BUZZ
Can get one for free if you can’t afford the $12; Palestine ‘support’ pins also are available
This year’s graduates at the University of California Law San Francisco can order “graduation keffiyehs” in order to help “uplift” Palestinian students at May 11’s scheduled ceremony.
According to JNS.org, an apparent student government email, which includes a link to the keffiyeh order form, reads “At this year’s commencement, just as in the year before, we are organizing a keffiyeh order for graduation as a show of support with Palestinian students, faculty, and communities across the nation.”
The link directs students to the “Solidarity with Palestine at Commencement and Keffiyeh Order Form,” where the symbolic scarf can be purchased for $12.
If a student wants a keffiyeh but can’t afford it, they can request one for free. The form also gives students the option to purchase “a pin in support of Palestine.”
“At commencement this year, we want to support and uplift Palestinian students, faculty and the broader community,” the form states. “Students nationwide have been suspended, expelled, arrested and now deported for their support of Palestinians’ human rights.”
“Students on our own campus have expressed fear of conveying their identity and their beliefs,” the form adds. “With these concerns in mind, we hope you will join us in our public commitment to international law, human rights, nondiscrimination and free speech.”
UC Law SF Chief Communications Officer Bill Kisliuk said no “mandatory student fees or college funds” were used to purchase the keffiyehs.
He added that while the school is committed to […] maintaining an inclusive environment […] and to combating all forms of discrimination, including antisemitism,” it also “vigorously supports” students’ free speech rights.
The group StandWithUs, which combats antisemitism, noted the student government email “contained no disclaimer distinguishing [its] views from those of the university.”
MORE: CU Boulder pro-Hamas protestors barge into class – get yanked out by their keffiyehs
