Washington, D.C. | September 6, 2023 – The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is calling on Indiana University (IU) to take action against a student, who in a recent viral video, officials to threatens to pepper spray another student simply for being Palestinian. In the disturbing and hateful video, the student baselessly claims that her Palestinian neighbor “probably wants to kill [her]” and “if he ever comes near [her], [she has] pepper spray ready to go”. This Palestinian student poses no threat to the video poster, and is being targeted based solely on their ethnicity.
To ensure the safety of the Palestinian student, ADC reached out to IU Provost Rahul Shrivastav and made it clear that this threat must be taken seriously. In addition to opening an investigation into the threat ADC demanded that every effort be made to protect the Palestinian student, and requested a meeting with university officials to discuss how they intend on fostering a safer environment for Arab and Palestinian students.
ADC National Executive Director Abed Ayoub said, “IU must unequivocally condemn the threatening video posted by an Indiana University student targeting another Palestinian student. No student should ever face threats or intimidation due to their heritage or identity. ADC demands that IU take action against hateful anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian rhetoric on campus. Such acts of aggression undermine the very foundation of our educational system, and we expect nothing less than a robust response from the university to ensure the safety and well-being of all its students.”
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