The director of Portland State University's Women's Resource Center was terminated last spring, without being given a cause. The former director, Nic Francisco-Kaho'onei, believes their Palestinian activism played a role in their firing, which had a ripple effect throughout the campus community. While PSU says it values the Women's Resource Center (and maintains it did not retaliate against Francisco-Kaho'onei), the firing came at a troubled time for the university,
One fall morning in 1985 the prominent Palestinian activist arrived to work at the Santa Ana office of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. When he opened the civil rights group's door, a rigged pipe bomb went off, mortally wounding him. "How can I forget that horrible day?" said Michel Shehadeh, whoreplaced Odeh as the West Coast regional director of the organization, which formed in 1980 to combat anti-Arab stereotypes in U.S. media.
In a poignant moment, Khalil recounted how the isolation of detention deeply affected him, stating, 'When I heard my son's first cries, I buried my face in my arms so no one would see me weep.'
The soldiers raided my house today, they wanted revenge from me for participating in the BBC documentary about the settlers, after the army left the settlers raided my house.