Regent criticized University of Iowa Democrats for their statement on Palestine

IOWA CITY — Weeks after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel that killed an estimated 1,200 people — with war raging in Gaza in response — Iowa Regent Robert Cramer on Oct. 27 asked the Board of Regents’ executive director for an update on “issues on the campuses regarding the events in Israel.”

“Have there been any protests?” Cramer, the board’s newest regent, asked Executive Director Mark Braun, according to emails obtained by The Gazette through a public records request. “Any concerns of safety from Jewish or Palestinian students?”

Braun told Cramer there hadn’t been protests and the state universities were monitoring social media. “There is currently no threat of violence,” he said.

Braun also pointed a 2-year-old policy that prevents university administrators from issuing official statements “on matters of public concern.”

That policy was enacted just weeks after the UI College of Dentistry dean in February 2021 sent a mass email condemning then-President Donald Trump’s executive order on diversity training. That incident, which drew sharp rebuke from Republican state lawmakers, led to the policy that, according to Braun, has allowed university administrators to stay out of political debates like the Israel-Palestine discussion.

Regent David Barker, in the email chain with all nine regents, corrected Braun on the protests — pointing out that one had been held on the UI Pentacrest, though it wasn’t led by any UI organization or student.

Then two days later, a UI student organization that goes by “University Democrats” joined the fray with a statement on social media voicing its “support of Palestine.”

“We shamelessly and fully support Palestine,” according to the statement signed by the organization’s vice president, secretary and treasurer. “The ongoing violence against millions of innocent people is egregious and the perpetuation of it by the United States of America and other western states is even more so.” That statement ended with the line: “May every Palestinian live long and free, from the river to the sea.”

When Braun shared that statement with regents hours after its Nov. 1 posting, board President Michael Richards replied with his thoughts: “Terrible statement. Idiots.”

Backlash

The student organization also faced backlash for its statement from state Democratic leaders and lawmakers, calling the last line antisemitic, UI students told The Gazette.

“Several politicians that are members of the (Iowa Democratic Party) pointed out to us some of the flaws of the statement,” UI senior and University Democrats treasurer Matthew Charles told The Gazette about feedback they received in the hours after the statement was posted. The outreach compelled the students to issue an apology and rephrase their statement to say, “May every Palestinian live long and free.”

Three hours later, though, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart issued a news release condemning the group’s original statement — tweaking its language in her condemnation — and demanding the UI students resign.

“The Iowa Democratic Party was recently made aware of a statement made by University Democrats at Iowa, which included problematic antisemitic slogans including ‘from the river to the sea Palestine will be free.’ Let's be very clear. That is a call for Jewish genocide and we wholly condemn that offensive language,” Hart said in the statement. “The Iowa Democratic Party stands with the innocent civilians, Israeli and Palestinian, that have had their lives ruined by the terrorist group Hamas. The Iowa Democratic Party has requested the resignations of the student representatives who signed the letter.”

Charles told The Gazette that Hart didn’t communicate directly with the students who signed the statement before demanding they resign from an organization that has no formal affiliation with the state party.

“The part that is extremely harmful about their statement is that they didn't ask us to resign because we'd made a mistake or used a phrase that we shouldn't have used,” Charles said. “They said, ‘Let's be clear, that is a call for Jewish genocide.’

“They're saying, unambiguously, these people are calling for Jewish genocide, which obviously is not true,” he said. “If anything, we made a mistake and used a few words that we shouldn't have.”

Kiana Shevling-Major, vice president and now acting president of the University Democrats, said in her contact with Democratic lawmakers that day, she made clear her intent “was to express solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

Fallout

The public back-and-forth precipitated more fallout, with the Iowa State University College Democrats voicing support for the University Democrats at Iowa by disaffiliating from the Iowa Democratic Party.

“This is not a decision we have taken lightly,” according to the ISU College Democrats statement. “But one that we believe is in the best interest of our club and our commitment to advancing our values and principles.”

Shevling-Major said the UI group hasn’t felt the need to publicly cut ties with the state party — given they have no formal affiliation to start with.

“The (Iowa Democratic Party) has no authority to call for our resignation because we’re not subsets of them — they can’t enforce that,” she said. “The ISU disaffiliating from the IDP — that was mostly symbolic, in that they were just drawing a clear line in the sand.”

The day after calling for student resignations, the Iowa Democratic Party’s Arab American caucus demanded an apology from their party’s leadership — accusing them of misquoting the UI students.

“The Iowa Democratic Party’s statement misquotes and misconstrues the original statement,” according to an email Newman Abuissa, of Iowa City, sent Hart. “We call on Rita Hart to correct the quote, and we stand with the IDP’s Progressive Caucus in calling for Rita Hart to apologize to University Democrats at Iowa.”

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The ISU College Democrats that day also put out a second statement to “clarify” its own “miscommunications.” The ISU College Democrats didn’t respond to The Gazette’s request for comment.

At the UI, Charles and Shevling-Major said their president — who didn’t sign the original statement — did resign in the days after the uproar, on Nov. 11. “In her resignation, she did not specifically reference this incident,” Charles said.

None of the regents reached out directly to the University Democrats about the statement or the controversy, Shevling-Major said.

As to Richards’ behind-the-scenes criticism, she cited free speech and civic engagement, saying, “I feel that it's important to engage in politics.”

“It's important to critique our elected officials. I think it's also important to do it intelligently and respectfully,” she said. “And there was definitely a lack of respect in those comments. … So I really don't care to engage with disrespectful critiques.”

In a statement to The Gazette, Richards said he believes strongly in freedom of expression. “And the students that issued the statement have every right to their opinion,” he said. “I continue to strongly disagree with what they said and stand by that. However, I should not have used insulting language toward the students.”

Shevling-Major said she’s asked for an apology from Hart.

“We had a conversation about this, so that we might be able to get a public apology,” she said. “But there’s been no progress on that front.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com