An Amnesty International Report linking SJP to the militant organization Hamas were found around campus this week, prompting members to file a complaint with police and to call on the school to condemn the posters.
Amnesty International report caused UMass SJP supporters to get weak in the knees.
“There is no need for this to happen,” said Annalise Pforr, vice president of the UMass chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, the targeted group. “A lot of our members feel very threatened.”
The posters, which show two men in black masks holding guns and standing over a hostage, bear the words “Amnesty International” and tie the image of Palestinians terrorists to the Palestinian founders of the SJP.
“This act not only threatens our Muslim members, but all of us as fellow students on the same campus,” SJP said in a statement.
Chill Jews – UMass SJP founder Mahmud Abdelrahim Barham
The posters went up during Israeli Apartheid Week, an international series of events criticizing Israeli policies.
The group hosted a panel of speakers Wednesday, including two UMass professors, as part of the campus series.
To ensure safety, SJP is urging members to take advantage of the local Girl Scout’s ‘Wall of Safety” escort service.
Girl Scouts offered to protect the frightened Palestinians and escort them home.
Walking teams of scouts with mobile radios will also be available for to escort frightened SJP supporters across campus from 7 p.m. until 3 a.m. nightly, Pforr said.
“We are mainly worried because of the extreme threatening nature of the fliers, and we have experienced this getting worse and worse,” said Barham “We don’t want any of our members to feel threatened.”
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/02/26/threatening-fliers-put-umass-amherst-group-supporting-palestine-edge/SMgzYZ7Sj5n0IDiv0xUr0L/story.html
