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Bates students support Palestinians, denounce college
Bates College student government and others decry decision to call police over anti-Israel graffiti as a censure of student voices.
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LEWISTON The student government at Bates College joined 14 other student organizations to denounce the college’s decision this week to ask police to investigate some anti-Israel graffiti.
Getting the police involved, their joint statement said, was “a censure of student voices” that “makes students feel unsafe and oppressed on our campus.”
“We fear for our communities of color, specifically brown, Arab, Middle Eastern and Muslim students, that will most likely be the targets of this investigation,” said the statement, which also included a call to “free Palestine.”
Anti-Israel Graffiti Found on College Campus Not a Hate Crime, AG Says
On 5/14/21 at 3:06 PM EDT
Earlier this month, after anti-Israel graffiti was found on a Maine college campus, an upset, anonymous party contacted college administrators, calling the incident a hate crime. But the state attorney general s office, after completing its review, decided late last week that the incident didn t qualify as a hate crime.
The graffiti was found on May 9 at Bates College, a liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. The graffiti, which was reportedly done with chalk, consisted of phrases such as Stop ethnic cleansing, Free Palestine and Israel is killing innocent people, according to pictures in a student organization s Instagram post.
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LEWISTON The student government at Bates College joined 14 other student organizations to denounce the college’s decision this week to ask police to investigate some anti-Israel graffiti.
Getting the police involved, their joint statement said, was “a censure of student voices” that “makes students feel unsafe and oppressed on our campus.”
“We fear for our communities of color, specifically brown, Arab, Middle Eastern and Muslim students, that will most likely be the targets of this investigation,” said the statement, which also included a call to “free Palestine.”
Part of a long Instagram post by the Bates Student Government that backs Palestinian rights and denounces Bates College’s decision to call the police over anti-Israel graffiti.
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LEWISTON A Bates College campus safety officer has been placed on paid leave pending an outside investigation of an upsetting incident involving a student last week.
The college’s newspaper, The Bates Student, said in a story Wednesday that “two safety officers restrained and tackled a first-year student in Rand Hall on Friday night” after responding to a report that some students had violated COVID-19 and alcohol rules.
It said a video taken by a witness shows the unnamed student, dressed in pajama pants and a robe, “being restrained and handcuffed by two officers while yelling loudly in pain” and forced to his knees while screaming for help.
Bates College suspends security officer after complaints of mishandling incident centralmaine.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from centralmaine.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.