STOP ATTACKS ON PALESTINE SOLIDARITY CONFERENCE!!

The Third North American Student Conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement will be held at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey on October 10-12. This conference, the collective work of Palestine solidarity groups across North America, follows upon the work of two previous conferences, at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, held in October 2002, and at the University of California at Berkeley, held in February 2002. The conference will bring together Palestine solidarity activists from across the continent to plan strategies, network with one another, educate one another, and build a strong and united movement in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for national liberation.

Because the conference serves as such a mechanism for coordination and discussion, it is under attack by Zionists and others who wish to see the movement silenced, stifled and destroyed. While the University has recognized the conference as an example of student free speech and freedom of political association and expression, much pressure is being brought to bear to stop the conference from taking place. New Jersey State Senate President John Bennett called upon Governor Jim McGreevey to step in and cancel the conference at Rutgers, New Jersey's public state university. McGreevey has since expressed "concern" that the conference will not be "balanced" and will instead be an "anti-Israel rally." McGreevey's newly-discovered concern for higher education is particularly dubious following his spearheading of a budget process that deeply slashed funding for public higher education in the state of New Jersey and that is leading to major tuition increases for Rutgers students. McGreevey's stated concern is also troubling in light of past behavior; during his 2001 gubernatorial campaign, he refused to speak before a meeting of the American Muslim Alliance, a major and respected national Muslim association.

McGreevey will meet next week with Rutgers President Richard McCormick to discuss the conference, among other agenda items. It is imperative that the University's support for freedom of association not be stifled by a political agenda that operates on principles of silence and repression. The governor should be called upon to step aside from his office's comments, and to support and recognize the importance of open discussion and freedom of association on college campuses, and the University's officials should be praised for their commitment to free speech.

PLEASE ACT! We need voices for justice and freedom to be heard at Rutgers University and throughout New Jersey. Please contact the following:

Governor James McGreevey
PO Box 001
Trenton NJ 08625
Phone: (609) 292-6000
Fax: (609) 292-3454
Email: http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html

Richard L. McCormick, President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
83 Somerset Street
New Brunswick
New Jersey 08901
Telephone: 732/932-7454
Fax: 732/932-8060
Email: president@rutgers.edu

New Jersey Solidarity - Activists for the Liberation of Palestine July 11, 2003

November 2002 Action Alert re: Daily Targum

March 2003 Action Alert re: "From the river to the Sea" banner

June 2003 Action Alert re: Citispot Cafe