Pro-Palestinian activists post eviction notices on Jewish students’ doors
Numerous Jewish students at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, woke up yesterday to find fictitious “eviction notices” produced by pro-Palestinian activists posted on the doors or their dorm rooms or private apartments.
The notices were produced and distributed by the Emory chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine – and Emory University’s Office of Residence and Housing Approval gave permission for the notices to be distributed.
On Tuesday, the manager of the Emory-Israel Public Affairs Committee (EIPAC) Sophia Weinstein wrote on Facebook that at least 30 students had informed her about the stunt, and that Jewish students with mezuzahs on their doors had noticed that the “eviction notices” had been posted on their doors, but not those of neighbors without mezuzahs.
The notices declared that the student’s residence was scheduled for demolition in three days, and that all the contents of their apartment could be destroyed if it was not vacated on time.
It went on to make various allegations about the use of eviction notices against Palestinians by Israeli authorities, saying the practice was part of “the State of Israel’s ongoing attempts to ethnically cleanse the region of its Arab inhabitants and maintain an exclusively ‘Jewish’ character of the state.”
It noted at the bottom that it was not a real eviction notice, but was designed to draw attention to “the reality that Palestinians confront on a regular basis.”
Weinstein said that the notices had made her feel that the secure environment of university was being stripped away.
“It is one thing to criticize Israel; dialogue is encouraged. It is another to target students and mislead with false information,” she wrote on her Facebook page.
EIPAC subsequently issued a statement on its Facebook page saying that it had “no explicit evidence that Students for Justice in Palestine singled out Jewish or pro-Israel individuals,” but that it was “unacceptable for any organization to resort to tactics that have the potential to evoke psychological harm,” and criticized what it called “the narrow-minded way” the issue was presented by the student group.