Contact: Ameen Atta
Email: uwm4palicoalition@gmail.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 9, 2024
UWM LIFTS WRONGFUL SUSPENSION: INVESTIGATION UNCOVERS ZERO DISCRIMINATION
[Milwaukee, WI] UWM Popular University for Palestine is proud to announce that UWM has officially lifted the wrongful suspension of the five organizations that make up the Popular University for Palestine Coalition. This came after an investigation where no evidence of anti-semetism was discovered.
From the beginning, we have maintained that the suspension was baseless and motivated by UWM’s desire to appease powerful pro-Israel groups that exert undue influence over the university—financially, politically, and institutionally.
The investigation uncovered *zero* findings of discrimination in our statements and no violations of student conduct, despite the university’s statement that our words were “hateful or intimidating speech.” UWM’s attempt to silence us was an affront to free speech and an attempt to censor UWM students from calling out groups who serve as cheerleaders for Israel’s crimes.
We will continue to vehemently oppose extremist and hateful groups like Hillel and the Jewish Federation—shameless propagandists for the Israeli government who hypocritically claim to stand for justice. Despite the destruction of every single university in Gaza, the murder of tens of thousands of children, students, professors and other innocent civilians, the destruction of libraries, museums, mosques, churches, homes, schools, and hospitals – not a single word has been uttered by these groups to condemn or even criticize the inhumanity of the regime which they so staunchly embrace, support and fund.
Those who feel uncomfortable when we call out Israel’s war crimes should question their basic humanity and question why they are comfortable supporting a state that occupies, subjugates, and regularly commits serious war crimes and crimes against humanity. We remain committed to educating others and we believe education is the most powerful tool for change.
Our attempts to effectively educate others have not gone unnoticed. Over the past few months, members of Hillel (a pro-Israel lobbying group that masquerades as a religious group) and the Milwaukee pro-Israel community have made repeated, desperate attempts to intimidate and silence us. They’ve reported our Instagram account attempting to shut it down, filed reports against us with the FBI, and relentlessly pressured the university to penalize and censor us.
We welcome students of all backgrounds to join us in the fight against the decades-long Israeli occupation, its countless human rights abuses, its crimes against humanity, and its current genocidal war. This has been made abundantly clear with our multiple religious and cultural events held during the encampment and beyond with groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and Chavurat Tziporah. We are always open to listening to your sincere questions and concerns. As students at a university, our role is to educate and inform.
Stay tuned for our upcoming events and actions as we work to sever UWM’s ties with Israel, end Israel’s genocide, and achieve a free and liberated Palestine (as well as a free and liberated UW Board of Regents and UWM Administration). Today and forever, the student movement holds strong. See our Instagram Post to read excerpts from the investigation report.
Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement 
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