Palestine Protests: Graduation Ceremonies Censor Palestinian Students
/This is one of six blogs highlighting themes in activism and backlash in May and June 2021.
Palestinian students wishing to honor and celebrate their heritage were censored, threatened, or otherwise targeted by their administrations at both high school and college graduation ceremonies.
Examples of Palestine graduation stoles available in the U.S. and graduates in Palestine wearing stoles celebrating their cultural heritage. Mariam’s school district told her the Palestinian stole did not meet the criteria for cultural adornment.
(2nd Image Credit: Nedal Eshtayah/apaimages; 3rd Image Credit: Al Najah University)
While many institutions allowed graduates to honor their heritage during commencement ceremonies, a double standard emerged this year.
No Flag for Palestine
The University of Delaware refused to fly a Palestinian flag among the many flags celebrating graduates’ countries of origin.
High School Student Forced to Remove Palestinian Stole
In California, a Palestinian-American high school student was forbidden from wearing a Palestinian stole at her graduation ceremony. Though the school allowed other students to wear Kente cloth stoles representing their heritage, the school claimed the Palestinian student’s stole did not meet the criteria for cultural adornment. They originally told the student she could wear the stole underneath her graduation gown, but on the night of graduation, she was forced to surrender the stole because “the rules have been changed.”
St. John’s Censored Palestinian Doctoral Student
St. John's University in New York censored a Palestinian doctoral student, preventing her from celebrating her Palestinian identity and Palestine-related scholarship during the school's virtual commencement ceremony. The university removed "Free Free Palestine" from Dr. Laila Shikaki’s graduation presentation slide, outrageously claiming that her slide violated campus guidelines forbidding content considered “defamatory, libelous, obscene, immoral, or fraudulent to St. John's University.”
ST. JOHN’S UNIVERSITY CENSORED DR. LAILA SHIKAKI’S GRADUATION SLIDE THAT SAID “FREE FREE PALESTINE.”
Following her persistent demands, Dr. Shikaki’s personal message was ultimately reinstated on the school’s website, but this occurred long after the ceremony was over, and her slide remains unchanged on the video of the ceremony.
Her inclusion of "Free Free Palestine" in her graduation slide was a celebration both of her heritage and of the hard work she put into completing a dissertation on how Palestinians challenge racism and represent themselves instead of being spoken about or written about.
High School Student Harassed for Graduation Speech
In a case that CAIR-NY responded to in June, a 17-year-old Muslim high school student in Long Island was booed and harassed by angry parents who made Islamophobic, anti-immigrant and anti-Palestinian comments after she encouraged her peers to educate themselves about Palestinian human rights in her graduation speech.
Palestine Legal will continue to monitor, track, and respond to incidents of repression. Contact us if you would like to report on these issues, request legal and advocacy assistance, or document incidents of suppression.
A Significant Uptick in Backlash
As people of conscience around the world reacted to Israel’s intensified military and colonial violence against Palestinians this spring, voices rang out from new corners in support of the Palestinian uprising.
In response, Palestine Legal witnessed a significant uptick in the amount and severity of backlash against Palestine advocates by Israel and its allies in the U.S.
Click through to explore the following themes in activism and backlash we witnessed between May and June 2021:
