Veer Shetty

Overview

Veer Shetty sought to create a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at Fordham University (Fordham) as a student activist since February 2019. In August 2019, Shetty joined four fellow Fordham students who sued the university for its refusal to grant Fordham SJP club status on campus in April 2017.

Shetty was reportedly the 2019-2020 vice president of the SJP chapter at Fordham (Fordham SJP).

Shetty attended the 2019 National SJP Conference at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities (UMN) as an activist with Fordham SJP.

National SJP held their conference at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (UMN), from November 1-3, 2019. The conference was themed: “Beyond Struggle: From Roots to Branches Towards Liberation.”

As of December 2020, Shetty was a student at Fordham since January 2018, slated to graduate in 2021.

Suing to Establish Fordham SJP

In December 2016, Fordham Dean of Students Keith Eldredge denied Fordham SJP official club status at the university, despite approval by Fordham’s United Student Government (USG) on November 17, 2016.

In a December 22, 2016 email released by Inside Higher Ed, Eldredge stated: “I cannot support an organization whose sole purpose is advocating political goals of a specific group, and against a specific country, when these goals clearly conflict with and run contrary to the mission and values of the University.”

On April 26, 2017, Fordham students Julie Norris, Ahmad Awad, Sofia Dadap and Sapphira Lurie filed a suit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against the university for banning their SJP chapter. They were represented by Palestine Legal (PL), the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and civil rights lawyer Alan Levine.

On February 8, 2019, a motion was filed in NY State Supreme Court seeking to add Shetty as a petitioner to the suit. In an affidavit, Shetty stated: “I became interested in supporting Palestinian rights in high school because my close friend is from Palestine. From him and his family, I heard about gross human rights violations against Palestinians…”

Shetty continued: “While at Fordham...I came across information about how students at Fordham were trying to start a club called Students for Justice in Palestine...I want to be part of an official club at Fordham called Students for Justice in Palestine.”

On March 4, 2019, Fordham filed a memorandum with the court, opposing Shetty’s acceptance as a petitioner to the case. On July 29, 2019, NY Supreme Court Justice Nancy Bannon ordered that Shetty be added as a petitioner to the case, annulled Dean Eldredge's decision to deny SJP’s application for club status and directed the university to recognize Fordham SJP as a university-sanctioned club. On August 6, 2019, the judgment was entered and on August 30, 2019, Fordham filed a notice of appeal.

On January 27, 2020, Fordham appealed Judge Bannon’s decision to require official university recognition of Fordham SJP and to accept Shetty as a petitioner in the case.

On July 27, 2020, a Palestine Legal article quoted Shetty saying: “‘It’s ridiculous to us that our university is still trying to censor us now… We’ve already been active for a year, and appealing the court’s ruling feels especially cruel.’”

On December 22, 2020, the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division overturned Judge Bannon’s August 2019 decision requiring Fordham University to recognize SJP as an official student club on campus. The appellate court also overturned Shetty’s petitioner status because he was not a Fordham student at the time the university rejected SJP’s club status in 2016.

That day, Palestine Legal and the Center for Constitutional Rights issued a joint statement that read: “We plan to seek review by the highest court in New York so that Fordham students can keep organizing for Palestinian rights on campus as SJP…”

SJP Activism

On February 20, 2020, Shetty appeared in a group photo posted to Instagram by Fordham SJP, posing with Palestinian poet and activist Tariq Luthun. That day, Fordham SJP co-hosted a poetry night with Fordham’s Muslim Student Association (MSA) featuring Luthun, who wrote about “resistance, struggle, and the right of return."

Luthun has compared Israel to South African Apartheid on Facebook and is a supporter of BDS.

Fordham SJP’s Instagram post was captioned: “Thank you @tariqluthun for sharing your beautiful poetry and words of wisdom with us tonight. Thank you all for a [sic] attending! Tonight was wonderfully successful and we couldn’t have done it without you all! 🇵🇸❤️🇵🇸”

On October 25, 2019, Shetty appeared in a group photo posted to Instagram by Fordham SJP, posing with then-Fordham SJP President Batool Abdelhafez, then- Fordham SJP secretary Margaret Cohen and Maria LaHood, the Deputy Legal Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR).

LaHood was a member of CCR’s legal team that represented Shetty and his co-petitioners in the suit against Fordham.

Fordham SJP’s Instagram post was captioned: “Thank you Maria from @ccrjustice for speaking with us and for sharing your expertise, knowledge, and insight ❤️🇵🇸✊🏼”

On September 20, 2019, Shetty appeared in a photo posted to Instagram by Fordham SJP, captioned: “thanks to all who joined us for our first meeting this week! we established community guidelines, talked about the history of Fordham sjp, and next steps for the semester.”

On September 17, 2019, Fordham SJP held its first meeting as an official campus club.

On August 29, 2019, Fordham SJP held its first official campus event. That day, Shetty appeared in a group photo posted to Facebook by Fordham SJP.

Fordham SJP’s Facebook post was captioned: “Club Fair!! Today was our first activity as an official Fordham club and it felt so good! If you missed it, make sure to follow us on fb, twitter, or instagram, or email fordhamsjp@gmail.com for updates. Endless thanks to our supporters! We are so excited to finally begin this work on campus.”

Attending the 2019 National SJP Conference

On November 4, 2019, Shetty appeared in a photo posted by Fordham SJP to Instagram at the 2019 NSJP Conference.

The 2019 National SJP Conference was held at the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities (UMN), from November 1-3. The Conference themes centered on support for BDS as well as the rejection of Israel and Zionism.

The Conference partnered with numerous anti-Israel organizations and conducted their event in a clandestine manner.

2019 National SJP - Supporting BDS

The Conference website called to capitalize on shifts in the political climate, represented by the elections to the U.S. Congress of Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who both support BDS. National SJP speakers also reportedly drew attention to Rep. Omar’s support for the BDS movement as the Representative for UMN’s Congressional district.

During the Conference, National SJP speakers reportedly “noted the success of past divestment campaigns at the University [UMN], which ultimately resulted in the passing of a campus-wide [BDS] referendum in 2018.”

The UMN resolution passed in 2018 by a margin of 3.4 percent of those students who voted, translating to approval by 6.18% of all eligible voters. Less than 13% of the eligible voters actually voted on UMN’s BDS referendum.

2019 National SJP - Rejecting Israel and Zionism

The 2019 National SJP Conference website indicated that the goal of their “solidarity movement” was to push for policies that “demanded the end of” the state of Israel, referred to as “the Israeli occupation.”

The website clarified that “the Palestinian struggle against Zionism, extends beyond the confines of 1967, and well before the Nakba,” and was based on the rejection of Jewish national self-determination in Israel.

Nakba is an Arabic term for “catastrophe” and refers to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel.

2019 National SJP - Heightened Secrecy

The 2019 National SJP Conference required attendees to be “verified and vouched for” by an SJP chapter to which they belonged and required each chapter to register as a group. The conference also required each group to be verified by a “reference––someone who is NOT going to this conference but who is or has recently been a part of your SJP.”

Members of allied student groups could register only as part of an SJP chapter delegation which, in turn, needed to be “vouched for by their campus’s SJP” for “security culture and accountability reasons.”

The Conference also restricted media access to journalists “registered and confirmed by our Media Committee in advance to attend the conference. Absolutely no exceptions will be made.”

During the Conference, National SJP reportedly covered the windows of the conference hall.

2019 National SJP - Partnering Organizations

National SJP partnered with other anti-Israel organizations to table, sell merchandise and lead workshops, including CODEPINK, Palestine Youth Movement (PYM), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Palestine Legal, Watan Palestine and the Adalah Justice Project.

Keynote speakers included Loubna Qutami, Chair of PYM, as well as Taher Herzallah of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). Other speakers included Miko Peled, Sandra Tamari, Suhad Katib, Chris Gazaleh, Clarissa Bitar, Tariq Luthun, Maytha Alhassen and Sima Shakhsari.

SJP

SJP is a student organization engaged in anti-Israel activity on North American college and university campuses.

The first chapter of SJP was founded in 2001 at the University of California at Berkeley by Professor Hatem Bazian. Bazian has spread classic anti-Semitism, reportedly promoted religious anti-Semitism and defended the Hamas terror group. In 2004, Bazian called for “intifada” in America.

SJP organizes anti-Israel campaigns, including running annual Israel Apartheid Weeks, often in collaboration with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Muslim Students Association (MSA) campus chapters.

SJP has been a major force in pushing the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement on campuses. Chapters have initiated dozens of BDS resolutions in student governments, which have been proposed on or around Jewish holidays, a time when many Jewish students are off-campus.

SJP activists have reportedly physically assaulted, intimidated and harassed Jewish students, disrupted pro-Israel campus events and demonized pro-Israel campus organizations.

Chapters have often endorsed and campaigned for numerous terrorists and whitewashed terrorism.