SHEFFIELD – Shahd Abusalama who had been suspended in an alleged a smear campaign against her, has been reinstated by her university. While this is a win for her, she stressed that the fight for freedom must still continue for Palestine.
Speaking to Salaamedia, UK-based Palestinian activist Shahd Abusalama explained that, although she has been reinstated at the Sheffield Hallam University, it is now up to her whether she wants to go back or not.
“Today in the meeting the human resources told me that I am reinstated by immediate effect, but it is now up to me to decide whether I want to go back or not and if I can go back … because let’s not underestimate the mental pressure that I have been dealing with.”
“Being criminalized and suspended without being approached first about the nature of the suspension or the reasons behind it and being treated like a person with no rights in my own university where I’ve been for four years contributing and doing everything possible to create an inclusive campus, a healthy campus that champions human rights and social responsibility locally and internationally and disrupt this entrenched attitude that basically says human rights and democracy and social responsibility and humanity and all these values are basically rights to everybody except for Palestine.”
The university asked for the meeting to be confidential, but Abusalama decided against it.
“They asked for our meeting to be confidential, but I had challenged them about this confidentiality when they breached my confidentiality as they continued to feed into Zionist smears against me. Until yesterday, I received reports from Zionist media quoting my university on my behalf without approaching me first…”
The media outlets that are alleged to have begun the smear campaign have been targeting Abusalama for a long time and she believes they won’t stop anytime soon.
“In the meeting today, it became clear the complaints that were made against me were made by external powers from the likes of the Zionist outlets, Jewish news and campaign against anti-semitism and Jewish Chronicle. These haven’t left me alone in the past and they won’t leave me. I have to fight for myself, and I have to fight so no one in the future is targeted in this malicious manner.”
Shahd Abusalama, a UK-based Palestinian Activist, was speaking in a video released exclusivey to Salaamedia. You can watch the full video here:
