NEW YORK (Press Release) — A burgeoning alliance between two stridently anti-Israel organizations raises concern about the potential for increased anti-Israel activity on college and university campuses in 2011, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), which has promoted extreme anti-Israel views since its founding in 2006, is facilitating and coordinating student advocacy in the U.S. through its outreach to Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), one of the primary organizers of campus anti-Israel events. SJP, with chapters at nearly 75 American universities, was recently identified by ADL as one of the Top 10 anti-Israel groups in America.
“AMP’s formal outreach to SJP has the potential to further pollute campus discussions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with more extreme messages and false claims,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “This disturbing alliance comes at a time when tactics to delegitimize Israel on campus, including boycott and divestment campaigns, are already a concern.
In December, AMP held several sessions with SJP during the annual Muslim American Society-Islamic Circle of North American convention. Hatem Bazian, AMP’s chairman and a regular speaker at anti-Israel events, encouraged participants to engage in boycott and divestment campaigns against Israel, and discussed ways to counter what he described as “Zionist forces in this country who are spending millions of dollars to spread lies and to demonize Islam and the Palestinians.”
AMP, which seeks to establish SJP as a national organization, has facilitated various conferences with members of SJP since at least June 2010.
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Preceding provided by Anti Defamation League