By Adam Pagnucco.
The Black Alliance for Peace and the DMV chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) are alleging that Montgomery College has retaliated against Professor Gus Griffin over a virtual Zoom panel he held using college resources on March 7. In the panel, speakers equated Zionism with colonialism, racism, genocide and white supremacy, expressed their support for Hamas and called for the destruction of Israel. Montgomery College President Jermaine Williams issued a statement of condemnation on the panel on the same day it was held.
Last week, PYM’s DMV chapter posted the following pictures on Instagram. The chapter wrote:
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On March 7th, Professor Griffin, who is also a member of the Black Alliance for Peace and Faculty for Justice in Palestine, organized an event called “Palestine and Africa: the Historical Relationship.” Since then, the President of Montgomery College, Dr. Jermaine Williams, has retaliated against Professor Griffin and Faculty for Justice in Palestine, and sent a letter to the campus condemning the event as “inflammatory hate speech.”
We need to make it clear to Montgomery College and Dr. Jermaine Williams that YOU CANNOT SILENCE US. We demand Dr. Williams and Montgomery College:
End the biased targeting of Faculty for Justice in Palestine.
Revoke the previous inaccurate statements about the event on March 7th.
Release a statement in support of faculty and students who wish to advocate for Palestinian human rights.
Commit to meeting with Faculty for Justice in Palestine to hear their concerns and demands.
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The group urged supporters to write to the college in support of Griffin. Screenshots of their statements appear below.
Black Alliance for Peace shared the statement on X.
Rafiki Morris, one of the panelists who appeared at the March 7 event and said he wanted to “smash Zionism,” is on the coordinating committee of Black Alliance for Peace. Griffin is on the national steering committee of the Faculty for Justice in Palestine Network.
I asked Griffin to comment on the specifics of any alleged retaliation by the college. He replied with a laugh emoji as shown in the screenshot below.
He had more to say on Facebook.
I asked a college spokesman whether the college had a response to the groups’ allegations and whether there were any more panels like the one on March 7 planned. The spokesman replied, “Montgomery College does not engage in retaliation. We are not aware of plans for further panels at this time.”