ANNOUNCEMENTS: Palestine Liberation Week, Anti-Islamophobia protest, film screening, Iftars this week
The work continues for liberation!
Palestine Liberation Week!
Commonly known as Israeli Apartheid Week, the Palestine Solidarity Committee is observing Israeli Apartheid Week starting Monday, March 25.
This week serves as a platform for mobilizing grassroots support across the globe in the struggle against Israel's longstanding regime of settler colonialism and apartheid.
This week aims to increase awareness about Israeli apartheid and bolster support for strategic BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) campaigns. These efforts challenge international complicity and play a significant role in dismantling this oppressive system.
We will have an installation in Dun Meadow starting Tuesday, March 26.
We will be stationed in the IMU, Woodburn Clock Tower, and Dunn Meadow. The tabling will be going on Mon-Thur from 11 am-4 pm. Please try to stop by to support!
We are also encouraging people to go to the Iftars on Monday and Wednesday discussed below.
In addition to our a activities on campus, there are multiple opportunities for activism in our community:
Iftars Monday and Wednesday:
In collaboration with IU’s Union Board, the Muslim Student Association invites everyone to celebrate Ramadan.
This interfaith iftar will take place in the Tudor Room on Monday March 25, 2024. RSVP with the link here.
MSA will also host another iftar on Wednesday March 27th at Read Hoosier Den, starting at 7:30 PM. RSVP with this link here.
IU Rally Against Islamophobia Tuesday:
Mosab Yousef, a known purveyor of anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia, was scheduled to be hosted by Indiana University on March 26th. Mr. Yousef is a known agent of Israeli intelligence who is paid to broadcast pro-Zionist messages and spews anti-Palestinian racism. Worse still, Hillel decided to use the logo from the office Diversity Equity Inclusion who has explicitly stated that they are not involved in the event.
We have now received word that our organizing against his presence has brought results and Mr. Yousef will NOT be coming to campus! While Indiana University may have used spurious “security concerns” as an excuse, that seems to be the only way they can cancel this bigot without alienating the other bigots they still want to associate with.
We had planned to protest the event proper but in its absence, we still want to show IU that we stand firmly against islamophobia.
We will be holding a rally at the sample gates (click here for most updated version) at 6pm tomorrow. Be there and bring friends!
Ceasefire Action This Wednesday:
Bloomington community residents have been organizing for a ceasefire resolution for quite some time. Marches, op-eds, and letters to the editor, and much more have put pressure on the City Council to publicly take a stand on genocide in Gaza.
This Wednesday at 6:30 join the community as we show City Council how much we support the ceasefire! This week and next week are crucial!
Film Screening and Q&A:
On April 11 at 7:00 PM, JVP Indiana, the IU Deparment of Folklore & Ethnomusicology and the Indiana Graduate Worker Coalition will be hosting a panel discussion and Q&A with Aviva Orenstein and Hiba Alalami followed by a screening of the film Israelism.
The film depicts two young American Jews, Simone Zimmerman and Eitan, raised to defend Israel as part of their identity. Eitan joins the military while Simone advocates for Israel on college campuses. Witnessing Palestinian mistreatment firsthand prompts them to question their beliefs. Guided by Palestinians like Baha Hilo, they confront the impact of uncritical support for Israel on Palestinian lives.
Make your voices heard
Samia Halaby exhibition
It has been over two months since news about the esteemed alumna of Indiana University and Palestinian-American abstract painter, Samia Halaby, had her much-anticipated US premier retrospective canceled by Indiana University and the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art.
We continue to ask President Pamela Whitten to uphold the mission and values of Indiana University by restoring Samia Halaby's art exhibit in light of this cancellation.
We encourage everyone to support our cause by signing the petition and sharing it widely.
Unsuspend Professor Sinno
We also continue to seek your support in amplifying the student/alumni and faculty petition for Professor Abdulkader Sinno. Indiana University has suspended the tenured professor for assisting our organization in advocating for Palestine.
The university demonstrated a strong determination to penalize Professor Sinno, sidestepping established procedures that would have guaranteed him a hearing in front of peers before imposing such a severe sanction.
Free Sinno!