David Shorter
Overview
David Shorter was at the center of controversy after using the classroom to promote the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.Shorter has defended anti-Israel activism on campus and has expressed support for disgraced anti-Israel Professor Steven Salaita.
Shorter is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Promoting BDS in the Classroom
In April of 2012, a University of California faculty organization filed a complaint against Shorter, after the professor linked his course website to a campaign calling for a boycott of Israel.According to an article published on April 16, 2012, the complaint and subsequent controversy “led to a protest and a subsequent finding by the university that his actions were inappropriate.”
As the controversy over Shorter’s use of the classroom to promote BDS grew, supporters published: “An Open Letter from Native American and Indigenous Studies Scholars in defense of UCLA Professor David Shorter and other scholars who support the academic and cultural boycott of Israel”.
The U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) also published an open letter titled: “In Defense of UCLA Professor David Shorter and All Scholars Who Support the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.”
The 2012 USACBI letter, published on May 1, 2012, explained that “Dr. Shorter’s course site included...a link to the website of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI), a campaign which Professor Shorter himself has endorsed.”
Supporting BDS
On February 7, 2019, Shorter tweeted to “Listen right now” to Nora Barrows Friedman, reporter and associate editor of the anti-Israel Electronic Intifada (EI), discuss BDS and “join us at #UCLA later this month!” for a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) event featuring anti-Israel activist Remi Kanazi.Shorter’s tweet also featured a graphic featuring Kanazi and a link for the event.
On November 16, 2015, Shorter tweeted: “It's not ‘dialogue’ when one person at the table is in chains. I learned that from Bargouti. No more status quo! #bds #AAA2015 #anthro.” Shorter’s tweet referenced Omar Barghouti, a leader of Hamas and founder of the BDS movement.
On April 2, 2015, Shorter tweeted: “Ready or Not, Palestinians Called for Boycott. Don't Play Israel's Sun City @MsLaurynHill: http://bit.ly/1HmVC21 #BDS.”
American musician Lauryn Hill canceled a scheduled performance in Israel due to pressure from BDS activists.
On March 4, 2015, Shorter was featured at an event sponsored by SJP, titled: “SJP-UCLA Presents: Fred Moten and David Shorter in Conversation.” The event’s Facebook description said the event’s purpose was to “discuss the topic of Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.”
In August of 2012, Shorter signed another letter published by the California Scholars for Academic Freedom (cs4af), to California Assembly Members, opposing a piece of anti-BDS legislation.
That cs4af letter argued that BDS, descriptions of Israel as “an apartheid state” and accusations against Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and “crimes against humanity” do not constitute anti-Semitism and should be protected on campus.
On April 25, 2012, Shorter tweeted: “Dont entertain Israeli oppression @chilipeppers cancel ur gig&stand up 4 Human Rights... #BDS #Palestine.”
BDS activists and supporters urged American rock band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, to cancel a scheduled concert in Israel.
Defending Anti-Israel Activism on Campus
Shorter is a member of the cs4af and signed an open letter published by the group on June 27, 2014, to the Los Angeles City Council.The letter supported an allegation that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Hasbara Fellowships work to “lobby student leaders and council members through free trips and other in-kind gifts as a means of buying loyalty and influencing student council votes.”
The signatories defended a pledge proposed for candidates in student body elections at UCLA, committing them not to participate in trips to Israel funded by AIPAC, the ADL and Hasbara Fellowships.
The letter also condemned the Blumenfield Resolution, a piece of legislation which outlawed the proposed pledge for candidates to refrain from the funded Israel trips, as an effort to “harass” and “intimidate” pro-Israel candidates for student government and urged the university to develop policies and institute practices at every UC campus to outlaw “intimidation or harassment of any student.”
Supporting Steven Salaita
On June 12, 2015, Shorter tweeted: “Congratulations to @stevesalaita and legal team. Huge FOIA Win!!!! #Supportsalaita #FOIA#UIUC #BDS.”In September 2014, Shorter wrote multiple tweets in support of Steven Salaita, that used the hashtag: “#SupportSalaita.”
On September 3, 2014, Shorter encouraged anyone who cares about Steven Salaita to “wrote the #UIUC trustees.”
That same day, Shorter tweeted a link to the website “supportstevensalaita.com.” The link promoted a boycott of UIUC events in protest of Salaita’s firing.
On September 3, 2014, Shorter tweeted “I wonder if I should advise my graduate students NOT to apply for UIUC jobs for a while #Salaita #UIUC.”
On August 6, 2014, Shorter tweeted a link to a petition in support of Salaita. Along with the link, Shorter wrote: “Almost 5000 signatures in support of Prof. Steven Salaita in a few hours!”
In 2014, The University of Illinois withdrew an offer of employment to Salaita after becoming aware of his anti-Semitic tweets. One tweet, posted shortly after Hamas kidnapped three teenage Israeli high school students, read: "You may be too refined to say it, but I’m not: I wish all the f**king West Bank settlers would go missing.” In 2017, Salaita posted to Facebook: “People ask if I would go back in time and change anything. I would not…I will die unapologetic.” In February 2019, Salaita stated that he had become a school bus driver in the Washington, D.C., area.
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.
Social Media and Weblinks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidshorterUniversity Website:http://www.anthro.ucla.edu/faculty/david-shorter
Personal Website: https://www.davidshorter.com/
