ACAB Also Means the NYU Silver School of Social Work: Social Work Student Solidarity With the Palestinian Resistance and the Zionist Carcerality of Social Work Education

Social work education has a deep investment in carcerality and zionism, demonstrated over the past year of discipline and punishment of students for solidarity protests. This article interrogates social work education through the concrete experiences of a student, Darrion Hun, who was deeply involved in Palestine solidarity organizing at the NYU Silver School of Social Work. Darrion was an undergraduate social work student at New York University, admitted to the NYU Silver School of Social Work's Advanced Standing Master of Social Work Program for the 2024-2025 academic year. However, on June 27th, 2024, the school rescinded the offer, citing Darrion’s involvement in student solidarity encampments. Using a first-person narrative grounded in decolonial feminism, the article harnesses personal experience in solidarity with Palestinian struggle to generate critical social work theory. From the narrative provided by Darrion about their involvement in abolitionist social work practice in solidarity with Palestinian struggle, authors draw lessons for abolitionist social work practice. The authors conclude that solidarity with the Palestinian resistance requires alignment with the principles laid out by the Boycott Divestment Sanctions Movement.