The Much-Maligned Views of Rania Khalek on Syria
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- Published on Monday, 03 April 2017 22:15
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1393 .... April 4, 2017
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The Much-Maligned Views of Rania Khalek on Syria
Rania Khalek interviewed by Justin Podur
When journalist Rania Khalek's lecture was cancelled on February 27, the group that invited her, Students for Justice in Palestine -- University of North Carolina (SJP-UNC) issued a statement saying that the cancellation was because of Rania's "views" on Syria, and that they believed "her invitation would mistakenly imply SJP to hold such views." They also added that they "do not endorse nor reject her views on the Syrian civil war as they remain relatively unclear according to our members’ diverse opinions of Rania's analyses."
In response to the cancellation, a large number of signers, many of whom have been involved with Palestine solidarity, signed a statement against Rania's blacklisting... but also against blacklisting in general. That statement concluded:
"The signers of this statement hold a range of views on Syria. Some agree with Khalek; others disagree -- in some cases quite vehemently. But we feel that when a group seeking justice in Palestine subjects speakers or members to a political litmus test related to their views on Syria, it inevitably leads to splits, silencing, confusion, and a serious erosion of trust. It runs contrary to the possibility of people learning from one another, changing their minds, and educating one another through their activism. Disagreements about political issues exist inside every movement coalition. They must not be made fodder for targeted vilification of activists in the movement."
The statement "against blacklisting" triggered another wave of slanders, as many of the same people who had pressured the SJP to cancel her talk approached signers to argue that they should not have signed. Among their arguments was that there is and should be a political litmus test, one that Rania fails. As an initial signer myself, I was approached more than once by friends who suggested that I didn't really know Rania's views.