I had missed this from last month.
San Francisco State University president Leslie Wong clarified his earlier position about Zionism on campus, by issuing an apology and statement that read in part:
My comments about Zionists and whether or not they are welcomed at San Francisco State University caused a lot of anguish and deeply hurt feelings. I am responsible for those words and, after study and reflection, I have come to understand how flawed my comments were.
Thus, I want to sincerely apologize for the hurt feelings and anguish my words have caused. Let me be clear: Zionists are welcome on our campus.
I know this apology alone may not be enough. But I am committed to a new course of dialogue and actions to ensure that my own awareness and learning will move this great university forward. Admitting fault and desiring a path forward based upon mutual respect motivates me. Making peace is hard work. And hard work has long inspired me. I hope you will join me.
In response Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies/Race and Resistance Studies, wrote what would be considered an astounding statement anywhere outside of academia:
I consider the statement below from President Wong, welcoming Zionists to campus, equating Jewishness with Zionism, and giving Hillel ownership of campus Jewishness, to be a declaration of war against Arabs, Muslims, Palestinians and all those who are committed to an indivisible sense of justice on and off campus....The dear academic is saying that the statement "Zionists are welcome on our campus" to be a declaration of war, Islamophobic, racist and colonialist.
I am ashamed to be affiliated with SFSU administration and demand the immediate retraction of this racist, Islamophobic and colonialist statement, and the restoration of SFSU social justice mission.
At a time when we are marking 50 years since the 1968 SFSU student strike and the quest to decolonize the curriculum, it is embarrassing to have our campus leadership cater to donor pressures and the Israeli lobby.
Oh, and the only reason anyone would say that a campus can welcome pro-Israel opinions is because they are getting money from the "Israeli lobby" (wink, wink.)
A fun postscript: Leslie Wong addressed Abdulhadi's group in 2015, and described her as a "first-rate scholar, the model of the kind of person that I want around young people." (16:53 of video.) Already at that time the professor had been known to meet with real, honest to goodness terrorists.
That's what universities have become.
Amcha Initiative has issued a press release about Abdulhadi's hate.