San Francisco State University hosts a terrorist

PFLP's Leila Khaled to be a program panelist 

Leila Khaled, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a terrorist organization, is an unrepentant terrorist responsible for airplane hijackings and other acts of terror in the Middle East is to be a panelist in a program at San Francisco State University.

California's Jewish newspapers are covering the story.  This is from the Jewish News of Northern California:

“It is bitterly ironic that a notorious hijacker and convicted terrorist will be welcomed at an institution of higher learning where the free exchange of ideas ought to be paramount,” said Seth Brysk, director of the ADL’s Central Pacific region. “An individual with a demonstrated commitment to violent extremism will undoubtedly discourage students from free expression and exploration.”

Commons.Wikipedia.org

I decided to get into the fray and have sent the following letter to Dr. Lynn Mahoney, SFSU president.  I do not expect a response.

Here's the text of my letter.

Dr. Lynn Mahoney, President

San Francisco State University

1600 Holloway Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94132

Dear Dr. Mahoney:

I am writing to you as the father of Alisa Flatow who was murdered in a Palestinian Arab terror attack while she was a student studying in Israel in 1995.  She was 20 years old and on leave of absence from Brandeis University when the public bus she was riding was bombed by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.  Eight died in that attack.

My experiences over the 25 years since Alisa was murdered have convinced me that Palestinian Arab terrorists are resolute in their hatred for Jews worldwide.

Thus, I am at a loss to understand why San Francisco State University would lend its name to an appearance by an unrepentant terrorist, Leila Khaled, in a program to be held by the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities Diaspora. Khaled remains in the leadership of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated a terrorist organization, which is still very much in the terror business.  She is an advocate for the destruction of the State of Israel, which includes all its residents.

While you have publicly stated that “an invitation to a public figure to speak to a class should not be construed as an endorsement of point of view” and SFSU “supports the rights of all individuals to express their viewpoints and other speech protected by law, even when those viewpoints may be controversial,” I must tell you that terrorism, and the terrorists who perpetrate it, is not “controversial;” terrorism is a crime against humanity.

Khaled’s appearance at a San Francisco State University sponsored program is an insult to her victims and to all victims of Arab terror worldwide. I urge you to cancel her appearance.

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Stephen M. Flatow