SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Noah Hakim is a Moroccan student at San Diego State University. He’s in a number of Arab and Muslim organizations on campus. All of them have condemned SDSU President Adela de la Torre for this email she sent to students on October 9th.
“I don’t have any malice toward Adela de la Torre, I don’t think that was her intention. But ignorance can lead to increased bias and violence on campus,” Hakim said.
De la Torre’s email is a response to Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel. It reads in part: "We are deeply struck by the sheer scale of the loss of life – of innocent Israelis, Palestinians, and countless others.”
San Diego State confirmed they are now under federal investigation because of the email. Leaders say someone filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. 10News obtained part of the complaint which states that de la Torre's email "promoted hate and racism against Arabs and Muslims."
“I felt like Palestinian students were forgotten,” said Palestinian student Amena Radwan.
Radwan says the email doesn't give enough context or recognition to Palestinians. But Radwan and Hakim say they don't know who wrote the complaint.
“We believe that being silent is being complicit and our students deserve at least another email to show that,” Radwan said.
The SDSU administration says they've consulted with Islamic, Arab, and Palestinian communities on campus to offer support. Hakim says they haven't taken action against incidents of discrimination.
“The burden of labor shouldn’t be on the students who attend your school to create a safe campus," Hakim said. "It should be on the administration.”
