Dear colleague,
We are heartbroken and outraged at the vandalism of the Center for Islamic Life on College Avenue in New Brunswick. This act of hate took place in the early morning hours of Eid al-Fitr. “Today,” the Center’s Chairwoman, Atiyah Aftab, said in a statement, “we witnessed art pieces with Quranic verses [smashed], shattered windows, vandalized TVs, broken printers, smashed artwork, and the destruction of our Palestinian flag.”
We want to express our solidarity with all of our Muslim and Palestinian students and colleagues. Our unions will be there to support you in your response to this terrible act.
The vandalism was, as Chairwoman Aftab stated, “undoubtedly fueled by Islamophobia,” But this hate has in turn been stoked by wider attacks on academic freedom and free speech in higher education, which have been exacerbated by the Israel-Palestine war. These attacks, which portray all Muslims as supporters of terrorism, have “created a culture of fear designed to silence faculty, staff, administrators, and students,” as our unions said in a recent statement.
All of us—students, faculty, grad workers, postdocs, staff, and the Rutgers administration—must take responsibility for confronting these attacks and challenging the climate of fear that threatens the free exchange of ideas at the center of our academic mission. We urge you to talk to your students and colleagues about the despicable attack on the Center—and continue the discussion of what we can do, as individuals and collectively, to say no to hate and violence.
In solidarity,
Todd Wolfson, President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Bryan Sacks, President, Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union
Rebecca Givan, General Vice President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Amy Higer, Vice President, Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union
Miguel Rodriguez, Secretary-Treasurer, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Howie Swerdloff, Secretary, Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union
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