Campus ban for two pro-Palestinian activists sparks outcry at George Mason
A coalition of organizations representing faculty, staff, students and other advocacy groups at George Mason University and beyond is alleging that university police acted inappropriately in banning two pro-Palestinian student activists from campus and searching their family’s home for reasons authorities have yet to describe publicly.
A letter signed by more than 90 advocacy and faculty organizations and a Virginia state lawmaker takes aim at criminal trespass orders that bar two sisters — one the co-president of Students for Justice in Palestine, the other a past president — from campus for four years. It alleges the students were apparently targeted “for their advocacy for Palestinian human rights” and were told that the search was related to alleged property damage on campus. The letter urged administrators to revoke the trespass orders and investigate the events that led to their execution.
The trespass orders, issued Nov. 8 by George Mason’s police force, effectively bar the students from attending class, a move some critics compared to an expulsion without due process. One day earlier, university and Fairfax County police searched the family’s Fairfax home — a move the letter also criticized.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/campus-ban-for-two-pro-palestinian-activists-sparks-outcry-at-george-mason/ar-AA1vurVO?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=6f5129968c324cd697a09b404f5ea421&ei=25
