March 15, 2019.
It was a day of terror. Unleashed by a white supremacist far-right terrorist. Driven by hate for brown people. Driven by Islamophobic hate.
Earlier in the day, I had come across a hate-based hit piece targeting me, alongside other academics, the University of Auckland academic Professor Nicholas Rowe, Professor Richard Jackson at Otago University, Professor Kevin P Clements at Otago University, Dr. Rose Martin from University of Auckland and Dr. Nigel Parsons at Massey University.
It is our prayer, in this time of heightened conflict, that the oppressed and the innocent bystanders be given protection wherever they are, may their suffering ease, may their anguish be replaced with peace, and may their despair become hope. We also pray that the hearts of those in power act justly and end the oppression in Palestine and across the world."
Figure 2: Racist and dehumanising social media posts targeting me by Dane Giraud
Note here the extreme racism of these attacks, often directed at Brown/Black scholars from settler colonial and postcolonial contexts. Also note the juxtaposition of these attacks with Islamophobic hate. The latest round of attacks on the teaching of Professor Jasbir Puar's book “The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability” at Princeton is one example of the latest round of far-right Zionist attack on academic freedom. The organised campaign to ban the book has been led by the Center for Jewish Life (CJL), Princeton’s Hillel, World Jewish Congress and the far-right Israeli government. Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, called for the “University to cancel the course in question immediately, fire its professor, Satyel Larson.” A letter written by Amichai Chikli, Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism the University observed that the book "does not in any way promote the notion of open academic debate or freedom of speech on campus nor does it have any educational merit."
Figure 3: Image showing the status of my Twitter handle
It was a day of terror. Unleashed by a white supremacist far-right terrorist. Driven by hate for brown people. Driven by Islamophobic hate.
Earlier in the day, I had come across a hate-based hit piece targeting me, alongside other academics, the University of Auckland academic Professor Nicholas Rowe, Professor Richard Jackson at Otago University, Professor Kevin P Clements at Otago University, Dr. Rose Martin from University of Auckland and Dr. Nigel Parsons at Massey University.
Titled, "More extremists in New Zealand Universities," the article threw in the labels "terror sympathisers" and "extremist views."
Written by one David Cumin and hosted on the website of the Israel Institute of New Zealand, the article sought to create outrage that academics critical of Israeli settler colonialism and apartheid are actually employed by universities in New Zealand.
Performing its grievance then, it expressed concerns at our appointments as senior academics in New Zealand Universities, writing "The extremist views, openly shared, by senior academics is deeply concerning. These are people who are teaching students and lending their academic credentials to government reports."
Earlier in the month in 2019, I had witnessed on my then-public X account a tag from David Cumin, also tagging the Massey University Vice-Chancellor Professor Jan Thomas, expressing concerns regarding my tweets in support of the right of Palestinian people to participate in resisting Israeli settler colonialism. Those tweets were written in solidarity with the Temple University academic and Communication Studies colleague, Marc Lamont Hill, who had wrapped up his brilliant speech at the United Nations on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people with the slogan, "From the river to the sea...." For this slogan, Lamont Hill became the target of a vigorous hate campaign led by Zionists, attacking his academic freedom and seeking to get him fired from Temple.
David Cumin is also one of the co-founders, spokespersons, and council members of the Free Speech Union that was formed in the backdrop of the hate-tour that sought to platform the white supremacist extremists Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux. Note here that the Royal Commission of Inquiry reported that the Christchurch white supremacist terrorist regularly watched the YouTube and podcast channels of Stefan Molyneux and donated to these platforms.
We at the Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand stand as mothers and sisters to call out this hypocrisy and maltreatment, and we ask all New Zealanders to insist that our nation uphold its commitments to international human rights and law for all and for everyone no matter in what land they reside and insist allied nations do as well...
Written by one David Cumin and hosted on the website of the Israel Institute of New Zealand, the article sought to create outrage that academics critical of Israeli settler colonialism and apartheid are actually employed by universities in New Zealand.
Figure 1: The web post written by David Cumin on the site of Israel Institute of New Zealand targeting academics
Performing its grievance then, it expressed concerns at our appointments as senior academics in New Zealand Universities, writing "The extremist views, openly shared, by senior academics is deeply concerning. These are people who are teaching students and lending their academic credentials to government reports."
Earlier in the month in 2019, I had witnessed on my then-public X account a tag from David Cumin, also tagging the Massey University Vice-Chancellor Professor Jan Thomas, expressing concerns regarding my tweets in support of the right of Palestinian people to participate in resisting Israeli settler colonialism. Those tweets were written in solidarity with the Temple University academic and Communication Studies colleague, Marc Lamont Hill, who had wrapped up his brilliant speech at the United Nations on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people with the slogan, "From the river to the sea...." For this slogan, Lamont Hill became the target of a vigorous hate campaign led by Zionists, attacking his academic freedom and seeking to get him fired from Temple.
You can watch Marc's speech here and read about the targeted hate campaign attacking academic freedom here.
As a public scholar in the discipline who often writes in solidarity with academics of colour and organizes advocacy to safeguard academic freedom when it is targeted, I wrote a blog post describing the decolonising spirit expressed in "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." You can read the blog post here.
Turning back to David Cumin, based on my tweets, Cumin had then complained to Massey University. From what I understand (and this was only communicated verbally), there were calls from both sides of the aisle. The University leadership supported my academic freedom and stood steadfast by my academic freedom to express scholarly ideas publicly (in this case on my areas of expertise, postcolonial and decolonisation theories).
One of the outcomes of Cumin's advocacy directed at the University is a preliminary conversation on a debate that the Israel Institute of New Zealand wanted to organise. The University and I had been in conversation about the framework of the debate.
However, after the post from David Cumin, I communicated with Massey leadership that I was not going to engage in debate with organisations that spread disinformation and hate, and are fundamentally antithetical to the ideas of academic freedom and democracy, two core ideas that underlie democracies. Given the context of the Islamophobic and racist terror attack in Christchurch and the mobilisation of the extremist label, I became concerned about my security and the security of my family. The university supported me in putting security measures in place (Note here the irony of the Free Speech Union targeting Massey University and the Vice Chancellor Professor Jan Thomas for the University's decision not to platform Don Brash).
I also wrote to the leadership of the University of Auckland in 2019 expressing my concerns about one of its academics engaging in a disinformation-based campaign directly targeting academic freedom. The University leadership finally responded this year (after multiple prompts), stating that Dr. Cumin had his right to freedom of expression (Note here, that as someone who is not an expert in the area of decolonisation [according to the university response, he is employed in the Department of Anaesthesiology], Cumin doesn't have the expertise to speak on this topic, and the University recognizes this, instead defending his right to speech as a private citizen).
As a public scholar in the discipline who often writes in solidarity with academics of colour and organizes advocacy to safeguard academic freedom when it is targeted, I wrote a blog post describing the decolonising spirit expressed in "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." You can read the blog post here.
Turning back to David Cumin, based on my tweets, Cumin had then complained to Massey University. From what I understand (and this was only communicated verbally), there were calls from both sides of the aisle. The University leadership supported my academic freedom and stood steadfast by my academic freedom to express scholarly ideas publicly (in this case on my areas of expertise, postcolonial and decolonisation theories).
One of the outcomes of Cumin's advocacy directed at the University is a preliminary conversation on a debate that the Israel Institute of New Zealand wanted to organise. The University and I had been in conversation about the framework of the debate.
However, after the post from David Cumin, I communicated with Massey leadership that I was not going to engage in debate with organisations that spread disinformation and hate, and are fundamentally antithetical to the ideas of academic freedom and democracy, two core ideas that underlie democracies. Given the context of the Islamophobic and racist terror attack in Christchurch and the mobilisation of the extremist label, I became concerned about my security and the security of my family. The university supported me in putting security measures in place (Note here the irony of the Free Speech Union targeting Massey University and the Vice Chancellor Professor Jan Thomas for the University's decision not to platform Don Brash).
I also wrote to the leadership of the University of Auckland in 2019 expressing my concerns about one of its academics engaging in a disinformation-based campaign directly targeting academic freedom. The University leadership finally responded this year (after multiple prompts), stating that Dr. Cumin had his right to freedom of expression (Note here, that as someone who is not an expert in the area of decolonisation [according to the university response, he is employed in the Department of Anaesthesiology], Cumin doesn't have the expertise to speak on this topic, and the University recognizes this, instead defending his right to speech as a private citizen).
David Cumin is also one of the co-founders, spokespersons, and council members of the Free Speech Union that was formed in the backdrop of the hate-tour that sought to platform the white supremacist extremists Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux. Note here that the Royal Commission of Inquiry reported that the Christchurch white supremacist terrorist regularly watched the YouTube and podcast channels of Stefan Molyneux and donated to these platforms.
Note here that on his platforms, Stefan Molyneaux regularly propagates extremist pseudo-science suggesting that non-white people are genetically inferior, regularly producing and rendering viral Islamophobic, misogynistic and transphobic hate. Also pay attention as an example to a statement posted by the Christchurch white supremacist terrorist, "Across the road from my [Dunedin] gym is an Islamic boarding school. To date, I have been using it as a source of rage for my [weight]lifts."
Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern were set to speak at Takapuna’s Bruce Mason Centre in 2018 and the event was cancelled by Regional Facilities Auckland expressing safety and security concerns. Cumin, along with Malcolm Moncrief-Spittle applied to review the decision to the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, and this was dismissed. The Supreme Court ordered Moncrief-Spittle and Cumin to pay $10,000 in costs to Auckland Council and Regional Facilities Auckland.
"The root causes of these repeated cycles of violence must be addressed as a matter of urgency. This requires upholding international law and ending Israel’s 16-year-long illegal blockade on Gaza, and all other aspects of Israel’s system of apartheid imposed on all Palestinians. The Israeli government must refrain from inciting violence and tensions in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, especially around religious sites. Amnesty International calls on the international community to urgently intervene to protect civilians and prevent further suffering."
"Last year alone, we in New Zealand have watched from afar while children were shot and killed and hundreds more imprisoned by Israel, homes and property owned by families for centuries unjustly taken in Palestine, religious sites invaded and desecrated , and for years upon years, the vast majority of the world has stood by as a 16-year blockade has been imposed on Gaza heavily limiting the transport of food and other necessary goods and preventing the travel of most of the population...
Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern were set to speak at Takapuna’s Bruce Mason Centre in 2018 and the event was cancelled by Regional Facilities Auckland expressing safety and security concerns. Cumin, along with Malcolm Moncrief-Spittle applied to review the decision to the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, and this was dismissed. The Supreme Court ordered Moncrief-Spittle and Cumin to pay $10,000 in costs to Auckland Council and Regional Facilities Auckland.
Another vocal advocate for the Free Speech Union is the Zionist Dane Giraud (who has represented the FSU, directed a documentary, and spoken as advocate for free speech). Giraud speaks vociferously about the right of white supremacists to peddle anti-transgender hate. He is obsessed with debunking disinformation researchers such as Byron Clark, expressing his anger at Clark in fear-mongering tweets.
I was therefore not surprised to wake up today in the backdrop of what would be described as a powerful exemplar of decolonising resistance and my expression of solidarity to it to angry and racist tweets by Giraud.
The Western hegemonic response to the violence strategically obfuscates analysis of the root of the violence. Attending to the colonial roots of the violence we are witnessing, notes Amnesty International:
Noting the hypocrisy of the settler colonial West that systematically erases the colonial roots of violence and documenting the silence of Western democracies on the violations of the human rights of Palestinians, the Islamic Women's Council of New Zealand articulates:
Most politicians and countries have said and done nothing to prevent these atrocities and clear violations of human rights towards Palestinians for years, yet those same people and nations with power to influence have rushed to the microphones and stood in front of cameras within the last day and a half calling out and condemning Palestinians....
It is our prayer, in this time of heightened conflict, that the oppressed and the innocent bystanders be given protection wherever they are, may their suffering ease, may their anguish be replaced with peace, and may their despair become hope. We also pray that the hearts of those in power act justly and end the oppression in Palestine and across the world."
I would ignore Giraud's racist outbursts if not for his deployment of the same tactic as Cumin, tagging my employer Massey University and doxing me to my employer. Observe here also how Cumin and Israel Institute of New Zealand tag my private twitter account to my employer.
This foundational hypocrisy, targeting the academic freedom of scholars critiquing Israeli settler colonialism and apartheid while espousing the values of freedom, liberty and democracy in public spaces forms the basis of the Zionist production of freedom of expression and academic freedom. Zionists across the globe form the core infrastructure of the movement to target academics writing and speaking out against the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Academics speaking out against the apartheid policies of Israel, the deployment of far-right Islamophobic hate by Zionists, and the deployment of terrorising violence are quickly labelled as racists, anti-Semites, extremists, and terror sympathizers with the goal of silencing them. This attack on academic freedom led by far-right Zionists is a global phenomenon.
Also note the surveillance culture that forms the infrastructure of attacks on academic freedom. In the face of the far-right racist hate I have experienced, I had protected my tweets. Giraud however finds a way to surveil my protected tweets and posts these protected tweets.
It appears that the freedom of speech afforded to Cumin (by the University of Auckland) ought not to be afforded to me and other academics speaking up against the settler colonial and racist policies of Israel.
While Cumin and Giraud would like to silence our expressions in solidarity with decolonising struggles and against Islamophobia and colonising hate, they would like to platform white supremacist terrorists in espousing extreme hate targeted at colonised, Brown/Black and transgender communities. While we, those of us speaking in solidarity with the decolonising struggles of the Palestinian peoples, are tarred with dehumanising language as racists for our anti-racist organising and our employers are targeted, the warped advocacy for free speech magnifies the right of white supremacist, Islamophobic terrorists to propagate actual terror.
Here in Aotearoa that the Free Speech Union peddles out those attacking academic freedom systematically as advocates for free speech should give us pause about the intent and organising objectives of the Union.
(The concept of decolonising resistance outlined here attends to the agency of the colonised in critiquing and challenging the violence rooted in colonialism, drawing upon diverse decolonising traditions. It fundamentally critiques violence in any form carried out on civilian lives, and any attack on civilian lives is terror, noting that the terror is disproportionately perpetrated by the coloniser. It attends to the violent impact of settler colonialism on the health of the colonised. Decolonising traditions have historically taught us, as in the example of the Gandhian movement, the power of peaceful non-violent resistance offered through decolonising knowledge systems in countering the violence of colonial apparatus. Decolonising pedagogy offers a consistent critique of the violence that results in the loss of civilian life, and locates this terrorising effect of violence on the settler colonial occupation, arguing that colonialism is the root cause of violence. While the hegemonic narrative constructed by the coloniser seeks to place the onus of the violence on the colonised, constructing the colonised as a monster as a justification for the perpetuation of extreme violence on the colonised, carried out through the erasure of the voices of the colonised, decolonising resistance consistently co-creates voice infrastructures with the colonised, listening to the voices of the colonised.
Part 2 in this series will be written by an activist collaborator who has graciously offered to build further this conversation, exploring the hypocrisies of the Free Speech Union).