Steinhardt Hall, the Penn Hillel building, on the University of Pennsylvania campus, was vandalized by a man shouting antisemitic slurs a day before the Palestine Writes Literature Festival began on the University of Pennsylvania's campus. The university said there was no connection between the two, but the conference stirred controversy and concerns about speakers that critics say have a history of antisemitic statements.
speakers with a history of antisemitic remarks. That included Roger Waters, co-founder of Pink Floyd, whom the U.S. State Department said has “a long track record of using antisemitic tropes” and that a concert he gave in Germany in May “contained imagery that is deeply offensive to Jewish people and minimized the Holocaust,”Tensions also flared over the timing of the festival, which ended just before the start of Yom Kippur, one of the holiest days on the Jewish calendar.
She said they are “easy targets” because they don’t “have the same connections and highly funded networks.”“There was not a single moment or statement of care for Penn’s Palestinian students who have been marginalized and maligned and subjected to violent propaganda year after year,” she said, “and now during the festival through direct and specific incitement against them.”
While it was important for Penn to take a stand against antisemitism, it should have taken an equally strong stand supporting Palestinian history and culture and recognized that any attempt to shut down the festival was anti-Palestinian, she said.“As you are well aware, in recent years, many critics of Israeli occupation, and the oppression of Palestinian people and Arabs within Israel by the Israeli state, have been branded as antisemitic by Zionist organizations and individuals,” they wrote.
He also said “a transparent explanation” is still needed on how “an outspoken bigot like Roger Waters” was approved to talk at an event on Palestinian literature.
Emilio Bassini, 73, a Penn alum whose wife and children also are graduates, said he was distraught that objectionable speakers were allowed to appear. That they were invited in the first place reflects holes in the university’s process for granting access to its facilities, said Bassini, a New York City and Miami-based former fund manager that now manages his family’s assets.
Education Education Latest News, Education Education Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: PennLive - 🏆 463. / 53 Read more »