Anarchic update news all over the world - Part TWOO - 28.01.2018

Today's Topics:

   1.  US, black rose fed: CAN STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF TARIQ KHAN
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)


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Message: 1





We reprint this statement by the Campus Anti-Fascist Network out of solidarity with our 
Black Rose/Rosa Negra comrade, Tariq Khan, who has been experiencing a smear campaign led 
by Turning Point, USA and supported by the alt-right. Please consider writing a brief 
email in support to campus administrators. ---- By Campus Anti-Fascist Network (CAN) ---- 
TO: ---- Assistant Dean of Students, Rony Die: ronydie@illinois.edu ---- Associate Dean of 
Students, Justin Brown: justbrow@illinois.edu ---- The Campus Antifascist Network (CAN) 
condemns in the strongest possible terms the campaign of vilification and harassment 
directed at Tariq Khan, a doctoral student in the History Department at the University of 
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, instigated and sponsored by Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and its 
associated media arm, Campus Reform.  We demand that the University's Office of Student 
Conflict Resolution (OSCR) drop all university disciplinary and "criminal damage" charges 
against Tariq Khan and issue a condemnation of TPUSA's hateful slander and defamation. 
Since November 2017, Tariq Khan has been receiving a torrent of abusive and hateful 
emails, and the disciplinary charges against him would essentially strip his status as a 
Ph.D. candidate in good standing, which, in turn, could jeopardize his ability to secure 
funding to complete his program.

TPUSA is a reactionary, non-university-affiliated group that regularly employs aggressive 
and invasive tactics, deeply misleading accounts, public intimidation, and the ruse of 
"defending free speech" in order to call for the expulsion of academics on scant or no 
evidence and to censor academics with whom they disagree.  It is responsible for 
generating hateful, sexist, racist, and transphobic campaigns, typically directed at 
universities.  Far from a "grassroots activist" movement, TPUSA is bankrolled by 
politically vindictive billionaires and think tanks who target higher education in order 
to promote regressive and racist political agendas.  Charlie Kirk, the CEO of TPUSA who 
regularly curries favor with alt-right groups and outlets, has no formal experience in 
higher education as a student, staff, or faculty member, and wants to target public 
universities in particular for political purposes.  Faculty members such as Amanda Gailey 
from the University of Nebraska, Sarah Bond at the University of Iowa, Johnny Eric 
Williams of Trinity College, and George Ciccariello-Maher, formerly of Drexel University 
have been smeared in articles in Campus Reform.  Perhaps most disturbingly, TPUSA founded 
and maintains the McCarthyist, online "Professor Watchlist," which criticizes faculty who 
promote racial diversity and multiculturalism in the classroom and has led to numerous 
instances of cyber-harassment, death threats, and involuntary administrative leaves.  The 
"Professor Watchlist" has been condemned by the American Association of University 
Professors: "The Professor Watchlist, which purports to expose faculty who ‘advance 
leftist propaganda in the classroom,' poses a clear threat to academic freedom. Such lists 
have been used to harass and intimidate faculty, and have a chilling effect on academic 
freedom and free speech."  Thus far, over 12,000 faculty members have signed the AAUP 
statement of protest.

TPUSA's efforts to purportedly defend "free speech" on college campuses while 
simultaneously pressuring the University of Illinois to dismiss Mr. Khan is a case in 
point. We remind the OSCR that bending to TPUSA's demands in this case will only further 
signal the University's willingness to sacrifice the very principles upon which it is 
founded. Given that UIUC has experienced an uptick in explicitly racist activity on campus 
in the last few years-with nooses and three large swastikas being placed on buildings in 
2016 in addition to the informal use of the offensive "mascot" Chief Illiniwek, which 
Tariq Khan protested in November 2017-it is imperative that you take these necessary steps 
to prevent the further encroachment of extremist hate groups.

The short lived White House Communications Director for Trump, Anthony Scaramucci, joins 
in on the right-wing smear campaign.
It must also be pointed out that Tariq Khan is a member of an underrepresented student 
group who have been especially targeted by Turning Point USA. He is also a US military 
veteran, a father of three small children who have been threatened (with no consequences 
or protection), and an outstanding graduate student. He has been rated highly in his 
teaching evaluations and has already begun publishing his research. His engagement beyond 
the ivory tower has been exemplary, with public scholarship as well as advocacy within the 
local community.

Already, the inflammatory and irresponsible smear of Mr Khan has affected the everyday 
business of your campus. The Department of History at UIUC has also been harassed since 
this incident. TPUSA/Campus Reform posted links to the department's public website with 
Khan's contact information. Khan and others in the department have since received 
threatening and harassing emails, including death threats, threats of physical violence, 
and racist and Islamophobic language. These threats were reported to the University Police 
by Khan and by department faculty. For his own protection, Khan has been forced to 
withdraw from academic spaces, even removing his email address from the department 
website, at the expense of future career prospects.

UIUC should be absolutely committed to supporting their graduate student employees in 
every way possible. We remind the OSCR that bending to TPUSA's demands in this case will 
only further signal the University's willingness to sacrifice the very principles upon 
which it is founded.
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CAN says no to racism, Islamophobia, and bigotry at UIUC. We stand with Tariq Khan and 
encourage all readers of this document to write to represent their support for him.

CAN stands ready to assist organizers and students at UIUC, and to carry the fight against 
racism, white nationalism, and white supremacy forward. We invite all those at UIUC and 
across the state to join us in fighting white supremacy.

Contact us at cannetwork.fighttheh8@gmail.com. Check out CAN resources at 
http://campusantifascistnetwork.com

http://blackrosefed.org/can-statement-tariq/

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