Lucciana Choueiry
Local activist Amanda Smith speaks at press conference condemning President Kelly Damphousse for comments on pro-Palestine graffiti, Monday, Oct. 28, at the Stallions statue.
Organizations from the Texas State, Austin and San Marcos community gathered at the Stallions statue condemning Texas State President Kelly Damphousse for calling pro-Palestine graffiti antisemitic on Monday, Oct. 28.
The groups involved in the press conference were the Texas State Palestine Solidarity Committee, Texas State University Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), Palestine Solidarity SMTX and the Austin chapter of Council on American Islamic Relations.
Amanda Smith, an activist with Palestine Solidarity SMTX, moderated the press conference and started the speeches by urging Damphousse to retract his statement calling phrases like “Viva Palestine” and “Hands Off Lebanon,” that were spray-painted outside Old Main, the Chemistry Building and Lampasas, “antisemitic slogans” at the Oct. 14 Israel memorial.
“Such a conflation is harmful to Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities and a threat to the academic freedom of our university,” Smith said. “Punishing the advocacy for Palestinian human rights and criticism of an act of genocide is both Islamophobic and antisemitic, and in no way protects our Jewish students and educators from antisemitism.”
YDSA Co-Chair Allen Dominguez said Damphousse’s use of ‘antisemitism’ aligns with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Executive Order GA-44, which called on Texas higher education institutions to adopt the definition of antisemitism into their free speech policies. Before the changes went into effect, YDSA delivered a letter to Damphousse’s office asking to refrain from implementing the executive order at Texas State on May 8, however, Damphousse was not in his office.
Texas State then changed its free speech policy on June 20.
“The executive order was released under the guise of addressing antisemitism. In actuality, this state censorship is meant to deny Palestinian members of our community the right to call for freedom from occupation and genocide, as well as deny the First Amendment rights of students, staff and faculty to stand in solidarity with them across all Texas,” Dominguez said.
Dominguez also said the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which is condemned by Abbott’s executive order and Texas State, is punishing support for Palestine. He asked Damphousse to apologize for “his Islamophobic, anti-Palestinian and antisemitic language” and to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“To utilize the label of antisemitism falsely as a means to generate fear to speak out against an ongoing genocide, is itself antisemitic and Islamophobic. To label any call that honors human life as antisemitic is an insult to all religions,” Dominguez said. “Our organizations stand in solidarity with members of the Muslim, Arab and Jewish communities across Texas and firmly condemn any vandalism rhetoric or behavior that reflects hostility towards any religious or ethnic group.”
Daniel Gamez-Gomez, applied sociology sophomore, ended the press conference by reading a letter from councilmember Alyssa Garza, who is also calling on Damphousse to retract his statement.
“I urge President Damphousse to retract the harmful conflation of pro-Palestinian advocacy with antisemitism,” Garza wrote. “Doing so is a crucial first step toward creating space for thoughtful, open dialogue that honors the principles of free speech and academic freedom, which are foundational to our university’s mission.”
The University Star reached out to Texas State for a comment but has yet to receive a response.