BUZZ
Key Takeaways
- A U. Arkansas professor, Mohja Kahf, was ordered to remove pro-Palestinian posters from her office door due to a student complaint citing antisemitism and threats, including a poster reading 'From the river to the sea.'
- The UA administration argued the posters created a discriminatory environment, particularly for students of Israeli or Jewish backgrounds, and violated the university's discrimination policy.
- Kahf, who has been under investigation since December, contends that her First Amendment rights are being violated, claiming other faculty members display political material without facing similar scrutiny. She condemned UA's actions as harassment and causing 'needless distress.'
Officials at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville gave a comparative literature and Middle East studies professor a deadline of this past week to remove two “pro-Palestinian” posters from her office door.
According to the Arkansas Times, UA Arts and Sciences Dean Brian Raines told Prof. Mohja Kahf that the poster reading “From the river to the sea” (in English and Arabic) and part of the cartoon “I’m Not a Terrorist” had to be down by “Wednesday, March 26” (the 26th actually was Thursday).
Kahf has been under investigation by the university since December following a student complaint filed with Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office in November.
The student filing the complaint noted one of the “alarming” images compared support for Israel to that for the KKK (see below), and the “From the river to the sea” poster included a claim that Kahf “should get a weapon.”
“Blatant antisemitism and threats should not be tolerated on the University of Arkansas campus,” the complaint read. The student ultimately “declined to participate” in the investigation against Kahf.
The article does not state what consequences Kahf will face if she did not comply this past week; the UA Office of Equal Opportunity, Compliance and Title IX had informed her the posters “violate the university’s discrimination policy.”
UA spokesman John Thomas said in a statement “removal of the posters is necessary to prevent a discriminatory environment for our students, faculty and staff.
“Whatever the intent of the posters, some students, faculty and staff, especially those from Israel or of Jewish descent, but also those who would be disturbed by terms such as ‘sand-nxxxxx,’ would be made to feel unwelcome or be uncomfortable based on the content of the posters.”
Thomas added “This is not an appropriate use of the door to a faculty office, which is the university’s property.”
According to a February Palestine Legal press release, creator of the “I’m Not a Terrorist” cartoon Jennifer Camper said “While I’m tickled that my cartoon has been so carefully scrutinized, the University seems to have no understanding of political humor or of our Constitution’s First Amendment.”
Kahf herself said “I will not trade speaking out for Palestine for my safety. This is something that is part of my core identity.” She added “multiple non-Arab colleagues” told her they have “political material” on their office doors but have not been investigated.
She accused UA of harassing her over a “racist allegation,” taking her away from “valuable research time,” and “caus[ing] needless distress.”
Palestine Legal called UA’s actions “blatant anti-Palestinian racism, and unconstitutional.”
Kahf describes herself in her X bio as a “poet,” “academic,” “feminist,” “immigrant,” and “nonviolent sumud [steadfast] for human rights [in] Syria, Palestine, Sudan, U.S.” She also links to one of her poems titled “What Do We Do During a Genocide?”
According to her faculty page, Kahf’s teaching interests include Palestinian literature, postcolonial studies, and “postcolonial women’s writing in comparative perspective.” She is co-author of the book “Constructions of Masculinity in the Middle East and North Africa: literature, film, and national discourse.”
MORE: Over 100 faculty rip Harvard president’s condemnation of slogan ‘from the river to the sea’
