Keep Islamophobia off campus

PRINCETON, N.J.—A campaign by students at Princeton University forced the cancellation of a planned speech by the anti-Islam, pro-Israel conservative Nonie Darwish.

Darwish was due to speak at Princeton University on November 16, but after a campaign by a pro-Palestinian student group exposed her Islamophobia, the pro-Israel student group Tigers for Israel decided at the last minute to rescind her invitation.

Darwish is a supporter of the occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. She uses crass generalizations about Islam and Muslims to justify her extreme Islamophobia. For example, she writes in her book Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law, "Even without conquering, [Muslims] can do a lot of long-term harm through immigration, high birth rates and proselytizing among vulnerable western citizens."

There is no place on a university campus for hate speech like Darwish's. Thus, members of the Princeton Committee on Palestine (PCP) decided to expose her as a hate-monger. PCP President Yoel Bitran wrote an article in the Daily Princetonian, and the group began posting flyers with Darwish's racist quotes all over the campus.

After two days of campaigning and concerns voiced by the Center for Jewish Life's director Rabbi Julie Roth and Muslim Chaplain Imam Sohaib Sultan, Tigers for Israel decided to cancel their invitation, with the dubious excuse of "not being aware" of Darwish's Islamophobic views. The cancellation is a victory for supporters of Palestinian rights at the university.