An online San Francisco State University seminar featuring an infamous Palestinian terrorist was briefly broadcast live on YouTube on Wednesday afternoon, after both Zoom and Facebook refused to host it.
However, about 20 minutes into the event, YouTube cut the feed and removed the video for violating its Terms of Service.
The 76-year-old Leila Khaled — who as a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) took part in the hijacking of a Tel Aviv-bound commercial flight in 1969 — was guest of honor at the event, titled, “Whose Narratives? Gender, Justice and Resistance: A Conversation with Leila Khaled.”
Khaled — who remains affiliated with the PFLP, is still classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union — had not yet spoken when the broadcast was dropped.
She was invited by the seminar’s organizer, the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas (AMED) program’s Professor Rabab Abdulhadi, who is openly and proudly antisemitic.
Abdulhadi has assigned students to make placards and t-shirts glorifying terrorism, murder and violence; and posted messages to AMED’s Facebook page slandering Israel and its supporters.
Zoom’s deputy general counsel, Lynn Haaland, said in a statement, “Zoom is committed to supporting the open exchange of ideas and conversations, subject to certain limitations contained in our Terms of Service, including those related to user compliance with applicable US export control, sanctions, and anti-terrorism laws.”
“In light of the speaker’s reported affiliation or membership in a US-designated foreign terrorist organization, and SFSU’s inability to confirm otherwise, we determined the meeting is in violation of Zoom’s Terms of Service and told SFSU they may not use Zoom for this particular event,” she added.
Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, Director of the AMCHA Initiative, which spearheaded an open letter to SFSU protesting the event, criticized Abdulhadi and SFSU President Lynn Mahoney, saying, “We hope Zoom’s de-platforming sends an important message to SFSU that Professor Rabab Abdulhadi’s repeated attempts to indoctrinate students with her hatred of Israel and condoning of terrorism is a dangerous abuse of her faculty position, and it has dangerous consequences, including the inevitable targeting of Jewish students at SFSU.”