CAIR-LA Condemns Doxing Incident Targeting UCI Students, Demands Administration Take Immediate Action To Protect Students
Al Enteshar al arabi Newspaper
(LOS ANGELES, CA – 9/27/2024) – The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today condemned a recent doxing incident on the University of California, Irvine (UCI) campus targeting specific students for their support of Palestinian rights and opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. CAIR-LA also called on the UCI administration to take immediate action to protect the safety and well-being of these students.
On Thursday, Sept. 26, a “doxing truck” drove around the UCI campus for several hours, digitally displaying the names and photos of several UCI students and falsely labeling them as “UC Irvine’s Leading Antisemites.” This disturbing act appears to be targeting students who have expressed solidarity with Palestine or condemned Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza.
This billboard truck is part of a nationwide campaign doxing and harassing college students, staff, and community members who have called for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Similar trucks have been seen on campuses across the country, including at Harvard and UC Berkeley. Targets of doxing face the serious risk of harassment, stalking, identity theft, physical harm, and reputational damage.
In a statement, CAIR-LA Legal Director Amr Shabaik, Esq., said:
“It is extremely concerning that the UCI administration is allowing outside organizations on campus who use defamatory, inflammatory, and unsubstantiated claims to dox and harass students publicly calling for an end to Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza. These efforts are clearly intended to chill student speech and to make them direct targets of harassment and threats. Over the past year, countless students nationwide have been the targets of doxing because of their pro-Palestine activism, leading to harassment, discrimination, and threats.
“Moreover, the same organization engaging in this anti-Palestinian rhetoric has also spoken out against diversity, equity, and inclusion practices on college campuses and in the workplace and has attacked efforts for inclusion of marginalized communities. Their presence on campus only serves to further harm students, faculty, and staff. Allowing this campaign of hate to have free reign over the campus while actively taking measures to censor and stifle students’ pro-Palestine speech is hypocritical and a gross negligence of UCI’s duty to protect the safety and wellbeing of its students.”
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