David Horowitz speaks at SDSU amid flyer controversy

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) — Thursday — Despite controversy over flyers placed on San Diego State University campus by the David Horowitz Freedom Project, David Horowitz spoke about fighting anti-Semitism on campus Thursday. 

The controversy began when the David Horowitz Freedom Project placed flyers around campus, specifically mentioning the Muslim Student Association and Students for Justice in Palestine as being associated with terrorism and terrorists.

Horowitz said the students are part of disturbing anti-Israel movements on the campuses of some American colleges and that his group’s goal in posting the flyers was to make the students identified accountable for their alleged actions.

Students named on the flyers took offense saying the messages were more like hate speech. Controversy arose when Muslim student organizations at SDSU called on the school’s President Elliot Hirshman to address safety concerns that they believe arose due to the flyers. 

They are now calling for Hirshman’s resignation. 

"It is the Job of the President of any body of people to make sure that those people feel safe and secure but in this case Elliot Hirshman didn’t do that," said President of National Action Network Reverend Shane Harris.  "Even after we gave him 48 hours to condemn the hate speech on those flyers he didn’t do that which is why he must go."

Last week, students at SDSU protested an email Hirshman sent to the SDSU community in response to the David Horowitz Freedom Project. According to CAIR’s Facebook page, in the email President Hirshman stated that students who are activists must accept that their actions have consequences and that people have a right to free speech.

Following the protest, Hirshman sat down with students Monday to discuss the email. A joint-statement was released stating that the groups agreed on some issues but disagreed on others and "the parties have agreed that in collaboration with (the Associated Students) and under the aegis of the university Senate, they will undertake a review of university policies to ensure we are balancing freedom of expression and protection from harassment,” the statement says.

Wednesday — The San Diego office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, along with the National Action Network, Mecha De SDSU, Students for Justice in Palestine, and the Muslim Student Association held a press conference Wednesday and called for the resignation of SDSU’s President Hirshman over student safety.

Two days ago the students and civil right groups gave President Hirshman 48 hours to protect the students safety and security by clearly condemning the posters that named students "Terrorists" and "allies of Terrorists" on campus.

"It is the Job of the President of any body of people to make sure that those people feel safe and secure but in this case Elliot Hirshman didn’t do that," said President of National Action Network Reverend Shane Harris.  "Even after we gave him 48 hours to condemn the hate speech on those flyers he didn’t do that which is why he must go."

5/2/2016 — SDSU President Elliot Hirshman sat down with students Monday to discuss the email response he sent following an incident where anti-Muslim fliers were posted all over campus.

The two-hour meeting came after a protest last week in which students surrounded the car of SDSU President Elliot Hirshman, criticizing what they believed was a tepid response to posters displayed on campus that identified by name seven students who allegedly allied themselves with Palestinian terrorists and promote hatred of Jews.

Following the meeting, SDSU issued a joint statement under the names of Hirshman, Vice President of Student Affairs Eric Rivera, student leader Mustafa Alemi, Osama Alkhawaja and Rachel Beck of Students for Justice in Palestine and other university officials.

The statement said the participants agreed on some issues and disagreed on others.

"We agree it is critical to protect all members of our university community from harassment as specified in our university Senate policies,” the statement reads. "We agree we are committed to the safety of all members of our community. We also agree on the fundamental importance of freedom of expression.”

Creating the "appropriate balance between freedom of expression and protecting members of our community from harassment,” as in the case of the flyers, poses a "significant” challenge, the statement says.

The meeting attendees agreed that in cases of racism, islamophobia, misogyny, homophobia and other forms of bigotry, "we abhor the content of such expressions, even as we recognize the protected status of these expressions,” according to the statement.

They also said they re-affirm their commitment to "supporting an environment that fosters meaningful dialogue and mutual respect.”

At the bottom of the flyers that contained the student names was a link to the Horowitz Freedom Center, the organization run by David Horowitz, who is scheduled to speak Thursday at SDSU on combating anti-Semitism on college campuses.

"The parties have agreed that in collaboration with (the Associated Students) and under the aegis of the university Senate, they will undertake a review of university policies to ensure we are balancing freedom of expression and protection from harassment,” the statement says.

4/27/2016 — Students at San Diego State University rallied Wednesday to protest President Elliot Hirshman for an email he sent to the SDSU community in response to the David Horowitz Freedom Project, who specifically called several students terrorists and terrorist sympathizers. 

CAIR claims the David Horowitz Freedom Project placed flyers around campus, specifically mentioning the Muslim Student Association and Students for Justice in Palestine as being associated with terrorism and terrorists.

According to CAIR’s Facebook page, in the email President Hirshman stated that students who are activists must accept that their actions have consequences and that people have a right to free speech.

However, CAIR said the president failed to mention that libel and defamation are not protected forms of free speech. 

"Furthermore, President Hirshman waited nearly a full two weeks until he decided to respond to the incident. This clearly shows that he did not take this seriously at all from the beginning. If a students name, reputation, and safety, isn’t to be taken seriously by our President, then we ask, what is?" CAIR said on the Facebook page.

In the email, President Hirshman says the following: 

To: SDSU Students

From: Elliot Hirshman, President; Eric Rivera, Vice President, Student Affairs

Subject: Message from President Hirshman and Vice President Rivera

Recently, a number of posters have been circulated on our campus criticizing the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement. Some of the posters list the names of specific students and make claims that those students support the BDS movement. We wish to share a few perspectives on these issues.

First, we recognize and fully support the rights of all parties to voice their positions on political issues, whether supportive or critical. We also understand that when parties adopt a specific political position they become responsible for their actions and these actions may produce criticism. 

At the same time, we wish to raise an issue for our community to consider. It is possible that the practice of identifying the names of individual students who participate in controversial political discussions, solely for the purpose of identifying them as proponents of a viewpoint, could discourage students from participating in political discussions.

In this context, we write to encourage all members of our community to present their positions on important political issues, regardless of the nature of their position. We also wish to explicitly note that we strongly endorse our university policies protecting freedom of expression. We raise these issues to strengthen our tradition of vibrant discourse about ideas and issues and encourage all members of our community to participate in these discussions.

Students who have concerns about these issues are encouraged to contact Dr. Randy Timm, Dean of Students, at deanofstudents@mail.SDSU.edu.

Thank you for considering this important issue.

This is a developing story and will be updated as information becomes available.