David Horowitz, chairman and founder of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, took credit for posters placed on two local college campuses that were deemed Islamophobic by one university Hillel.
Last month, graphic posters decrying the activities of Students for Justice in Palestine and the Muslim Student Association were placed on the campuses of The George Washington University and American University, both in downtown Washington. The groups were targeted, Horowitz said, because they promote “terrorist propaganda,” and he likened their activities to those of Nazis.
“How is it appropriate for these universities to be funding and granting privileges to groups that are spreading terrorist propaganda?” said Horowitz.
The poster campaign targeted five universities in Washington and southern California following the release of the Freedom Center’s Top 10 American Universities Most Friendly to Terrorists list. AU and GW were not on this year’s list. Nearby George Mason University made the list, but according to a GM Hillel official, posters were not placed on that campus.
AU Hillel released a statement Nov. 9 through its Facebook page, condemning the posters.
“We have learned that offensive Islamophobic signs were posted on campus yesterday by individuals unaffiliated with American University,” said the statement. “AU Hillel condemns this act and any efforts to demonize any racial or religious group. We are committed to creating a campus climate where all feel safe and secure, where diversity is celebrated, and where political differences are communicated civilly and respectfully.”
Horowitz said he was not surprised by the response “because they’re Leftists and Leftists hate Israel.”
Stop the Jihad on Campus, an affiliate of the Freedom Center, released a formal statement which read in part: “In a typical expression of the fascist mentality that seems to have taken hold of our college campuses, Students for Justice in Palestine, the Muslim Students Association and the Hillel organization at American University, have joined together with university officials to defend supporters of terrorism on their campuses and suppress their critics by falsely accusing them of racism, Islamophobia and other scare words.”
Jason Benkendorf, executive director for AU Hillel, refuted the assertion that AU Hillel is anti-Israel.
“AU Hillel and our affiliated student groups run multiple programs each week designed to engage students with Israel and educate them about its culture, history and politics,” Benkendorf said via email. “There can be no doubt about our commitment to Israel as an essential element of Jewish life and Jewish identity.”
GW Hillel had no comment.
