Zoom Says They Won’t Host University of Hawaii Webinar Featuring Leila Khaled

A spokesperson for Zoom told the Journal that they won’t be allowing an upcoming University of Hawaii (UH) webinar featuring Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine member Leila Khaled as a guest speaker to use their platform.

“Zoom is committed to supporting the open exchange of ideas and conversations, subject to certain limitations contained in our publicly available Terms of Service, Acceptable Use Policy, and Community Standards,” the spokesperson said. “We determined that this event is in violation of one or more of these policies and have let the host know that they may not use Zoom for this particular event.”

The October 23 event, which is co-sponsored by the UH Mānoa (UHM) Departments of Ethnic Studies and Political Science and Students and Faculty for Justice in Palestine (SFJP) at UH, is part of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel group’s “Day of Action Against the Criminalization and Censorship of Campus Political Speech.” The Day of Action was prompted by Zoom, Facebook, and YouTube deplatforming San Francisco State University’s (SFSU) September 23 webinar, which had also featured Khaled as a speaker. Zoom had announced on September 22 that it was deplatforming the event because of Khaled’s membership with “a U.S. designated foreign terrorist organization.”

Prior to the Zoom’s spokesperson’s statement, UH spokesman Daniel Meisenzahl  told the Journal, “The University of Hawaii is an institution where controversial viewpoints can be peacefully and openly considered and discussed. The sharing and debate of diverse and difficult ideas and opinions is fundamental to the mission of higher education in our society.” Following the Zoom statement, Meisenzahl said, “This event does not reflect the views of the university. It is being organized by an independent organization. Not sure how that organization will address this latest development.”

SFJP and USACBI did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.

This is a developing story.