Jewish students studying at the prestigious University of Pennsylvania live in fear of vile threats to “eliminate” them, one student said.
Claudia Tawil, 19, told The Post that the atmosphere on campus has been “really scary,” as the Ivy League institution faces a civil rights complaint accusing it of being “a magnet for anti-Semites.” .
Tawil claims that Jewish students have been continually harassed on campus and subjected to chants supporting Hamas violence, including: “There is only one solution: the resolution of the intifada.”
The chemistry student explained that this phrase deliberately echoes Hitler’s “final solution” and calls for deadly violence against the Jewish people in Israel.
“It basically means they want to destroy us,” he said.
“There was also a demonstration where I was in class and I heard outside ‘Free Palestine, Hamas Hamas Hamas.’
“I was in class and couldn’t concentrate. “A terrorist organization that rapes women, beheads babies and burns them in ovens is not something anyone should support.”
“Israelis do not support oppression and we are not in favor of death on either side.”
Tawil said the university has been covered in anti-Semitic graffiti.Claudia Tawil
Tawil said anti-Jewish hate messages have been scrawled on doors and walls throughout the school, including one that reads: “Jews are Nazis.”
Another chalk scribble on the campus pavement read: “Israel is an apartheid state.”
According to the Brandeis Center, a nonprofit civil rights organization, students also reported that “many Penn professors have also made anti-Semitic and pro-Hamas statements in the classroom and on social media.”
“Penn students report feelings of intense distress and fears for their safety as demonstrations continue and as their professors continue to show support for Hamas,” read a statement from the organization.
Earlier this week, egregious anti-Semitic slogans were projected on UPenn buildings.
A light show on campus blasted hate messages across the building in support of Palestine. The police release Penn.
Several social media accounts on Thursday shared images of a “light show” in which anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian messages were projected on the walls of campus buildings.
“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” read an illuminated message against the John M Huntsman room.
“Zionism is racism,” declared another.
“Penn funds Palestinian genocide,” said a third.
UPenn President Liz Magill addressed the disturbing vandalism Thursday and confirmed that an investigation is underway.
Anti-Semitic slogans were projected on buildings at the University of Pennsylvania. Shutterstock
“Last night, vile and anti-Semitic messages were projected on several campus buildings, including Penn Commons, Huntsman Hall, and Irvine Auditorium. Penn Police were notified and responded quickly, and a full investigation is currently underway. “We will pursue this matter to the fullest and take swift action in accordance with our policies,” he said in a statement.
“For generations, many have masked anti-Semitism with hostile rhetoric. These reprehensible messages are an assault on our values and cause pain and fear to our Jewish community. Penn has a long and rich history of robust debate on complicated issues of the day. Projecting messages of hate on our campus is not debate, it is cowardice, and it has no place at Penn.”
The hateful slogans are just the latest brazen act of anti-Semitism at the esteemed university.
Magill recently acknowledged an increase in anti-Semitic acts on campus, including “swastikas and hate graffiti,” as well as “rally chants, captured on video and widely disseminated, glorifying the terrorist atrocities of Hamas, celebrating and praising the massacre.” and the kidnapping of innocent people.” people, and that calls into question Israel’s very right to exist.”
Anti-Jewish culture has become so pervasive that the Brandeis Center said it was filing a complaint against UPenn – as well as Wellesley College – with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill recently acknowledged an increase in anti-Semitic acts on campus. Liz Magill/Facebook
The complaint alleges that “Penn has allowed its campus to become a hostile environment for its Jewish students, as well as a magnet for anti-Semites.”
According to Kenneth L. Marcus, founder and president of the Brandeis Center and former US deputy secretary of education, colleges and universities “have failed to keep Jewish students safe and are in clear violation of well-established federal civil rights law.” .
“There has been a lot of talk about eradicating anti-Semitism on campuses, and it is time to hold these universities accountable,” he added.
The complaints “seek immediate and specific actions to address increasing discrimination and harassment of Jews in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” read a statement from the human rights nonprofit.
Earlier this month, two dozen members of Congress sent him a letter condemning the university’s alleged failure to quickly and unequivocally condemn the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
UPenn student caught on video tearing down posters of kidnapped Israelis.X / @StopAntisemites
On Monday, several UPenn employees received anti-Semitic emails threatening violence against members of the university’s Jewish community.
The emails allegedly “threaten violence” against Jewish members of the school, especially those who work at Penn Hillel, a Jewish organization on campus, and Lauder College House, UPenn’s president revealed in a statement Monday.
“These messages also included hate language, directed at the recipients’ personal identities,” Magill said.
University public safety officials did not find any credible threats, but increased security around campus.
The university notified the FBI about the possible hate crime and is investigating the threats.
A student believed to be from UPenn was filmed saying she felt “very empowered and happy” by the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas.
Authorities are working “urgently” with the FBI to “identify the individual or individuals responsible for these hateful and threatening emails and to ensure that they are apprehended and punished to the fullest extent of the law,” Magill said.
Meanwhile, a student believed to be from UPenn was filmed saying she felt “very empowered and happy” about the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel, which killed more than 1,400 people.
The clip, circulating online and shared by U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) of the Bronx, shows the woman’s back as she speaks at a pro-Palestinian rally and says: “I remember feeling so empowered and happy, so I am sure that victory was close and so tangible.”
“I want all of you to keep that feeling in your hearts. Never let go. Channel it through every action you take.”
In the wake of the monstrous Hamas attack, UPenn leaders were criticized for taking too long to condemn the massacre.
The Ivy League campus was also heavily criticized even before the October 7 terrorist attack for holding a Palestine Writes literature festival, which included several speakers and guests previously accused of making anti-Semitic statements.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn