Friends,

1. ​​UMN has shamefully allowed and sponsored the racist right-wing organization, Turning Point USA, to hold an event on our campus tomorrow, September 22. ​TPUSA, a right-wing hate-mongering white supremacist organization, known for its anti-Black, anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-Muslim, anti-queer, anti-trans, and anti-Palestine stances, was founded by Charlie Kirk. Rather than condemning this organization and the violence it stands for, the UMN administration has allowed this organization's Michael Knowles to speak at Northrop (Kirk himself was scheduled to speak before he was shot by a sniper). This organization's "Professor Watch" has targeted several UMN faculty​ (mostly BIPOC) at UMN for teaching about Blackness, indigeneity, immigration, Palestine, gender, and sexuality. Over the past two years, we have seen increasing curtailment of any criticism of the Israeli genocide in Gaza. Faculty, students, and staff have been denied jobs, fired, or punished for calling the Israeli State's genocide in Gaza for what it is: A brutal genocide. The University administration has removed unit statements condemning the genocide and students have been arrested and faced disciplinary measures for protesting the genocide. The admin has ignored several faculty senate votes, including the recent dismissal of the resolution to form a Big 10 Mutual Defense Pact Against Trump, while imposing several measures to suffocate Palestine speech. UMN admin has ignored our anti-Zionist Jewish community members' multiple emails about the administration's misrecognition of Zionism as Judaism, and its false conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism. Let us be clear: It is white supremacists like TPUSA that perpetuate anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hate, and not those who speak up against the genocide in Gaza! The administration has failed to protect its students against racist violence, be it by a shooter who explicitly threatened to kill Iranians last year, or a shooter who recently threatened to kill BIPOC people, especially Black members of UMN. There seems to be a clear double standard when it comes to “free speech,” wherein Palestine speech is suppressed, while white supremacist hate speech against Black, Indigenous, immigrant, Muslim, and queer and trans communities is welcomed by the administration. The University has a responsibility to protect its BIPOC and queer and trans faculty, staff, and students! The admin should not put BIPOC and queer and trans members of our community in harm's way! Allowing an ultra-conservative organization to promote hate violence on campus is yet another slap in the face of Black, Indigenous, Muslim, immigrant, queer, and trans communities.
2. SDS has invited all of us to write letters and protest UMN's failure to protect its students, faculty, and staff by sponsoring TPUSA's "American Comeback Tour." Please send an email ASAP!

Email In:

To: upres@umn.edu​

​chatcher@umn.edu​

​dwrussel@umn.edu​

To whom it may concern,

My name is [NAME] and I am a [AFFILIATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY]. I am contacting you today to express outrage at the University’s sponsorship of TPUSA’s American Comeback Tour. TPUSA represents the worst of America’s right wing, and the racist, transphobic, and Islamophobic rhetoric they spread directly puts our students, especially our students of color and trans students, at risk. TPUSA does not represent a beacon for free speech, it uses actual demands for free speech from oppressed people as a weapon against those same people. We demand that you cancel the TPUSA event, and that the University of Minnesota stop platforming racist and reactionary speakers who endanger students, staff, and faculty every day.

Thank you,

[NAME]

3. It is more timely than ever to learn about Christian Zionism (whose proponents are often white supremacists) and its relationship to Israel's genocide in Gaza. Make sure to join us on September 29 at 6 pm at Rapson Hall, Room 43. Dr. Christine Harb, a Christian Palestinian and an EJP member, and Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg, an anti-Zionist Jew and a JVP member will conduct the teach-in.

4. SDS and EJP held a protest outside of McNamara dining hall, where Gretchen Ritter and other admin were having a "faculty Welcome Breakfast." Students and faculty banged on pots and pans and chanted for two hours outside, and EJP faculty disrupted the breakfast with a call to divest from genocide.

Upcoming Events

September 24-28 19th Arab Film Festival​ ​Sept 24–28, 2025 The Main Cinema + Walker Art Center Mizna: The 19th Twin Cities Arab Film Fest returns September 24–28, 2025 at the Main Cinema in Minneapolis, with a closing day of special films and programs at the Walker Art Center. Special events include: +Free outdoor film under the Third Avenue Bridge +Artist lecture +Dance night at the Cedar Cultural Center +Filmmaking workshop with Randa Jarrar +more! 🐣Early Bird Passes🐣 ​Until Sept 1, 2025, passes are available at a special discounted price! ​Learn more, get All-Access Passes + Four-Packs of Tickets​ As we witness the world engulfed by preventable, human-made catastrophe––from Palestine to Sudan to Northern Minnesota––we draw each other near and we work together to rebuild a “shared world.” Drawing inspiration from Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “Gate A-4,” we take this line as our charge for this year’s Twin Cities Arab Film Festival, which will present a selection of films that encourage us to gather more inclusively, to build more intentionally, to unite more readily, and to see more clearly. The films in the festival remind us to value one another and to imagine relationships that extend beyond human-made boundaries, like race, nation, gender, species, and family. This year’s lineup visualizes and enacts solidarity––politically, spiritually, and relationally––and the films envision a shared world, where our connections become assets and tools to reshape our values and reimagine our futures together. More Information

FALL 2025 EJP Teach-Ins Save the date!​ EJP has planned 5 teach-ins throughout the semester. Our comrades at @jvp_twincities, BDS Community, @wamm_mn, @umnsds, @hcw4ptwincities, and @miracmn will join us to co-present on topics ranging from Christian Zionism and immigration to boycotting and divesting from Zencity, Waterfall, Teva, and North Wind. Locations and details about each teach-in will be publicized soon. Instagram Post