Naoko Shibusawa

Overview

Naoko Shibusawa is a tenured associate professor of History and American Studies at Brown University (Brown).

Shibusawa supports the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and is a member of the American Studies Association (ASA). She voted in favor of an Israel academic boycott, which was adopted by the ASA in 2013.

Shibusawa also sits on the Brown Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies (ACCRIP), which in 2012 issued a recommendation letter, in conjunction with Brown Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), that Brown consider boycotting the State of Israel. SJP members were reportedly "really pleased with the letter."

In 2012, Shibusawa posted an announcement promoting SJP’s “Israel Apartheid Week” on her American history course website.

Singling Out Israel

In 2009, Shibusawa signed a letter addressed to United States President Barack Obama, calling Israel the perpetrator of “one of the most massive, ethnocidal atrocities of modern times.” The letter was written during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, launched to stop Hamas’ use of rocket fire, targeting civilians, as well as weapons smuggling into the Gaza strip.

In 2014, Shibusawa signed a letter to President Obama and Members of Congress, calling for suspension of aid to Israel. The letter was written during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE). Israel implemented OPE to destroy Hamas’ attack tunnels and stop Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza targeting Israeli civilians.

Defending Hate Speech

Shibusawa has signed a statement calling for the reinstatement of Steven Salaita,the Edward Said Chair of American Studies at the American University of Beirut (AUB).

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.

In 2014, The University of Illinois (U of I) 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."

A month later, Salaita tweeted, "Zionists: transforming "antisemitism" from something horrible into something honorable since 1948." On July 8, 2014, he tweeted: "There's something profoundly sexual to the Zionist pleasure w/#Israel's aggression. Sublimation through bloodletting, a common perversion."

U of I defended its decision to withdraw the job offer to Salaita in a January 29, 2015 press release, saying: "These statements [his tweets] and many more like them demonstrate that Dr. Salaita lacks the judgment, temperament and thoughtfulness to serve as a member of our faculty in any capacity, but particularly to teach courses related to the Middle East."

After being denied the position at U of I, Salaita took a teaching position at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in Lebanon, where he was employed from 2015 through 2017. The position at AUB was not tenured and so, following the close of the 2017 academic year, Salaita again sought employment.   

Unable to find a teaching position “on four continents,” Salaita again took to social media, declaring on Facebook that he would “no longer consider myself among the professoriate.” In his post, Salaita went on to say that “People ask if I would go back in time and change anything. I would not… I will die unapologetic.”   

The statement Shibusawa signed also endorsed a boycott of U of I.

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.

BDS

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by Omar Barghouti in 2005 to challenge “international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.” BDS is an allegedly “Palestinian-led movement,” although leading BDS activists have admitted [00:01:01] this is not true. 

One of the demands of BDS includes [point 3] what is generally known as the “right of return,” a demand discredited as a way to eliminate Israel. Barghouti said the “right of return” is a means to “end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.”  

Barghouti has said that BDS “aims to turn Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.”

In his activism, Barghouti has also said [00:05:55] regarding Israel: “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No…rational Palestinian, not a sellout Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”

The movement has been linked to numerous terrorist organizations and received a public endorsement from Hamas in 2017.

BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.

The movement’s most notable achievement has been the infiltration of university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments and student groups, backed by their own anti-Israel members and affiliates, have proposed resolutions on some form of boycott of, or divestment from, Israel and Israeli-affiliated entities.

Boycott resolutions, although non-binding, have been passed by student governments on numerous North American campuses.

BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campus. On one campus, when the student government debated a BDS resolution, reports emerged of violent threats against those opposing it.

Social Media and Weblinks

Twitter:https://twitter.com/naokoshibusawa

Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/naoko-shibusawa-8a8b379/