The saga continues. Just over two months ago leader of Israeli Studies disruption called on BDS movement to “support Palestinian resistance groups.”

From our parent site, Legal Insurrection:

UT-Austin anti-Israel student leader called for “support” of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, PFLP

The students who disrupted a UT-Austin Israel Studies event hosted by Professor Ami Pedahzur have gone on the offensive, filing a “civil rights” complaint with the University.

The disruption was carried out by the UT-Austin Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC), led by law student Mohammed Nabulsi, who also is a leader of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement on campus.

Despite my requests both to the University and the students’ lawyer Brian McGiverin, I have not received a copy of the complaint. But the nature of the charges has been explained in press statements issued by the students and McGiverin.

The Austin Chronicle reports:

After the event, Pedahzur released a statement about the incident on an official UT website – that was later removed – and on his website and Facebook page. In it, Pedahzur compared the incident with the latest Paris terrorist attacks, saying, “Less than 48 hours after the horrific attacks in Paris, I feel that it is my responsibility to ask you to join me in an attempt to confront the radicalization process on campuses and to protect students, staff, and faculty members from intimidation and violence.”

“Drawing a connection between students’ attempt to practice their First Amendment right through expressing their opinion about a political matter, such as the Israeli-Pales­tin­ian conflict, with what happened in Paris is outrageous and dangerous,” McGiverin said.

After Pedahzur’s statement, PSC members have been avoiding being on campus; some have “received multiple threatening messages and comments,” according to McGiverin. “We are worried about our safety,” Nabulsi explained, “since we were referred to as ‘red flags for terrorism.’ People take a professor’s words seriously, so they might act on it.”

In his statement, Pedahzur also accused students by name of extremism.

“It is the scariest thing for a Muslim to be labeled as a terrorist, especially in the anti-Muslim climate of Texas,” said Nabulsi.


 
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