As part of a new art exhibit called “Resistance in Motion,” San Diego City College students posted banners and other artwork in the outside area in front of the on-campus art gallery.
Since the opening of the exhibit on Sept. 4, a banner including the phrase “In our lifetime Palestine will be free” was taken down without notice, according to City Academic Senate President Mona Alsoraimi-Espiritu.
While the gallery and surrounding area where the banner was hung are not necessarily located in a “recommended” free speech area, these types of postings are acceptable as installations under City’s guidelines on public art.
“Artwork displayed within the College’s art gallery is exempt from this policy and the Public Art Committee (PAC) review process,” according to the City College guidelines on public art on campus.
The banner was stolen the same night it was hung in the outdoor gallery space, according to Alsoraimi-Espiritu. City Times Media has attempted to identify the person or persons who removed the banner, without success.
In a separate instance, a different banner was vandalized with a drawing of American right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. The vandalism was witnessed by three City Times Media staff members.
The vandalized art was later shared publicly on a personal Facebook profile. City Times Media reached out to the account owner to confirm their name and affiliation but received no response so far.
These incidents are the latest in a run of occurrences where Palestinian solidarity on campus was met with pushback from unnamed community members, dating back to February 2024.
San Diego Mesa College faced interference from the college administration in February 2024, when activists organized a teach-in that intended to feature a dialogue on Palestinian solidarity. The teach-in was canceled after a Mesa faculty member sent an email to a program director concerning the materials that were to be presented at the event.
City Times Media was notified at the time that one of Mesa College’s vice presidents stepped in to ensure Israel-sympathetic voices were included when organizing any future Palestine-related events.
City Times Media was unable to confirm then, which vice president was involved after requests to confirm were not responded to.
The San Diego Community College District has been directly involved in poster removal when it has determined that postings are in unauthorized areas, according to Chancellor Greg Smith.
“The only prohibition that (the district has) enforced is when somebody has placed a poster in a space that’s not appropriate for a poster to be placed, we’ve taken it down,” Smith told City Times Media in an interview on Sept. 22.
Under Board Policy 3410 on Nondiscrimination, displays including the phrase “From the River to the Sea” in non-instructional contexts are not consistent with the SDCCD civility and nondiscrimination policies, according to City College President Ricky Shabazz in a president’s message email sent out on June 9 that City faculty and staff received.
Multiple faculty and staff have voiced their concerns with the district’s decision regarding this phrase.
“Pretending that (SDCCD is) being fair, but there is no fair middle of the road in this situation,” said Dylan Wells, a lecturer in the English department and a member of the Academic Senate at City.
“The censorship, in and of itself, takes side with the oppressor and demands that our Muslim students agree to a racist ideology that is against them,” Wells said.
The same June 9 email noted the phrase “From the River to the Sea” can allegedly be interpreted by individuals in the Jewish community as a call for violence.
“The Zionist political movement does not own Jewishness,” said Wells, who is Jewish. “They do not speak on behalf of the Jewish population. When they get to define what is and isn’t antisemitism, it takes all the power away from that word. So when antisemitism does happen, no one will take it seriously.”
In response, the public comments time at the SDCCD Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 11 was dominated by statements from students, staff and concerned community members expressing frustration toward the district’s position regarding certain pro-Palestine phrases as not aligning with SDCCD’s nondiscrimination policy.
“‘From the River to the Sea’ is not hate speech,” said Danny Airozo, a veteran and a student at City, in a public comment at the SDCCD Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 11. “It’s a call for freedom, equality and dignity for the Palestinian people.”
“That is not what free expression looks like, and I didn’t swear my oath to the Constitution and defend your rights so that I can have mine stripped away from me by the people in this room,” Airozo continued.
Click here to view the transcript of the 14 public comments made at the Sept. 11, Board of Trustees meeting at the SDCCD district office.
Of the 14 public comments left for the Board of Trustees meeting regarding censorship and SDCCD’s actions on Palestinian solidarity, none were in support of the district’s actions.
“What I appreciate most about public comments at that meeting, and at previous meetings, is that individuals have been able to clarify what they mean when they use that phrase,” Chancellor Smith told City Times Media in the Sept. 22 interview.
“(SDCCD will) continue to try to create space for people to have those conversations and interactions and be clear about what they’re saying and what they mean when they say it,” Smith said. “What remains consistent in this is that we’ve had individuals put up posters and banners in places that aren’t free speech areas, and regardless of the content, we would be taking those down.”
