Haneen’s* friends have not left her side since she walked to a campus building at her school and saw fliers posted calling her a terrorist.
The Muslim woman’s friends have escorted her to all of her classes at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), but she still looks over her shoulder while walking on the campus where she once felt safe.
“Until recently, I fully believed (IUPUI) was a place I could call home,” Haneen, a junior, wrote in a statement read by Erin Polley, a member of the American Friends Service Committee, during a news conference last week on IUPUI’s campus.
The student was targeted for her work with a pro-Palestinian student group on IUPUI’s campus, and the case has put Haneen and her supporters at odds with IUPUI administration and Chancellor Nasser Paydar, who Haneen believes has refused to acknowledge the harassment she faced.
“After campus police were called and a police report was filed, my name began popping up more and more on the internet,” Haneen wrote. “While my campus administrators have made efforts to console me and ensure my safety is not at risk, they have yet to release a public statement condemning the acts of abusive harassment that have put me in real danger.”
Haneen is the leader of the IUPUI branch of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a group that works for human rights, and began receiving harassing, anonymous phone calls as IUPUI hosted a conference for SJP groups in the Midwest.
Blog posts appeared on the internet, degrading her appearance and calling her a terrorist and a national security threat. The posters and fliers around campus also called her a terrorist. She reported the incidents to IUPUI police and the FBI.
Since the incident, more than 75 students and faculty have sent letters to Paydar, asking him to say he disapproves of what happened to Haneen, as well as give an update on the status of the investigation. In the recent news conference, student and faculty supporters of Haneen said Paydar has not done enough to acknowledge the incident.
“No one has condemned what happened,” said Hassan Jamal, a senior at IUPUI. “It gives us a bad name on IUPUI’s campus when we allow something like this to happen to Haneen.”
Paydar sent an email to faculty that said the university is committed to free expression for students and faculty but condemns bigotry and racism. However, Haneen said the letter was not sent to students. Haneen wants Paydar to specifically reference the harassment she has faced on campus in a statement to faculty and students.
“I would like him to call out the situation, to say in words, ‘This is what’s been going on on your campus. We don’t approve of this. Whoever is doing this, we will find you,’” Haneen said.
Rahul Saksena — a staff attorney for Palestine Legal, which offers legal aid to Palestinian advocates in the United States — said Haneen’s right to free speech was violated when she was harassed for her work with SJP, and she could file a Title VI complaint with the U.S. Department of Education if she feels the school has not responded appropriately.
“The school has a legal obligation to make sure her educational opportunities are not infringed upon by discrimination by race, color, national origin,” Saksena said.
Margie Smith-Simmons, a spokeswoman for IUPUI, said campus police are still investigating the incident. She said they are working with the Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center, a state agency that gathers intelligence to share with law enforcement throughout the state.
Smith-Simmons said Paydar does plan to release a public statement once the investigation is concluded, but she declined to release any more information about the case.
Meanwhile, Haneen still fears walking through campus alone, wondering what will happen next time she travels or goes to class, given that a Google search of her name yields results that say “terrorist.”
“We’ve simply asked our university, my university, to condemn specifically, publicly, this attempt to create terror in my life,” Haneen said.
*The Indianapolis Recorder agreed not to release the student’s last name in order to protect her safety.
