Jennifer Wicke

Wicke is a signatory to a list of endorsers of the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI). 

In an article published on December 26, 2013, by the anti-Israel online publication, Mondoweiss, Wicke was quoted expressing support for a BDS Resolution proposed to the MLA. 

Noting Wicke’s position as then “chair of the MLA’s Delegate Assembly Organizing Committee, which reviews proposed resolutions,” Mondoweiss quoted Wicke stating: “Although it is not couched at all in terms of the boycott language–and I think that’s going to take a bit of time for the MLA to work toward that–the impact [of the resolution] will be profound...It would be trailblazing.”

In March 2015, Wicke signed an open letter calling for the adoption of BDS by the MLA. 

The open letter was addressed to the Modern Language Association (MLA), “calling on the association to pass a resolution endorsing the boycott of Israeli academic institutions.”
Following the defeat of the January 2017 resolution, Wicke signed a petition, published on January 30, 2017, condemning the decision for “effectively silencing BDS supporters within the context of MLA governance.”

Signatories of the petition went on to charge that “by shielding only the state of Israel from boycott endorsement, the resolution participates in the exceptionalist treatment too often accorded that state.”

Demonizing Israel

In May 2016, Wicke signed a petition opposing a decision by the International Network of Genocide Scholars (INoGS) to hold their annual conference in Israel. 

Signatories of the petition charged that “Israel’s actions against the Palestinian people – from the Nakba to the ongoing displacement of Palestinians from their lands, and from repeated military offensives against Gaza to the ongoing blockade – are increasingly being viewed through lenses of ethnic cleansing and genocide linked to settler colonialism.”

The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term often used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by defining it as a catastrophe.

The petition went on to state: “New repressive and discriminatory Israeli laws and a dominant culture of racism and intolerance have created a culture of impunity, with Israel’s occupation forces now adopting a shoot-to-kill policy against Palestinian child and youth protesters in situations where they pose no serious threat.”

In 2014, Wicke signed an open letter blaming Israel for the onslaught of violence committed against its citizens preceding Operation Protective Edge.  

The letter, addressed to Israeli academics, claimed “The government of Israel, having provoked the firing of rockets by its rampage through the West Bank, is now using that response as the pretext for an aerial assault on Gaza which has already cost scores of lives.”

Signatories of the letter went on to claim: “An atmosphere of hysteria is being deliberately provoked in Israel, and whole communities are being subject to collective punishment, a war crime.”

Supporting Anti-Israel Activism

On April 27, 2017, Wicke tweeted support for a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Fordham University (Fordham).

In 2016, Fordham reportedly blocked the formation of a Fordham SJP chapter “based on the reported behavior of other [SJP] chapters on other campuses,” indicating that “the establishment of a local branch could be ‘polarizing’ and pose a safety concern to students and faculty.”

Signatories demanded that Fordham “immediately rescind the rejection of SJP as a student group on campus, apologize to the students affected by this harmful decision, and reaffirm Fordham’s commitment to free speech and academic freedom.” 

The petitioners also highlighted SJP’s BDS activity, characterizing SJP’s efforts to promote anti-Israel boycott as part of “a time-honored non-violent mode of political expression.” The petition accused Fordham’s administration of a “fundamental misunderstanding of what boycotts are, the purpose of a university, and the goals of SJP.”

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in cooperation with Palestine Legal (PL), and civil rights attorney Alan Levine sued Fordham on behalf of four students in April 2017. A New York court annulled Fordham’s decision in August 2019, mandating that the university recognize SJP as an official club. 
 
Fordham appealed the ruling to the NY State Supreme Court Appellate Division in January 2020. On July 24, 2020, Fordham SJP students filed a brief asking the appellate court to deny Fordham’s appeal of the lower court’s decision.
 
As of October 2020, a variety of groups, not directly involved in the case, filed amicus briefs with the Appellate Division for the court's consideration including JVP.