised Abdulhadi for being “a means of making one of my goals and dreams come true.”
Even worse, Wong declared the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS), the virulently anti-Israel students who would become notorious for disrupting Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat’s lecture in April of this year, “an inspiration for me” and “the very purpose of this great university.” Is it any wonder that, as Wong conceded after an investigation into the University’s inaction against the GUPS protesters, he “failed our students”?
Through words and deeds, SFSU’s president has proven that, when it comes to the longstanding problem of anti-Israel activity on campus, he is no honest broker. Please sign our petition and let President Wong know that you will not accept his outrageous partnership with An-Najah.
Pass it on!
