The following article contains descriptions of posters referencing Palestinians that some viewers may find deeply harmful. We advise reader discretion when proceeding.
In late July through early August, multiple Portland State University (PSU) students and faculty began to notice strange posters showing up around Cramer Hall.
These posters were anti-Palestinian in nature and contained provocative speech such as “Gen-o-cide – when Palestine loses another war it started” and “We are proud to sacrifice our people -Hamas,” among many more. Soon after they began popping up, OregonLive published a short brief about the sightings and the alarm felt by PSU faculty.
The Vanguard has received the following statement from the PSU administration:
“PSU is aware of flyers posted in Cramer Hall that some may consider hate speech. We urge anyone who sees these posters to document and report them to the Office of Equity and Compliance, which is tracking and investigating these incidents,” it stated. “Our facilities team is also working to remove any materials that violate our posting standards. The university is committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful environment for all community members. We take these matters seriously and will continue to take appropriate actions to ensure our campus remains a safe and welcoming place for everyone.”
PSU’s Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine (FSJP)—a coalition of students and faculty members that advocate for solidarity with Palestine—released a statement that calls for action and emphasizes how PSU has not done enough to stop the spread of the posters.
“This lack of action exemplifies the University’s continued anti-Palestinian position where the Palestinian experience on campus is systematically ignored, minimized, or dismissed altogether,” the FSJP stated on their website. “When Palestinians and their allies are the targets of harassment, suppression, and silencing [sic] Portland State University has taken no action, The president’s and administration’s silence in the face of repeated incidents of these posters and reports being made is in stark contrast to their swift and ongoing condemnation of unspecified language used by pro-Palestinian protesters, which they characterized as ‘vile messages that so deeply wound members of our community.’”
PSU administration has not yet responded to the statement.
On Sept. 3, the Office of Global Diversity and Inclusion sent out an email addressing the incidents. Select addresses received the email and did not appear to be delivered campus-wide.
“We want to reassure the campus community that Portland State University treats all bias-related incidents with the utmost seriousness,” the PSU administration stated in the email. “Following a thorough investigation, appropriate corrective action has been taken to address the policy violations. We know such actions negatively impact the community and are contrary to our values and commitment to inclusivity.”
The administration has also encouraged community members to report any bias-related incidents to the Office of Equity and Compliance by email at [email protected] or by using their online bias report form.
Ericka Kimball, an Associate Professor of Social Work, was interviewed by FSJP for their statement.
“I’m disturbed by the utter lack of response by PSU. The flyers are clearly anti-Arab and Islamophobic,” stated Kimball. “I think my real concerns about the safety and wellbeing of people on campus were dismissed by the PSU administration.”
Kimball discussed how the spread of hateful posters such as those seen at Cramer Hall creates a dangerous rhetoric that, when allowed to freely propagate, can influence others and cause conflict that goes beyond just the PSU community.
“We know when we see things like that, there is an opportunity for that to escalate into more mass violence,” said Kimball. “I think being on a college campus that has a tendency for igniting things, that was a concern for me as well.”
When asked about the administration’s response to the posters, Kimball said faculty and staff were removing the posters for days with little help from the administration.
“The fact that… other faculty and staff were removing them day after day after day–sometimes multiple times a day–tells me that there was no actual patrolling to try and remove the posters.”
