Israel-Palestine debates have grown fierce on American campuses. Recent events at IU have convinced some students and faculty that the university is taking unusual measures to silence the pro-Palestinian side.
(Joe Hren / WFIU-WTIU)
Mohammad Rashid hoped to end his last semester in college celebrating his accomplishments. But in October, war broke out between Israel and Hamas.
“It was hard to pay attention to lectures, just sitting around with hundreds of other individuals that have no idea of what is going on in the world. And your entire world is crumbling apart.”
Rashid grew up in Fishers, but his family is from Gaza. He was a senior at IUPUI when the war began.
“We're expecting these phone calls eventually that our family in an instant could be gone,” he said.
Mohammad Rashid graduated from IUPUI last fall. His last semester was "exhausting and overwhelming" as he waited for news from his relatives stuck in the Gaza Strip. (Lucinda Larnach / WFIU-WTIU)
Last fall, his fears came true. A sniper killed two of Rashid's cousins, along with their father. He said he feels supported by his peers and teachers, but Rashid is disappointed by what he considers a lack of empathy from the university.
“There's been a rise in, obviously, antisemitism, but also Islamophobia has been existing to a whole different extent,” he said. “Just come out and be like, 'these are our students also.' This is a message that you haven't seen across the board.”
A sniper killed Rashid's 10-year-old cousin Nouran Allouh (left) and her 12-year-old sister Razan (right) last November. Rashid's uncle was also shot when he attempted to cover his daughters' bodies. (Courtesy of Mohammad Rashid)
University president Pamela Whitten issued a statement five days after a Hamas attack that led to more than twelve-hundred deaths in Israel sharing “heartfelt thoughts” to the Jewish community. Many wanted a similar statement for Palestinians, who by that point, had lost over fifteen-hundred lives from airstrikes.
"As our campuses go into fall break over the next several days, I ask that we give heartfelt thoughts to the Jewish members of our IU family. I have reflected on the events of this past week and have had many conversations with the IU community. I continue to be heartbroken by… pic.twitter.com/uoP5VhVStI
Freshman Yusuf Awad was disappointed, but it was a response he'd come to expect.
“It's not something that I'm surprised by,” Awad said. “I think right now, it's more of a shock to other people who aren't Palestinian.”
Awad transferred to IU Bloomington last semester. He got involved with the Palestine Solidarity Committee, a student advocacy organization on campus.
Yusuf Awad lost 36 members of his extended family during a single airstrike. He's channeled much of his energy during his first semester at IU Bloomington into working with the Palestine Solidarity Committee. (Lucinda Larnach / WFIU-WTIU)
In November, the group hosted a lecture by Miko Peled, an Israeli American antiwar activist. The university cancelled the event the day before, saying the committee’s faculty advisor Abdulkader Sinno made a room reservation error. After the speech went ahead as planned, the university suspended Sinno indefinitely from teaching or engaging in student activities. The university said it will re-consider Sinno's suspension in the fall.
“They're using statements that make no sense whatsoever to make those jumps from me presumably having made a mistake filling a form, which I have not really, to saying that I'm a danger to the community,” Sinno said.
The university said Sinno endangered students by allowing the potentially divisive event to continue and accuses him of repeated threatening behavior.
When the university suspended Abdulkader Sinno from teaching, he was forced to cancel his spring course on the Arab-Israeli conflict and cease involvement with pro-Palestine groups on campus. (Ethan Sandweiss / WFIU-WTIU)
“They were just trying to push us around. They're genuinely just trying to get (the talk) canceled,” Awad said. “That's how I feel.”
Sinno’s case has drawn condemnation from free speech groups PEN America and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. The ACLU also said it’s monitoring the situation at IU. A petition to reinstate him has amassed signatures from over 300 of his colleagues.
IU law professor Steve Sanders said that the university ignored campus policy by suspending Sinno without a faculty misconducted review. He added that if Sinno did, in fact, violate a room booking policy, the punishment doesn't make much sense.
“There's no evidence that anyone was ever put in serious danger. A two academic term suspension seems very heavy for something like this,” Sanders said.
IU drew attention from The New York Times and Democracy Now for canceling Palestinian artist Samia Halaby's exhibition due to unspecified security concerns. (WFIU-WTIU)
Madison Gordon is Halaby's grand-niece and a board member of the Samia A. Halaby Foundation. She said she's confused how the exhibition could be canceled with no clear pretext after three years of planning.
“Frankly, the sole mission of a museum is to safely house and show artwork to the public,” Gordon said. “If that's their responsibility and their singular job, I have confidence that they can figure out how to do their job.”
At a Bloomington Faculty Council meeting, Provost Rahul Shrivastav explained the university’s decision. He said while he can’t share all the information available, the school is constantly in touch with state officials and the FBI on a number of security issues.
“They feel that if there is a specter of insecurity or lack of safety, then people will go along with them and they can shut free speech on campus and destroy academic freedom on campus,” Sinno said.
University spokesman Mark Bode declined an interview for this story, but referred WTIU to the university’s previous statements. IU maintains proper procedurewas followed for Sinno’s suspension and that Halaby’s exhibit was closed due to security concerns. The statement also reaffirms IU’s commitment to free speech.
Sinno doesn’t buy it though, and he plans to appeal his case.
“Today, it's me. The next time it might be somebody who speaks about gender rights, women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, any minority rights, or any other topic that may upset politicians.”
For Awad, his struggles on IU's campus have strengthened his resolve.
“I had professors, I've had my family, I've had friends tell me, 'If you walk into a classroom, don't talk about Palestine, don't say you're Palestinian, just stay under the radar, don't talk about anything,'” Awad said. “And then I realized, that's not the kind of man I want to be.”
