Media Roundup: Florida State's Anti-Palestinian Racism Against Ahmad Daraldik
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In April, Palestine Legal filed a civil rights complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights demanding an immediate investigation into a hostile environment of anti-Palestinian racism at Florida State University (FSU).
FSU student leader Ahmad Daraldik has been the target of rampant anti-Palestinian racism, which his school has not only tolerated but amplified.
Below is a media roundup on Ahmad’s story featuring articles in 972 Magazine, Inside Higher Education, Mondoweiss, and an op-ed from Ahmad himself in The Nation.
I Will Not Be Silenced Because I Demand Justice for Palestine (The Nation)
Nearly two weeks into the latest explosion of Israeli violence against occupied Palestinians, the world is finally beginning to understand what we have known for decades: Israel’s settler-colonial violence—the forced cleansing of Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah, the rampaging mobs in cities throughout the country, the bombs dropped on captive Gazans—has no place in the 21st century.
Palestinians have been saying this for years. But for us, as for our allies demanding freedom and justice for Palestinians, there are consequences for our speech. As soon as we speak out, we are immediately confronted by a repression machine restricting any criticism of Israel’s foundational and ongoing violence against Palestinians. We are then often punished.
Historic civil rights complaint filed against FSU over anti-Palestinian environment (Mondoweiss)
The group Palestine Legal has filed a civil rights complaint against Florida State University (FSU) for allegedly tolerating and intensifying an anti-Palestinian environment on campus. It’s believed to be the first ever anti-Palestinian discrimination complaint on a college campus.
“It’s time to speak out about racism against Palestinians as the status quo,” said Michael Ratner Justice Fellow Amira Mattar in a statement. “We’re demanding that the federal government hold Florida state to account because we must put an end to the erasure, dismissal, and intentional distortion of Palestinian voices.”
Florida university accused of fostering anti-Palestinian racism (972 Magazine)
Daraldik is one of the most high-profile examples of a Palestinian student facing harassment and censure for his criticism of Israel…But Daraldik and Palestine Legal hope that the filing of the Title VI complaint puts FSU and other schools on notice.
“It’s a message to the administration that you can’t throw Palestinians and their allies under the bus just because you’re facing pressure,” Mattar said. “Students have every right to participate in campus life without being called ugly names.”
Florida State student alleges university abandoned him when he faced anti-Palestinian harassment (Inside Higher Ed)
Daraldik, who just finished his junior year, said he felt abandoned by FSU.
“Ideally, I would hope that a university would stand by a student leader who has proven himself,” he said in an interview. “I’m not an untested student leader. I’m a student leader they’re familiar with. I worked in the president’s office the entirety of my freshman year. They know what I stand for; they know I’m not someone who spews hate. I feel like they should have been able to recognize that the attacks that I was facing were because of who I am, because of the fact I’m a Palestinian, and they should have stood against that instead of affirming that and giving it their approval and saying, ‘Yeah, he’s anti-Semitic.’”