by “Oculus”
On Tuesday, March 22, a student group at the University of Virginia will be hosting a dinner and “workshop” with a speaker who is publicly presented as a Muslim “peace” activist and “conflict resolution” specialist. Her Twitter page, however, reveals a far different, chilling reality: she openly rails for the downfall of America, claims America and both of its political parties are racist, and that the U.S. thrives on killing Muslims.
How this event, and speaker, are being promoted
The following was contained in an email sent out by David Swanson, a Charlottesville, VA-area leftist activist:
Students for Peace & Justice in Palestine is hosting “Israeli Apartheid Days” at UVA, March 21: Palestinian Bazaar – Proceeds go to The Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund | South Lawn, 11AM – 2 pm.; March 22: Dinner & A Workshop with Ramah Kudaimi | Wilson 301, 6-8 pm.
This group, “Students for Peace & Justice in Palestine” describes its key mission on its Facebook page as being:
“To facilitate a professional, intellectual, and constructive discourse on the Palestinian plight”
Here is the bio of the speaker, Ramah Kudaimi, via the group with which she works, End The Occupation:
Ramah Kudaimi, Membership and Outreach Coordinator
Ramah Kudaimi serves on the board of the Washington Peace Center. She has been an activist with other grassroots organizations including CODEPINK: Women for Peace and the Arab American Action Network. She has a Master of Arts degree in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University and a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University. Her writing has been published by Al Jazeera English, The Progressive, Truthout, and more.
The reality
From this description, one might assume she is a patriotic facilitator of intelligent, fact-based discussion, in order to advance peace, tolerance and understanding. One would be very wrong, as revealed in her Twitter page, which includes the following statements (direct quotes):
“if we don’t smash the state before the next election, i am not going to be happy.”
“Amerikkka thinks it is the world, but it is not. There was life before these systems and there will be life after they are gone.” (Retweet)
“GOP are fascist racists. Democrats are liberal racists. we live in a great country.”
These and other quotes are documented at the end of this post, with links to verify their authenticity (screencaps of all are available as well).
Key questions
(1) Does the sponsoring group, Students for Peace & Justice in Palestine know of this speaker’s history of making inflammatory, divisive, subversive statements on Twitter – up to and including openly advocating for the destruction of the American republic? You can ask them at their website, http://uvaspjp.blogspot.com/.
(2) Does the faculty and administration of the University of Virginia know? You can ask the president of the University, Teresa Sullivan, here.
(3) Are student activity fees being used to facilitate this event? And if so, does the evidence within this article in any way conflict with the University’s standards and practices for the use of these financial resources?
Event details
Sponsor: Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine
Facebook page promoting the event is here.
Date & time: Tuesday, March 22 from 6:00-8:00pm
Location: Wilson 301 (map and directions here)
Conclusion
That such a deceptive, subversive outrage could happen on any U.S. college campus should alarm every American. That it could happen at Thomas Jefferson’s famed university is nothing less than an outrage.
“This institution (the University of Virginia) will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.”
– Thomas Jefferson to William Roscoe, December 27, 1820 (source)
A sampling of posts from Ramah Kudaimi’s Twitter page
The following is a sampling of the Tweets posted by Ramah Kudaimi at her Twitter page between March 8-14, 2016. For convenience, we have arranged them by topic. Screencaps of all cited posts are available for verification.
Urging the downfall of America
if we don’t smash the state before the next election, i am not going to be happy.
ó Ramah Kudaimi (@ramahkudaimi) March 11, 2016
when will the US regime fall?
ó Ramah Kudaimi (@ramahkudaimi) March 8, 2016
dont blame whatever evil comes from this election on those who dont vote. blame the damn fucking system that thrives on evil.
ó Ramah Kudaimi (@ramahkudaimi) March 10, 2016
Claiming that America, both political parties, and AIPAC are all racist
GOP are fascist racists. Democrats are liberal racists. we live in a great country.
ó Ramah Kudaimi (@ramahkudaimi) March 11, 2016
ó Ramah Kudaimi (@ramahkudaimi) Reteweeted
Amerikkka thinks it is the world, but it is not. There was life before these systems and there will be life after they are gone.
ó Problematic Genius (@SankofaBrown) March 11, 2016
hillary at aipac is gonna be da best. and i can assure you she will not be apologizing for the racist stuff she is going to be saying there.
ó Ramah Kudaimi (@ramahkudaimi) March 14, 2016
AIPAC is racist.https://t.co/pI204zSNt0
ó Ramah Kudaimi (@ramahkudaimi) March 16, 2016
Claiming that America thrives on killing Muslims
is it ok to kill Muslims for political gains? cause pretty sure US presidents been doing that for decades. https://t.co/jT9QniJTrJ
ó Ramah Kudaimi (@ramahkudaimi) March 11, 2016
how many Muslims did the US kill today?
ó Ramah Kudaimi (@ramahkudaimi) March 11, 2016