By signing this petition, we affirm our complete opposition to New York University's (NYU) legally indefensible and morally reprehensible suspension of Hafiza Khalique, a freshman student, for exercising her constitutionally-protected right to free expression. As nearly a hundred other NYU students face disciplinary hearings for their courageous activism for Palestine, we maintain that NYU’s suspension of Hafiza is baseless, and the unsubstantiated leveraging of university policy against her is nothing short of targeted discrimination against a Muslim student. This discrimination is a historic overstep by NYU and requires immediate institutional rectification. Collectively, we demand an immediate reinstatement of Hafiza, a cease and desist of all disciplinary proceedings targeting Palestine advocacy, a public apology by New York University, and the establishment of university policy which enshrines protections for pro-Palestine students and activism on campus.

On October 11th, 2023, NYU freshman Hafiza Khalique took down inflammatory, university unaffiliated fliers which were designed to normalize Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people. They were intended to provoke students when, at that point after October 7th, over 1,000 Palestinians had been killed. Another NYU student photographed Hafiza and released her personal information online, instigating an unrelenting onslaught of harassment, intimidation, and physical threats (including graphic death threats) both virtually and by students, admin, and community members alike. Petitions were made calling for Hafiza’s expulsion from the university, her employers were published online with calls for her immediate firing, and thousands called for her deportation. The threats to her safety, which were present in her academic, personal, and work life, became so intense that she was no longer able to attend class in person—an accommodation that all but one professor refused to provide.

Following this, Mathew J.L. Shepard, the Interim Director of Student Conduct, brought Hafiza in for a disciplinary hearing on Friday, October 27th, where, after expressing a series of deeply problematic statements about Palestinians and Arabs, he affirmed that action taken by the university would be no-more than a warning. After meeting with “relevant stakeholders,” however, the university proceeded to suspend Hafiza on November 13th on the basis of vandalizing personal property and, because she expressed sentiment critical of Israel’s genocide on Gaza, a breach of the university’s non-discrimination policies.

The disciplinary measures taken against Hafiza by NYU are not only indefensible, but are part of a long-term offensive NYU has led to stifle pro-Palestine students and activism on campus. Over the last decade, students who fearlessly organize for Palestine have been met with repression, threats of disciplinary action, and public intimidation by NYU and its affiliates. In April 2022, NYU launched a heavily-criticized investigation into Law Students for Justice in Palestine at NYU for their condemnation of Israel’s violence against the Palestinian people– an investigation which sought to chill and silence pro-Palestine speech on campus. That same semester, a NYU student worker had her employment denied for her public expression of support for Palestine. Now, as NYU attempts disciplinary action against 90 students for vocalizing their support for Palestine, it is simultaneously leading a charge that insiders have said is intended to fully end and destroy Palestine solidarity organizing on campus. This is in response to strong alumni and donor pressure to target anti-Zionist speech on campuses. NYU’s strategy centers around a manipulation of expanded “campus safety” policies and bastardization of anti-hate protections in order to bully students, cancel events, and target educators. All of this is immoral and likely against the law—and we are committed to fighting back.

NYU has the responsibility of protecting all its students, regardless of their race, class, religion, or political identification. Instead, at a time in which anti-Arab and Islamophobic incidents of violence have risen by 216% (⅕ of which being free-speech related assaults), NYU has made its campus inhospitable for Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students who defy the status quo on Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. While NYU administrators abandon Palestinian students during an ongoing genocide, campuses across the country are seeing an uptick in targeted harassment of Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students. From a Columbia University admin calling for death to pro-Palestine student protesters, to a University of Washington professor calling Palestinians subhuman, students are navigating vicious, oftentimes violent, backlash for speaking out against Israel’s bombing campaigns against Gaza. NYU’s targeted discrimination of Hafiza, is an explicit endorsement of the type of Anti-Arab and Islamophobic rhetoric that is currently pervading every segment of our society, and which manifests in real, tangible ways.  Just last week, we saw the unconscionable attack on three Palestinian students in Vermont, where three Palestinian students were shot, leading to one being paralyzed from the chest down. As an institution, NYU has a responsibility to protect ALL its students, including its Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim ones.

Therefore, we demand the following:

1. The immediate reinstatement of all students suspended for Palestine activism; including Hafiza Khalique as a student of NYU;  

2. The immediate cease and desist of all disciplinary proceedings targeting Palestine advocacy, and apology from NYU for its:

1. Engagement in explicit anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and Islamophobic repression of student activism on campus; and

2. Failure to protect vulnerable students during a time of increased violence against these communities; and

3. A commitment from NYU to protecting Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students from doxxing, harassment and campus repression going forward.

New York City, and the movement for Palestinian liberation more broadly, stands in complete and unwavering solidarity with NYU students in the face of the unconscionable treatment they are facing at their university. NYU cannot be allowed to continue to abandon its students, and we will not stay silent when students are doxxed, harassed, and made unsafe on their campuses.

Sincerely,

National Students for Justice in Palestine

Palestinian Youth Movement

Dissenters

NYU Dissenters