I don't get equating one terrorist act as full justification to kill tens of thousands of innocents in order to get a few terrorists not to mention the apartheid conditions that have existed as long as I have been alive. Then going back to ancient history and myth as justification for who the land belongs to. It's like people don't remember that colonizer governments allowed people to be forcibly pushed off their land and driven from their homes, in 1948, to establish a state for people who were abused *checks notes* by Europeans. Weird that this land wasn't carved out of oh say Germany. Instead the Palestinians and Arab world have had to pay for the destabilization.
I'm all for a two state solution, I don't think it is a reality with the parties currently in control. Neither are operating in good faith nor have been for quite a while. How ever barbarous the October attack was, nothing compares to the barbarism of an unchecked fully modern war machine, operating under a media blackout.
War is Hell. But to believe in the full faith of the Palestinian cause, one must ignore the results of six previous wars, two signed peace deals with Palestinian leadership and 4000 years of history in that land.
Despite all that, Israel is willing to negotiate. Point to another place on this planet where people are willing to overlook all of that and say Israel is 100% wrong and Israel has zero claims this land. Make no mistake about this. This will divide the democratic party and bring back the liberals favorite President. Supporting Iranian causes has clear and distinct consequences. You can ask Reverend Sharpton if you don’t believe me
edit, you and others continue to use the word apartheid, and that’s in bad faith. The territories in the West Bank that are referred to areas A B C are the direct result of two deals signed off by the Palestinian leadership. That was supposed to be a steppingstone to future deals, for which Palestine has refused to continue negotiations after Hamas took over
Static , using the word myth is another example of bad faith debating. There is an enormous amount of archaeological evidence supporting these claims.
Using "archaeological evidence" interpreted through the lens of and backed by the idea of Judeo-Christian superiority to claim land that was not controlled by Israelis for 1000+ years is bad faith justification for occupation and displacement. Palestine was chosen by Europeans and European Hebrews as the location to establish a Jewish state because of the Bible. Since Israel was established Arab history in the region has been replaced, rewrote and erased. Prior to 1948 Arab peoples controlled and lived on the land that is now known as Israel for 100s of years. After 1948 they were violently displaced and land that they actually had cultural and historical ties that they did not have to go back to ancient times to prove was taken from them. I can understand the animosity. Forgetting that Israel as we know it didn't exist before 1948 and that there was no real Jewish occupation and ownership of the land for 1000 years is disingenuous.
None of this justifies the Oct 7 attack. However, that attack does not justify displacing and killing as many or more Palestinian civilians, if reports are to be believed, as were killed when Israel first forced the Palestinians off their land in the event known as the Nakba 1948.
I think everyone recognizes that Palestinian leadership does not have clean hands. The problem seems to be that almost any violent action Israel has ever undertaken is somehow seen as justified. It's two sets of rules and two different sets of standards being used to judge the two players.
To me saying war is hell and that none of this would have happened if the oct 7 attack had not occurred is lazy and one sided.
Here we are 75 years later. We can't go back 1000 years or even 78 years. There needs to be a new way of looking at this and new ways to try to solve the problem. If not well, expect more and worse repeats with both sides acting as if they have no-fault.
I don't get equating one terrorist act as full justification to kill tens of thousands of innocents in order to get a few terrorists not to mention the apartheid conditions that have existed as long as I have been alive. Then going back to ancient history and myth as justification for who the land belongs to. It's like people don't remember that colonizer governments allowed people to be forcibly pushed off their land and driven from their homes, in 1948, to establish a state for people who were abused *checks notes* by Europeans. Weird that this land wasn't carved out of oh say Germany. Instead the Palestinians and Arab world have had to pay for the destabilization.
I'm all for a two state solution, I don't think it is a reality with the parties currently in control. Neither are operating in good faith nor have been for quite a while. How ever barbarous the October attack was, nothing compares to the barbarism of an unchecked fully modern war machine, operating under a media blackout.
War is Hell. But to believe in the full faith of the Palestinian cause, one must ignore the results of six previous wars, two signed peace deals with Palestinian leadership and 4000 years of history in that land.
Despite all that, Israel is willing to negotiate. Point to another place on this planet where people are willing to overlook all of that and say Israel is 100% wrong and Israel has zero claims this land. Make no mistake about this. This will divide the democratic party and bring back the liberals favorite President. Supporting Iranian causes has clear and distinct consequences. You can ask Reverend Sharpton if you don’t believe me
edit, you and others continue to use the word apartheid, and that’s in bad faith. The territories in the West Bank that are referred to areas A B C are the direct result of two deals signed off by the Palestinian leadership. That was supposed to be a steppingstone to future deals, for which Palestine has refused to continue negotiations after Hamas took over
People are going to vote for Trump instead of Biden who would have otherwise voted for Biden if not for some people thinking that Israel is not 100% right? That makes zero sense. there is no other option. People will vote for Trump or Biden regardless of views on Israel. If Trump becomes president it will have little to nothing to do with Israel. America has been creating the climate for Trump to exist for years before Oct 7. Nice try with the fear mongering though.
Static , using the word myth is another example of bad faith debating. There is an enormous amount of archaeological evidence supporting these claims.
Using "archaeological evidence" interpreted through the lens of and backed by the idea of Judeo-Christian superiority to claim land that was not controlled by Israelis for 1000+ years is bad faith justification for occupation and displacement. Palestine was chosen by Europeans and European Hebrews as the location to establish a Jewish state because of the Bible. Since Israel was established Arab history in the region has been replaced, rewrote and erased. Prior to 1948 Arab peoples controlled and lived on the land that is now known as Israel for 100s of years. After 1948 they were violently displaced and land that they actually had cultural and historical ties that they did not have to go back to ancient times to prove was taken from them. I can understand the animosity. Forgetting that Israel as we know it didn't exist before 1948 and that there was no real Jewish occupation and ownership of the land for 1000 years is disingenuous.
None of this justifies the Oct 7 attack. However, that attack does not justify displacing and killing as many or more Palestinian civilians, if reports are to be believed, as were killed when Israel first forced the Palestinians off their land in the event known as the Nakba 1948.
I think everyone recognizes that Palestinian leadership does not have clean hands. The problem seems to be that almost any violent action Israel has ever undertaken is somehow seen as justified. It's two sets of rules and two different sets of standards being used to judge the two players.
To me saying war is hell and that none of this would have happened if the oct 7 attack had not occurred is lazy and one sided.
Here we are 75 years later. We can't go back 1000 years or even 78 years. There needs to be a new way of looking at this and new ways to try to solve the problem. If not well, expect more and worse repeats with both sides acting as if they have no-fault.
Hence, wash, rinse, repeat.
But hey, only killing two civilians for every Hamas terrorist is A-OK.
Conflating the PA, Hamas, Gazans and Palestinians as one entity is disingenuous, particularly given Bibi and the Israeli far right’s machinations.
Static , using the word myth is another example of bad faith debating. There is an enormous amount of archaeological evidence supporting these claims.
Using "archaeological evidence" interpreted through the lens of and backed by the idea of Judeo-Christian superiority to claim land that was not controlled by Israelis for 1000+ years is bad faith justification for occupation and displacement. Palestine was chosen by Europeans and European Hebrews as the location to establish a Jewish state because of the Bible. Since Israel was established Arab history in the region has been replaced, rewrote and erased. Prior to 1948 Arab peoples controlled and lived on the land that is now known as Israel for 100s of years. After 1948 they were violently displaced and land that they actually had cultural and historical ties that they did not have to go back to ancient times to prove was taken from them. I can understand the animosity. Forgetting that Israel as we know it didn't exist before 1948 and that there was no real Jewish occupation and ownership of the land for 1000 years is disingenuous.
None of this justifies the Oct 7 attack. However, that attack does not justify displacing and killing as many or more Palestinian civilians, if reports are to be believed, as were killed when Israel first forced the Palestinians off their land in the event known as the Nakba 1948.
I think everyone recognizes that Palestinian leadership does not have clean hands. The problem seems to be that almost any violent action Israel has ever undertaken is somehow seen as justified. It's two sets of rules and two different sets of standards being used to judge the two players.
To me saying war is hell and that none of this would have happened if the oct 7 attack had not occurred is lazy and one sided.
Here we are 75 years later. We can't go back 1000 years or even 78 years. There needs to be a new way of looking at this and new ways to try to solve the problem. If not well, expect more and worse repeats with both sides acting as if they have no-fault.
Hence, wash, rinse, repeat.
But hey, only killing two civilians for every Hamas terrorist is A-OK.
Conflating the PA, Hamas, Gazans and Palestinians as one entity is disingenuous, particularly given Bibi and the Israeli far right’s machinations.
Don't forget any sympathy for Palestinian civilians, or questioning of BIBI and the IDF is supporting Iranian causes?
Static , using the word myth is another example of bad faith debating. There is an enormous amount of archaeological evidence supporting these claims.
Using "archaeological evidence" interpreted through the lens of and backed by the idea of Judeo-Christian superiority to claim land that was not controlled by Israelis for 1000+ years is bad faith justification for occupation and displacement. Palestine was chosen by Europeans and European Hebrews as the location to establish a Jewish state because of the Bible. Since Israel was established Arab history in the region has been replaced, rewrote and erased. Prior to 1948 Arab peoples controlled and lived on the land that is now known as Israel for 100s of years. After 1948 they were violently displaced and land that they actually had cultural and historical ties that they did not have to go back to ancient times to prove was taken from them. I can understand the animosity. Forgetting that Israel as we know it didn't exist before 1948 and that there was no real Jewish occupation and ownership of the land for 1000 years is disingenuous.
None of this justifies the Oct 7 attack. However, that attack does not justify displacing and killing as many or more Palestinian civilians, if reports are to be believed, as were killed when Israel first forced the Palestinians off their land in the event known as the Nakba 1948.
I think everyone recognizes that Palestinian leadership does not have clean hands. The problem seems to be that almost any violent action Israel has ever undertaken is somehow seen as justified. It's two sets of rules and two different sets of standards being used to judge the two players.
To me saying war is hell and that none of this would have happened if the oct 7 attack had not occurred is lazy and one sided.
Here we are 75 years later. We can't go back 1000 years or even 78 years. There needs to be a new way of looking at this and new ways to try to solve the problem. If not well, expect more and worse repeats with both sides acting as if they have no-fault.
Hence, wash, rinse, repeat.
But hey, only killing two civilians for every Hamas terrorist is A-OK.
Conflating the PA, Hamas, Gazans and Palestinians as one entity is disingenuous, particularly given Bibi and the Israeli far right’s machinations.
Don't forget any sympathy for Palestinian civilians, or questioning of BIBI and the IDF is supporting Iranian causes?
Or that advocating for a two state solution with full, equal rights for Palestinians is anti-Semitic. Speaking of equal rights, something a particular poster keeps referring to as existing in the West Bank but is very far from the truth. But you know, Israel is righteous.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas. Yet the group remains largely intact. By Loveday Morris December 05, 2023 at 10:39 ET TEL AVIV — As Israel opens a new southern front in its war in Gaza, it is still far from achieving its stated military objective: the total destruction of the Hamas militant group that rules the strip and spearheaded the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. At least 5,000 Hamas militants have been killed, according to three Israeli security officials, leaving the majority of its estimated 30,000-strong military wing intact. The Israeli officials spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing military operations and details that have not been made public. [Biden administration presses Israel for restraint in south Gaza] Operations in the north are far from complete. Though much of Gaza City has been leveled by airstrikes, ground forces have yet to enter some of Hamas’s key strongholds there. “This is going to be a long haul,” said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, a spokesman for the Israeli military. “We need the time,” he added, acknowledging the diplomatic clock was ticking. International pressure to minimize civilians deaths is likely to influence the pace of operations in the south, as Israel tries to maintain the support of the United States, its key backer. The cost has already been devastating, with nearly 16,000 Palestinians killed, including more than 5,000 children, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. [Gaza becomes ‘a graveyard for children’ as Israel intensifies airstrikes] “I think we have reached a moment when the Israeli authorities will have to define more clearly what their final objective is,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday. “The total destruction of Hamas? Does anybody think that’s possible? If it’s that, the war will last 10 years.”
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
What a democracy. Sounds more like apartheid. Can someone explain?
Palestinians in the West Bank are tried in Israeli military courts, where conviction rates approach 100 percent, according to the United Nations. The majority of those freed last week had never been convicted of a crime; many had never had a day in court. Israel’s practice of administrative detention allows Palestinian detainees to be held for months or years without charge or trial.
Use of administrative detention, long criticized by rights groups, “dramatically increased” this year, according to Amnesty International, especially after Oct. 7.
What a democracy. Sounds more like apartheid. Can someone explain?
Palestinians in the West Bank are tried in Israeli military courts, where conviction rates approach 100 percent, according to the United Nations. The majority of those freed last week had never been convicted of a crime; many had never had a day in court. Israel’s practice of administrative detention allows Palestinian detainees to be held for months or years without charge or trial.
Use of administrative detention, long criticized by rights groups, “dramatically increased” this year, according to Amnesty International, especially after Oct. 7.
yes, let’s trust the undemocratic, authoritarian, terrorist, Iranian sponsored state to guide us to the truth. Good luck saving your career, Magill
another career ruined believing Iranian lies?
Penn President Liz Magill faces mounting pressure to resign from Capitol Hill as university backs her
Dec. 7, 2023, 2:17 p.m. ET
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill reads her opening statement during a congressional hearing on antisemitism on campus on Tuesday.Read moreMark Schiefelbein / AP
Pressure on University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill is mounting in the wake of an appearance before Congress on Tuesday that incited rebuke from the White House, Gov. Josh Shapiro and donors who have contributed tens of millions of dollars to the Ivy League university.
By dusk Thursday, the university faced threats of more lost gifts and increasingly loud calls for Magill’s resignation and saw the start of a congressional investigation into university policies. Trustees remained quiet about Magill’s future at the school following gatherings of the board and university leadership. “There is no board plan for imminent leadership change,” a university spokesperson said Thursday evening as Shapiro criticized her while marking the start of Hanukkah at a menorah lighting held on campus.
Standing outside Penn Hillel, the governor, for the second time in 24 hours, criticized Magill’s comments, this time calling them “shameful and unacceptable.”
But he did not call for her resignation, saying that was the call of Penn’s board of trustees.
“The board here at Penn needs to determine whether or not those comments reflect the views and values of the board and of the university, and I’ve urged them to meet and meet soon and deliberate on that question,” he said. “I know they had a brief meeting this morning and I expect they’ll be meeting again in the coming days. I expect them to carefully weigh that question.”
The trustee gatherings were held in the face of bipartisan backlash over president Liz Magill’s testimony on antisemitism Tuesday before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Multiple sources say the gathering ended with Magill still in the job, despite renewed calls for her resignation.
When asked repeatedly if calling for genocide of Jewish people violates Penn’s rules or code of conduct, Magill testified: “It is a context-dependent decision.” She walked that back in a video she released Wednesday night following criticism from the White House and Shapiro, saying she does view it as harassment or intimidation and would launch a review of Penn’s policies on free speech.
The House committee said it also would investigate Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose presidents testified along with Magill.
“This investigation will include substantial document requests, and the committee will not hesitate to utilize compulsory measures including subpoenas if a full response is not immediately forthcoming,” said committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, in a news release on the committee’s website.
In a statement, Penn pledged to cooperate fully.
A spokesman for the committee said it’s not unusual for the committee to launch investigations into the agencies it oversees, but it is unusual to target colleges, all three of which are private. It’s unclear what could come out of the probes, but information gathered could be used to issue recommendations or shape legislation.
Magill’s testimony on Tuesday came during intense questioning by Republican Rep. Elise M. Stefanik of New York at the hearing called to discuss antisemitism concerns on college campuses.
“If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill said in response to Stefanik.
“Conduct, meaning committing the act of genocide?” Stefanik asked. “The speech is not harassment?”
Questioned further, Magill said, “It can be harassment.”
Shapiro said he has not spoken to Magill since first vocalizing his dissatisfaction with her remarks outside of Goldie, an Israeli falafel restaurant, on Wednesday after protesters gathered there in support of Palestinians.
Students don’t feel supported
Ahead of Shapiro’s arrival, marking the first night of Hanukkah, Penn band students played animated renditions of “Dreidel Dreidel” and other festive songs as students flowed into the building, passing the Israeli and American flags hanging side by side.
Shapiro, after speaking with the students, said he was there to let them know they weren’t alone.
”They shared with me that they don’t feel safe, and they shared with me that they don’t feel supported by the administration, Shapiro said. “Some of them said they didn’t feel supported in their classes based on some of what their professors say to them.”
Criticism continues to mount
Criticism came swiftly after Magill’s testimony, from the White House , Bucks County State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat and Penn grad who called for Magill to step down, Penn Hillel leaders and others.
Critics also targeted Harvard president Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Sally Kornbluth for their answers to the same question at the hearing.
All three presidents are relative newcomers to their jobs. In the presidency for about a year and a half, Magill, a legal scholar, is the most senior.
“In that moment,” Magill explained of her testimony in the video, “I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable. I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil — plain and simple.”
Magill also took heat on social media including renewed calls for her resignation, seeming to reignite heavy criticism, including a donor backlash, that the school has faced over its handling of antisemitism in recent months.
Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, is apparently attempting to withdraw a $100 million gift to the university, according to a letter sent Thursday by his legal representatives to Penn general counsel Wendy White, as reported by Axios. The gift was given to Penn in December 2017 to help establish a center for innovation in finance.
“Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the University’s stance on antisemitism on campus,” said the letter, posted by Axios.
Magill also was under criticism for not standing up staunchly enough in support of academic freedom and faculty and students who have been protesting in support of Palestinians.
The Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors cited Magill’s failure to “fulfill her responsibility to condemn targeted harassment.” The group had been calling on Magill to publicly condemn harassment of faculty for participating in the Palestine Writes Literature Festival in late September and for speaking in support of Palestinian civilians.
“During the hearing, Republican Congressmen Joe Wilson and Jim Banks breathed new life into a months-old campaign of targeted harassment by making false and inflammatory claims about individual Penn faculty members’ political views, affiliations, and activities,” Penn’s AAUP said in a statement. “They called on the university to commit flagrant violations of academic freedom: they suggested that Penn fire faculty members for protected extramural speech and challenged one faculty member’s right to teach classes and make curricular decisions within their area of scholarly expertise.
“President Magill failed to respond to these instances of targeted harassment that unfolded before her eyes. ”
The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression blasted Magill for releasing the video in which she promised a review of free speech policies.
“This is a deeply troubling, profoundly counterproductive response to yesterday’s congressional hearing,” FIRE said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “Were Penn to retreat from the robust protection of expressive rights, university administrators would make inevitably political decisions about who may speak and what may be said on campus.”
In November, Magill rolled out a plan to combat antisemitism, including a task force that is expected to issue its report this spring, and a student advisory group on the Jewish student experience.
Penn has experienced several antisemitic acts this semester, including the drawing of a swastika inside Meyerson Hall and vandalism at Penn Hillel. Complaints also surfaced after messages the university called antisemitic were light-projected on several Penn buildings, including Penn Commons, Huntsman Hall, and Irvine Auditorium.
Scrutiny of Penn began in late September when thePalestine Writes literature festival was held on campus and criticized by some for including speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Powerful donors have withdrawnfinancial support over the university’s handling of the festival and its response to antisemitism, and called for Magill’s and Bok’s resignations. Tensions escalated following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
yes, let’s trust the undemocratic, authoritarian, terrorist, Iranian sponsored state to guide us to the truth. Good luck saving your career, Magill
another career ruined believing Iranian lies?
Penn President Liz Magill faces mounting pressure to resign from Capitol Hill as university backs her
Dec. 7, 2023, 2:17 p.m. ET
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill reads her opening statement during a congressional hearing on antisemitism on campus on Tuesday.Read moreMark Schiefelbein / AP
Pressure on University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill is mounting in the wake of an appearance before Congress on Tuesday that incited rebuke from the White House, Gov. Josh Shapiro and donors who have contributed tens of millions of dollars to the Ivy League university.
By dusk Thursday, the university faced threats of more lost gifts and increasingly loud calls for Magill’s resignation and saw the start of a congressional investigation into university policies. Trustees remained quiet about Magill’s future at the school following gatherings of the board and university leadership. “There is no board plan for imminent leadership change,” a university spokesperson said Thursday evening as Shapiro criticized her while marking the start of Hanukkah at a menorah lighting held on campus.
Standing outside Penn Hillel, the governor, for the second time in 24 hours, criticized Magill’s comments, this time calling them “shameful and unacceptable.”
But he did not call for her resignation, saying that was the call of Penn’s board of trustees.
“The board here at Penn needs to determine whether or not those comments reflect the views and values of the board and of the university, and I’ve urged them to meet and meet soon and deliberate on that question,” he said. “I know they had a brief meeting this morning and I expect they’ll be meeting again in the coming days. I expect them to carefully weigh that question.”
The trustee gatherings were held in the face of bipartisan backlash over president Liz Magill’s testimony on antisemitism Tuesday before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Multiple sources say the gathering ended with Magill still in the job, despite renewed calls for her resignation.
When asked repeatedly if calling for genocide of Jewish people violates Penn’s rules or code of conduct, Magill testified: “It is a context-dependent decision.” She walked that back in a video she released Wednesday night following criticism from the White House and Shapiro, saying she does view it as harassment or intimidation and would launch a review of Penn’s policies on free speech.
The House committee said it also would investigate Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose presidents testified along with Magill.
“This investigation will include substantial document requests, and the committee will not hesitate to utilize compulsory measures including subpoenas if a full response is not immediately forthcoming,” said committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, in a news release on the committee’s website.
In a statement, Penn pledged to cooperate fully.
A spokesman for the committee said it’s not unusual for the committee to launch investigations into the agencies it oversees, but it is unusual to target colleges, all three of which are private. It’s unclear what could come out of the probes, but information gathered could be used to issue recommendations or shape legislation.
Magill’s testimony on Tuesday came during intense questioning by Republican Rep. Elise M. Stefanik of New York at the hearing called to discuss antisemitism concerns on college campuses.
“If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill said in response to Stefanik.
“Conduct, meaning committing the act of genocide?” Stefanik asked. “The speech is not harassment?”
Questioned further, Magill said, “It can be harassment.”
Shapiro said he has not spoken to Magill since first vocalizing his dissatisfaction with her remarks outside of Goldie, an Israeli falafel restaurant, on Wednesday after protesters gathered there in support of Palestinians.
Students don’t feel supported
Ahead of Shapiro’s arrival, marking the first night of Hanukkah, Penn band students played animated renditions of “Dreidel Dreidel” and other festive songs as students flowed into the building, passing the Israeli and American flags hanging side by side.
Shapiro, after speaking with the students, said he was there to let them know they weren’t alone.
”They shared with me that they don’t feel safe, and they shared with me that they don’t feel supported by the administration, Shapiro said. “Some of them said they didn’t feel supported in their classes based on some of what their professors say to them.”
Criticism continues to mount
Criticism came swiftly after Magill’s testimony, from the White House , Bucks County State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat and Penn grad who called for Magill to step down, Penn Hillel leaders and others.
Critics also targeted Harvard president Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Sally Kornbluth for their answers to the same question at the hearing.
All three presidents are relative newcomers to their jobs. In the presidency for about a year and a half, Magill, a legal scholar, is the most senior.
“In that moment,” Magill explained of her testimony in the video, “I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable. I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil — plain and simple.”
Magill also took heat on social media including renewed calls for her resignation, seeming to reignite heavy criticism, including a donor backlash, that the school has faced over its handling of antisemitism in recent months.
Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, is apparently attempting to withdraw a $100 million gift to the university, according to a letter sent Thursday by his legal representatives to Penn general counsel Wendy White, as reported by Axios. The gift was given to Penn in December 2017 to help establish a center for innovation in finance.
“Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the University’s stance on antisemitism on campus,” said the letter, posted by Axios.
Magill also was under criticism for not standing up staunchly enough in support of academic freedom and faculty and students who have been protesting in support of Palestinians.
The Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors cited Magill’s failure to “fulfill her responsibility to condemn targeted harassment.” The group had been calling on Magill to publicly condemn harassment of faculty for participating in the Palestine Writes Literature Festival in late September and for speaking in support of Palestinian civilians.
“During the hearing, Republican Congressmen Joe Wilson and Jim Banks breathed new life into a months-old campaign of targeted harassment by making false and inflammatory claims about individual Penn faculty members’ political views, affiliations, and activities,” Penn’s AAUP said in a statement. “They called on the university to commit flagrant violations of academic freedom: they suggested that Penn fire faculty members for protected extramural speech and challenged one faculty member’s right to teach classes and make curricular decisions within their area of scholarly expertise.
“President Magill failed to respond to these instances of targeted harassment that unfolded before her eyes. ”
The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression blasted Magill for releasing the video in which she promised a review of free speech policies.
“This is a deeply troubling, profoundly counterproductive response to yesterday’s congressional hearing,” FIRE said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “Were Penn to retreat from the robust protection of expressive rights, university administrators would make inevitably political decisions about who may speak and what may be said on campus.”
In November, Magill rolled out a plan to combat antisemitism, including a task force that is expected to issue its report this spring, and a student advisory group on the Jewish student experience.
Penn has experienced several antisemitic acts this semester, including the drawing of a swastika inside Meyerson Hall and vandalism at Penn Hillel. Complaints also surfaced after messages the university called antisemitic were light-projected on several Penn buildings, including Penn Commons, Huntsman Hall, and Irvine Auditorium.
Scrutiny of Penn began in late September when thePalestine Writes literature festival was held on campus and criticized by some for including speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Powerful donors have withdrawnfinancial support over the university’s handling of the festival and its response to antisemitism, and called for Magill’s and Bok’s resignations. Tensions escalated following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Does Hillel sponsor speakers that claim "Palestine" never existed or that Palestinians have no right to the land they claim? If so, is that harassment, intimidation and a violation of campus conduct codes? I guess you're in favor of BDS now as well?
I suppose "free speech" ends when it comes to Israel? As abhorrent as Nazi or ANY speech advocating genocide of any people, religious or otherwise, is. I don't agree with any of it and wish it were better able to be restricted but you know, that pesky Constitution.
yes, let’s trust the undemocratic, authoritarian, terrorist, Iranian sponsored state to guide us to the truth. Good luck saving your career, Magill
another career ruined believing Iranian lies?
Penn President Liz Magill faces mounting pressure to resign from Capitol Hill as university backs her
Dec. 7, 2023, 2:17 p.m. ET
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill reads her opening statement during a congressional hearing on antisemitism on campus on Tuesday.Read moreMark Schiefelbein / AP
Pressure on University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill is mounting in the wake of an appearance before Congress on Tuesday that incited rebuke from the White House, Gov. Josh Shapiro and donors who have contributed tens of millions of dollars to the Ivy League university.
By dusk Thursday, the university faced threats of more lost gifts and increasingly loud calls for Magill’s resignation and saw the start of a congressional investigation into university policies. Trustees remained quiet about Magill’s future at the school following gatherings of the board and university leadership. “There is no board plan for imminent leadership change,” a university spokesperson said Thursday evening as Shapiro criticized her while marking the start of Hanukkah at a menorah lighting held on campus.
Standing outside Penn Hillel, the governor, for the second time in 24 hours, criticized Magill’s comments, this time calling them “shameful and unacceptable.”
But he did not call for her resignation, saying that was the call of Penn’s board of trustees.
“The board here at Penn needs to determine whether or not those comments reflect the views and values of the board and of the university, and I’ve urged them to meet and meet soon and deliberate on that question,” he said. “I know they had a brief meeting this morning and I expect they’ll be meeting again in the coming days. I expect them to carefully weigh that question.”
The trustee gatherings were held in the face of bipartisan backlash over president Liz Magill’s testimony on antisemitism Tuesday before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Multiple sources say the gathering ended with Magill still in the job, despite renewed calls for her resignation.
When asked repeatedly if calling for genocide of Jewish people violates Penn’s rules or code of conduct, Magill testified: “It is a context-dependent decision.” She walked that back in a video she released Wednesday night following criticism from the White House and Shapiro, saying she does view it as harassment or intimidation and would launch a review of Penn’s policies on free speech.
The House committee said it also would investigate Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose presidents testified along with Magill.
“This investigation will include substantial document requests, and the committee will not hesitate to utilize compulsory measures including subpoenas if a full response is not immediately forthcoming,” said committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, in a news release on the committee’s website.
In a statement, Penn pledged to cooperate fully.
A spokesman for the committee said it’s not unusual for the committee to launch investigations into the agencies it oversees, but it is unusual to target colleges, all three of which are private. It’s unclear what could come out of the probes, but information gathered could be used to issue recommendations or shape legislation.
Magill’s testimony on Tuesday came during intense questioning by Republican Rep. Elise M. Stefanik of New York at the hearing called to discuss antisemitism concerns on college campuses.
“If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill said in response to Stefanik.
“Conduct, meaning committing the act of genocide?” Stefanik asked. “The speech is not harassment?”
Questioned further, Magill said, “It can be harassment.”
Shapiro said he has not spoken to Magill since first vocalizing his dissatisfaction with her remarks outside of Goldie, an Israeli falafel restaurant, on Wednesday after protesters gathered there in support of Palestinians.
Students don’t feel supported
Ahead of Shapiro’s arrival, marking the first night of Hanukkah, Penn band students played animated renditions of “Dreidel Dreidel” and other festive songs as students flowed into the building, passing the Israeli and American flags hanging side by side.
Shapiro, after speaking with the students, said he was there to let them know they weren’t alone.
”They shared with me that they don’t feel safe, and they shared with me that they don’t feel supported by the administration, Shapiro said. “Some of them said they didn’t feel supported in their classes based on some of what their professors say to them.”
Criticism continues to mount
Criticism came swiftly after Magill’s testimony, from the White House , Bucks County State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat and Penn grad who called for Magill to step down, Penn Hillel leaders and others.
Critics also targeted Harvard president Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Sally Kornbluth for their answers to the same question at the hearing.
All three presidents are relative newcomers to their jobs. In the presidency for about a year and a half, Magill, a legal scholar, is the most senior.
“In that moment,” Magill explained of her testimony in the video, “I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable. I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil — plain and simple.”
Magill also took heat on social media including renewed calls for her resignation, seeming to reignite heavy criticism, including a donor backlash, that the school has faced over its handling of antisemitism in recent months.
Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, is apparently attempting to withdraw a $100 million gift to the university, according to a letter sent Thursday by his legal representatives to Penn general counsel Wendy White, as reported by Axios. The gift was given to Penn in December 2017 to help establish a center for innovation in finance.
“Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the University’s stance on antisemitism on campus,” said the letter, posted by Axios.
Magill also was under criticism for not standing up staunchly enough in support of academic freedom and faculty and students who have been protesting in support of Palestinians.
The Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors cited Magill’s failure to “fulfill her responsibility to condemn targeted harassment.” The group had been calling on Magill to publicly condemn harassment of faculty for participating in the Palestine Writes Literature Festival in late September and for speaking in support of Palestinian civilians.
“During the hearing, Republican Congressmen Joe Wilson and Jim Banks breathed new life into a months-old campaign of targeted harassment by making false and inflammatory claims about individual Penn faculty members’ political views, affiliations, and activities,” Penn’s AAUP said in a statement. “They called on the university to commit flagrant violations of academic freedom: they suggested that Penn fire faculty members for protected extramural speech and challenged one faculty member’s right to teach classes and make curricular decisions within their area of scholarly expertise.
“President Magill failed to respond to these instances of targeted harassment that unfolded before her eyes. ”
The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression blasted Magill for releasing the video in which she promised a review of free speech policies.
“This is a deeply troubling, profoundly counterproductive response to yesterday’s congressional hearing,” FIRE said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “Were Penn to retreat from the robust protection of expressive rights, university administrators would make inevitably political decisions about who may speak and what may be said on campus.”
In November, Magill rolled out a plan to combat antisemitism, including a task force that is expected to issue its report this spring, and a student advisory group on the Jewish student experience.
Penn has experienced several antisemitic acts this semester, including the drawing of a swastika inside Meyerson Hall and vandalism at Penn Hillel. Complaints also surfaced after messages the university called antisemitic were light-projected on several Penn buildings, including Penn Commons, Huntsman Hall, and Irvine Auditorium.
Scrutiny of Penn began in late September when thePalestine Writes literature festival was held on campus and criticized by some for including speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Powerful donors have withdrawnfinancial support over the university’s handling of the festival and its response to antisemitism, and called for Magill’s and Bok’s resignations. Tensions escalated following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Does Hillel sponsor speakers that claim "Palestine" never existed or that Palestinians have no right to the land they claim? If so, is that harassment, intimidation and a violation of campus conduct codes? I guess you're in favor of BDS now as well?
I suppose "free speech" ends when it comes to Israel? As abhorrent as Nazi or ANY speech advocating genocide of any people, religious or otherwise, is. I don't agree with any of it and wish it were better able to be restricted but you know, that pesky Constitution.
Calling for the genocide of Jews, constitutes bullying or harassment ONLY when it’s pervasive. Seriously? You have a strange interpretation of the first amendment.
yes, let’s trust the undemocratic, authoritarian, terrorist, Iranian sponsored state to guide us to the truth. Good luck saving your career, Magill
another career ruined believing Iranian lies?
Penn President Liz Magill faces mounting pressure to resign from Capitol Hill as university backs her
Dec. 7, 2023, 2:17 p.m. ET
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill reads her opening statement during a congressional hearing on antisemitism on campus on Tuesday.Read moreMark Schiefelbein / AP
Pressure on University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill is mounting in the wake of an appearance before Congress on Tuesday that incited rebuke from the White House, Gov. Josh Shapiro and donors who have contributed tens of millions of dollars to the Ivy League university.
By dusk Thursday, the university faced threats of more lost gifts and increasingly loud calls for Magill’s resignation and saw the start of a congressional investigation into university policies. Trustees remained quiet about Magill’s future at the school following gatherings of the board and university leadership. “There is no board plan for imminent leadership change,” a university spokesperson said Thursday evening as Shapiro criticized her while marking the start of Hanukkah at a menorah lighting held on campus.
Standing outside Penn Hillel, the governor, for the second time in 24 hours, criticized Magill’s comments, this time calling them “shameful and unacceptable.”
But he did not call for her resignation, saying that was the call of Penn’s board of trustees.
“The board here at Penn needs to determine whether or not those comments reflect the views and values of the board and of the university, and I’ve urged them to meet and meet soon and deliberate on that question,” he said. “I know they had a brief meeting this morning and I expect they’ll be meeting again in the coming days. I expect them to carefully weigh that question.”
The trustee gatherings were held in the face of bipartisan backlash over president Liz Magill’s testimony on antisemitism Tuesday before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Multiple sources say the gathering ended with Magill still in the job, despite renewed calls for her resignation.
When asked repeatedly if calling for genocide of Jewish people violates Penn’s rules or code of conduct, Magill testified: “It is a context-dependent decision.” She walked that back in a video she released Wednesday night following criticism from the White House and Shapiro, saying she does view it as harassment or intimidation and would launch a review of Penn’s policies on free speech.
The House committee said it also would investigate Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose presidents testified along with Magill.
“This investigation will include substantial document requests, and the committee will not hesitate to utilize compulsory measures including subpoenas if a full response is not immediately forthcoming,” said committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, in a news release on the committee’s website.
In a statement, Penn pledged to cooperate fully.
A spokesman for the committee said it’s not unusual for the committee to launch investigations into the agencies it oversees, but it is unusual to target colleges, all three of which are private. It’s unclear what could come out of the probes, but information gathered could be used to issue recommendations or shape legislation.
Magill’s testimony on Tuesday came during intense questioning by Republican Rep. Elise M. Stefanik of New York at the hearing called to discuss antisemitism concerns on college campuses.
“If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill said in response to Stefanik.
“Conduct, meaning committing the act of genocide?” Stefanik asked. “The speech is not harassment?”
Questioned further, Magill said, “It can be harassment.”
Shapiro said he has not spoken to Magill since first vocalizing his dissatisfaction with her remarks outside of Goldie, an Israeli falafel restaurant, on Wednesday after protesters gathered there in support of Palestinians.
Students don’t feel supported
Ahead of Shapiro’s arrival, marking the first night of Hanukkah, Penn band students played animated renditions of “Dreidel Dreidel” and other festive songs as students flowed into the building, passing the Israeli and American flags hanging side by side.
Shapiro, after speaking with the students, said he was there to let them know they weren’t alone.
”They shared with me that they don’t feel safe, and they shared with me that they don’t feel supported by the administration, Shapiro said. “Some of them said they didn’t feel supported in their classes based on some of what their professors say to them.”
Criticism continues to mount
Criticism came swiftly after Magill’s testimony, from the White House , Bucks County State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat and Penn grad who called for Magill to step down, Penn Hillel leaders and others.
Critics also targeted Harvard president Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Sally Kornbluth for their answers to the same question at the hearing.
All three presidents are relative newcomers to their jobs. In the presidency for about a year and a half, Magill, a legal scholar, is the most senior.
“In that moment,” Magill explained of her testimony in the video, “I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable. I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil — plain and simple.”
Magill also took heat on social media including renewed calls for her resignation, seeming to reignite heavy criticism, including a donor backlash, that the school has faced over its handling of antisemitism in recent months.
Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, is apparently attempting to withdraw a $100 million gift to the university, according to a letter sent Thursday by his legal representatives to Penn general counsel Wendy White, as reported by Axios. The gift was given to Penn in December 2017 to help establish a center for innovation in finance.
“Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the University’s stance on antisemitism on campus,” said the letter, posted by Axios.
Magill also was under criticism for not standing up staunchly enough in support of academic freedom and faculty and students who have been protesting in support of Palestinians.
The Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors cited Magill’s failure to “fulfill her responsibility to condemn targeted harassment.” The group had been calling on Magill to publicly condemn harassment of faculty for participating in the Palestine Writes Literature Festival in late September and for speaking in support of Palestinian civilians.
“During the hearing, Republican Congressmen Joe Wilson and Jim Banks breathed new life into a months-old campaign of targeted harassment by making false and inflammatory claims about individual Penn faculty members’ political views, affiliations, and activities,” Penn’s AAUP said in a statement. “They called on the university to commit flagrant violations of academic freedom: they suggested that Penn fire faculty members for protected extramural speech and challenged one faculty member’s right to teach classes and make curricular decisions within their area of scholarly expertise.
“President Magill failed to respond to these instances of targeted harassment that unfolded before her eyes. ”
The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression blasted Magill for releasing the video in which she promised a review of free speech policies.
“This is a deeply troubling, profoundly counterproductive response to yesterday’s congressional hearing,” FIRE said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “Were Penn to retreat from the robust protection of expressive rights, university administrators would make inevitably political decisions about who may speak and what may be said on campus.”
In November, Magill rolled out a plan to combat antisemitism, including a task force that is expected to issue its report this spring, and a student advisory group on the Jewish student experience.
Penn has experienced several antisemitic acts this semester, including the drawing of a swastika inside Meyerson Hall and vandalism at Penn Hillel. Complaints also surfaced after messages the university called antisemitic were light-projected on several Penn buildings, including Penn Commons, Huntsman Hall, and Irvine Auditorium.
Scrutiny of Penn began in late September when thePalestine Writes literature festival was held on campus and criticized by some for including speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Powerful donors have withdrawnfinancial support over the university’s handling of the festival and its response to antisemitism, and called for Magill’s and Bok’s resignations. Tensions escalated following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Does Hillel sponsor speakers that claim "Palestine" never existed or that Palestinians have no right to the land they claim? If so, is that harassment, intimidation and a violation of campus conduct codes? I guess you're in favor of BDS now as well?
I suppose "free speech" ends when it comes to Israel? As abhorrent as Nazi or ANY speech advocating genocide of any people, religious or otherwise, is. I don't agree with any of it and wish it were better able to be restricted but you know, that pesky Constitution.
Calling for the genocide of Jews, constitutes bullying or harassment ONLY when it’s pervasive. Seriously? You have a strange interpretation of the first amendment.
Are you saying a one off is “bullying and harassment?” Or that a speaker’s group event that includes people who have called for Israel’s destruction is? What do you think of Hillel hosting speakers who claim Palestine never existed? Are they bullies and harassers for the one or hundred times they speak on campus?
Why won’t you answer questions as they relate to Israel’s transgressions and violence against Palestinians? Why your silence when it’s repeatedly pointed out that Israel is not without blame? Some of us acknowledge Hamas for what they are, a terrorist organization that should rightly be condemned. You act as if Israel, Bibi, and particularly the Zionist right wing are just sitting over there by themselves, minding their own business, holding up their end of the bargain and they’re being put upon. Can you at least acknowledge that that is not the case nor the history? If you can’t, there’s no hope for there ever being a solution.
The first amendment, as flawed as it is, allows for anyone to spew hate speech for as long as they want. And pretty much anywhere.
yes, let’s trust the undemocratic, authoritarian, terrorist, Iranian sponsored state to guide us to the truth. Good luck saving your career, Magill
another career ruined believing Iranian lies?
Penn President Liz Magill faces mounting pressure to resign from Capitol Hill as university backs her
Dec. 7, 2023, 2:17 p.m. ET
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill reads her opening statement during a congressional hearing on antisemitism on campus on Tuesday.Read moreMark Schiefelbein / AP
Pressure on University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill is mounting in the wake of an appearance before Congress on Tuesday that incited rebuke from the White House, Gov. Josh Shapiro and donors who have contributed tens of millions of dollars to the Ivy League university.
By dusk Thursday, the university faced threats of more lost gifts and increasingly loud calls for Magill’s resignation and saw the start of a congressional investigation into university policies. Trustees remained quiet about Magill’s future at the school following gatherings of the board and university leadership. “There is no board plan for imminent leadership change,” a university spokesperson said Thursday evening as Shapiro criticized her while marking the start of Hanukkah at a menorah lighting held on campus.
Standing outside Penn Hillel, the governor, for the second time in 24 hours, criticized Magill’s comments, this time calling them “shameful and unacceptable.”
But he did not call for her resignation, saying that was the call of Penn’s board of trustees.
“The board here at Penn needs to determine whether or not those comments reflect the views and values of the board and of the university, and I’ve urged them to meet and meet soon and deliberate on that question,” he said. “I know they had a brief meeting this morning and I expect they’ll be meeting again in the coming days. I expect them to carefully weigh that question.”
The trustee gatherings were held in the face of bipartisan backlash over president Liz Magill’s testimony on antisemitism Tuesday before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Multiple sources say the gathering ended with Magill still in the job, despite renewed calls for her resignation.
When asked repeatedly if calling for genocide of Jewish people violates Penn’s rules or code of conduct, Magill testified: “It is a context-dependent decision.” She walked that back in a video she released Wednesday night following criticism from the White House and Shapiro, saying she does view it as harassment or intimidation and would launch a review of Penn’s policies on free speech.
The House committee said it also would investigate Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose presidents testified along with Magill.
“This investigation will include substantial document requests, and the committee will not hesitate to utilize compulsory measures including subpoenas if a full response is not immediately forthcoming,” said committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, in a news release on the committee’s website.
In a statement, Penn pledged to cooperate fully.
A spokesman for the committee said it’s not unusual for the committee to launch investigations into the agencies it oversees, but it is unusual to target colleges, all three of which are private. It’s unclear what could come out of the probes, but information gathered could be used to issue recommendations or shape legislation.
Magill’s testimony on Tuesday came during intense questioning by Republican Rep. Elise M. Stefanik of New York at the hearing called to discuss antisemitism concerns on college campuses.
“If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill said in response to Stefanik.
“Conduct, meaning committing the act of genocide?” Stefanik asked. “The speech is not harassment?”
Questioned further, Magill said, “It can be harassment.”
Shapiro said he has not spoken to Magill since first vocalizing his dissatisfaction with her remarks outside of Goldie, an Israeli falafel restaurant, on Wednesday after protesters gathered there in support of Palestinians.
Students don’t feel supported
Ahead of Shapiro’s arrival, marking the first night of Hanukkah, Penn band students played animated renditions of “Dreidel Dreidel” and other festive songs as students flowed into the building, passing the Israeli and American flags hanging side by side.
Shapiro, after speaking with the students, said he was there to let them know they weren’t alone.
”They shared with me that they don’t feel safe, and they shared with me that they don’t feel supported by the administration, Shapiro said. “Some of them said they didn’t feel supported in their classes based on some of what their professors say to them.”
Criticism continues to mount
Criticism came swiftly after Magill’s testimony, from the White House , Bucks County State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat and Penn grad who called for Magill to step down, Penn Hillel leaders and others.
Critics also targeted Harvard president Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Sally Kornbluth for their answers to the same question at the hearing.
All three presidents are relative newcomers to their jobs. In the presidency for about a year and a half, Magill, a legal scholar, is the most senior.
“In that moment,” Magill explained of her testimony in the video, “I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable. I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil — plain and simple.”
Magill also took heat on social media including renewed calls for her resignation, seeming to reignite heavy criticism, including a donor backlash, that the school has faced over its handling of antisemitism in recent months.
Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, is apparently attempting to withdraw a $100 million gift to the university, according to a letter sent Thursday by his legal representatives to Penn general counsel Wendy White, as reported by Axios. The gift was given to Penn in December 2017 to help establish a center for innovation in finance.
“Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the University’s stance on antisemitism on campus,” said the letter, posted by Axios.
Magill also was under criticism for not standing up staunchly enough in support of academic freedom and faculty and students who have been protesting in support of Palestinians.
The Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors cited Magill’s failure to “fulfill her responsibility to condemn targeted harassment.” The group had been calling on Magill to publicly condemn harassment of faculty for participating in the Palestine Writes Literature Festival in late September and for speaking in support of Palestinian civilians.
“During the hearing, Republican Congressmen Joe Wilson and Jim Banks breathed new life into a months-old campaign of targeted harassment by making false and inflammatory claims about individual Penn faculty members’ political views, affiliations, and activities,” Penn’s AAUP said in a statement. “They called on the university to commit flagrant violations of academic freedom: they suggested that Penn fire faculty members for protected extramural speech and challenged one faculty member’s right to teach classes and make curricular decisions within their area of scholarly expertise.
“President Magill failed to respond to these instances of targeted harassment that unfolded before her eyes. ”
The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression blasted Magill for releasing the video in which she promised a review of free speech policies.
“This is a deeply troubling, profoundly counterproductive response to yesterday’s congressional hearing,” FIRE said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “Were Penn to retreat from the robust protection of expressive rights, university administrators would make inevitably political decisions about who may speak and what may be said on campus.”
In November, Magill rolled out a plan to combat antisemitism, including a task force that is expected to issue its report this spring, and a student advisory group on the Jewish student experience.
Penn has experienced several antisemitic acts this semester, including the drawing of a swastika inside Meyerson Hall and vandalism at Penn Hillel. Complaints also surfaced after messages the university called antisemitic were light-projected on several Penn buildings, including Penn Commons, Huntsman Hall, and Irvine Auditorium.
Scrutiny of Penn began in late September when thePalestine Writes literature festival was held on campus and criticized by some for including speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Powerful donors have withdrawnfinancial support over the university’s handling of the festival and its response to antisemitism, and called for Magill’s and Bok’s resignations. Tensions escalated following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Does Hillel sponsor speakers that claim "Palestine" never existed or that Palestinians have no right to the land they claim? If so, is that harassment, intimidation and a violation of campus conduct codes? I guess you're in favor of BDS now as well?
I suppose "free speech" ends when it comes to Israel? As abhorrent as Nazi or ANY speech advocating genocide of any people, religious or otherwise, is. I don't agree with any of it and wish it were better able to be restricted but you know, that pesky Constitution.
Calling for the genocide of Jews, constitutes bullying or harassment ONLY when it’s pervasive. Seriously? You have a strange interpretation of the first amendment.
Are you saying a one off is “bullying and harassment?” Or that a speaker’s group event that includes people who have called for Israel’s destruction is? What do you think of Hillel hosting speakers who claim Palestine never existed? Are they bullies and harassers for the one or hundred times they speak on campus?
Why won’t you answer questions as they relate to Israel’s transgressions and violence against Palestinians? Why your silence when it’s repeatedly pointed out that Israel is not without blame? Some of us acknowledge Hamas for what they are, a terrorist organization that should rightly be condemned. You act as if Israel, Bibi, and particularly the Zionist right wing are just sitting over there by themselves, minding their own business, holding up their end of the bargain and they’re being put upon. Can you at least acknowledge that that is not the case nor the history? If you can’t, there’s no hope for there ever being a solution.
The first amendment, as flawed as it is, allows for anyone to spew hate speech for as long as they want. And pretty much anywhere.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
yes, let’s trust the undemocratic, authoritarian, terrorist, Iranian sponsored state to guide us to the truth. Good luck saving your career, Magill
another career ruined believing Iranian lies?
Penn President Liz Magill faces mounting pressure to resign from Capitol Hill as university backs her
Dec. 7, 2023, 2:17 p.m. ET
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill reads her opening statement during a congressional hearing on antisemitism on campus on Tuesday.Read moreMark Schiefelbein / AP
Pressure on University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill is mounting in the wake of an appearance before Congress on Tuesday that incited rebuke from the White House, Gov. Josh Shapiro and donors who have contributed tens of millions of dollars to the Ivy League university.
By dusk Thursday, the university faced threats of more lost gifts and increasingly loud calls for Magill’s resignation and saw the start of a congressional investigation into university policies. Trustees remained quiet about Magill’s future at the school following gatherings of the board and university leadership. “There is no board plan for imminent leadership change,” a university spokesperson said Thursday evening as Shapiro criticized her while marking the start of Hanukkah at a menorah lighting held on campus.
Standing outside Penn Hillel, the governor, for the second time in 24 hours, criticized Magill’s comments, this time calling them “shameful and unacceptable.”
But he did not call for her resignation, saying that was the call of Penn’s board of trustees.
“The board here at Penn needs to determine whether or not those comments reflect the views and values of the board and of the university, and I’ve urged them to meet and meet soon and deliberate on that question,” he said. “I know they had a brief meeting this morning and I expect they’ll be meeting again in the coming days. I expect them to carefully weigh that question.”
The trustee gatherings were held in the face of bipartisan backlash over president Liz Magill’s testimony on antisemitism Tuesday before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Multiple sources say the gathering ended with Magill still in the job, despite renewed calls for her resignation.
When asked repeatedly if calling for genocide of Jewish people violates Penn’s rules or code of conduct, Magill testified: “It is a context-dependent decision.” She walked that back in a video she released Wednesday night following criticism from the White House and Shapiro, saying she does view it as harassment or intimidation and would launch a review of Penn’s policies on free speech.
The House committee said it also would investigate Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose presidents testified along with Magill.
“This investigation will include substantial document requests, and the committee will not hesitate to utilize compulsory measures including subpoenas if a full response is not immediately forthcoming,” said committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, in a news release on the committee’s website.
In a statement, Penn pledged to cooperate fully.
A spokesman for the committee said it’s not unusual for the committee to launch investigations into the agencies it oversees, but it is unusual to target colleges, all three of which are private. It’s unclear what could come out of the probes, but information gathered could be used to issue recommendations or shape legislation.
Magill’s testimony on Tuesday came during intense questioning by Republican Rep. Elise M. Stefanik of New York at the hearing called to discuss antisemitism concerns on college campuses.
“If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill said in response to Stefanik.
“Conduct, meaning committing the act of genocide?” Stefanik asked. “The speech is not harassment?”
Questioned further, Magill said, “It can be harassment.”
Shapiro said he has not spoken to Magill since first vocalizing his dissatisfaction with her remarks outside of Goldie, an Israeli falafel restaurant, on Wednesday after protesters gathered there in support of Palestinians.
Students don’t feel supported
Ahead of Shapiro’s arrival, marking the first night of Hanukkah, Penn band students played animated renditions of “Dreidel Dreidel” and other festive songs as students flowed into the building, passing the Israeli and American flags hanging side by side.
Shapiro, after speaking with the students, said he was there to let them know they weren’t alone.
”They shared with me that they don’t feel safe, and they shared with me that they don’t feel supported by the administration, Shapiro said. “Some of them said they didn’t feel supported in their classes based on some of what their professors say to them.”
Criticism continues to mount
Criticism came swiftly after Magill’s testimony, from the White House , Bucks County State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat and Penn grad who called for Magill to step down, Penn Hillel leaders and others.
Critics also targeted Harvard president Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Sally Kornbluth for their answers to the same question at the hearing.
All three presidents are relative newcomers to their jobs. In the presidency for about a year and a half, Magill, a legal scholar, is the most senior.
“In that moment,” Magill explained of her testimony in the video, “I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable. I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil — plain and simple.”
Magill also took heat on social media including renewed calls for her resignation, seeming to reignite heavy criticism, including a donor backlash, that the school has faced over its handling of antisemitism in recent months.
Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, is apparently attempting to withdraw a $100 million gift to the university, according to a letter sent Thursday by his legal representatives to Penn general counsel Wendy White, as reported by Axios. The gift was given to Penn in December 2017 to help establish a center for innovation in finance.
“Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the University’s stance on antisemitism on campus,” said the letter, posted by Axios.
Magill also was under criticism for not standing up staunchly enough in support of academic freedom and faculty and students who have been protesting in support of Palestinians.
The Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors cited Magill’s failure to “fulfill her responsibility to condemn targeted harassment.” The group had been calling on Magill to publicly condemn harassment of faculty for participating in the Palestine Writes Literature Festival in late September and for speaking in support of Palestinian civilians.
“During the hearing, Republican Congressmen Joe Wilson and Jim Banks breathed new life into a months-old campaign of targeted harassment by making false and inflammatory claims about individual Penn faculty members’ political views, affiliations, and activities,” Penn’s AAUP said in a statement. “They called on the university to commit flagrant violations of academic freedom: they suggested that Penn fire faculty members for protected extramural speech and challenged one faculty member’s right to teach classes and make curricular decisions within their area of scholarly expertise.
“President Magill failed to respond to these instances of targeted harassment that unfolded before her eyes. ”
The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression blasted Magill for releasing the video in which she promised a review of free speech policies.
“This is a deeply troubling, profoundly counterproductive response to yesterday’s congressional hearing,” FIRE said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “Were Penn to retreat from the robust protection of expressive rights, university administrators would make inevitably political decisions about who may speak and what may be said on campus.”
In November, Magill rolled out a plan to combat antisemitism, including a task force that is expected to issue its report this spring, and a student advisory group on the Jewish student experience.
Penn has experienced several antisemitic acts this semester, including the drawing of a swastika inside Meyerson Hall and vandalism at Penn Hillel. Complaints also surfaced after messages the university called antisemitic were light-projected on several Penn buildings, including Penn Commons, Huntsman Hall, and Irvine Auditorium.
Scrutiny of Penn began in late September when thePalestine Writes literature festival was held on campus and criticized by some for including speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Powerful donors have withdrawnfinancial support over the university’s handling of the festival and its response to antisemitism, and called for Magill’s and Bok’s resignations. Tensions escalated following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Does Hillel sponsor speakers that claim "Palestine" never existed or that Palestinians have no right to the land they claim? If so, is that harassment, intimidation and a violation of campus conduct codes? I guess you're in favor of BDS now as well?
I suppose "free speech" ends when it comes to Israel? As abhorrent as Nazi or ANY speech advocating genocide of any people, religious or otherwise, is. I don't agree with any of it and wish it were better able to be restricted but you know, that pesky Constitution.
Calling for the genocide of Jews, constitutes bullying or harassment ONLY when it’s pervasive. Seriously? You have a strange interpretation of the first amendment.
What about Montgomery County, MD’s interpretation of the 1st Amendment? How are they doing with it?
yes, let’s trust the undemocratic, authoritarian, terrorist, Iranian sponsored state to guide us to the truth. Good luck saving your career, Magill
another career ruined believing Iranian lies?
Penn President Liz Magill faces mounting pressure to resign from Capitol Hill as university backs her
Dec. 7, 2023, 2:17 p.m. ET
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill reads her opening statement during a congressional hearing on antisemitism on campus on Tuesday.Read moreMark Schiefelbein / AP
Pressure on University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill is mounting in the wake of an appearance before Congress on Tuesday that incited rebuke from the White House, Gov. Josh Shapiro and donors who have contributed tens of millions of dollars to the Ivy League university.
By dusk Thursday, the university faced threats of more lost gifts and increasingly loud calls for Magill’s resignation and saw the start of a congressional investigation into university policies. Trustees remained quiet about Magill’s future at the school following gatherings of the board and university leadership. “There is no board plan for imminent leadership change,” a university spokesperson said Thursday evening as Shapiro criticized her while marking the start of Hanukkah at a menorah lighting held on campus.
Standing outside Penn Hillel, the governor, for the second time in 24 hours, criticized Magill’s comments, this time calling them “shameful and unacceptable.”
But he did not call for her resignation, saying that was the call of Penn’s board of trustees.
“The board here at Penn needs to determine whether or not those comments reflect the views and values of the board and of the university, and I’ve urged them to meet and meet soon and deliberate on that question,” he said. “I know they had a brief meeting this morning and I expect they’ll be meeting again in the coming days. I expect them to carefully weigh that question.”
The trustee gatherings were held in the face of bipartisan backlash over president Liz Magill’s testimony on antisemitism Tuesday before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Multiple sources say the gathering ended with Magill still in the job, despite renewed calls for her resignation.
When asked repeatedly if calling for genocide of Jewish people violates Penn’s rules or code of conduct, Magill testified: “It is a context-dependent decision.” She walked that back in a video she released Wednesday night following criticism from the White House and Shapiro, saying she does view it as harassment or intimidation and would launch a review of Penn’s policies on free speech.
The House committee said it also would investigate Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose presidents testified along with Magill.
“This investigation will include substantial document requests, and the committee will not hesitate to utilize compulsory measures including subpoenas if a full response is not immediately forthcoming,” said committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, in a news release on the committee’s website.
In a statement, Penn pledged to cooperate fully.
A spokesman for the committee said it’s not unusual for the committee to launch investigations into the agencies it oversees, but it is unusual to target colleges, all three of which are private. It’s unclear what could come out of the probes, but information gathered could be used to issue recommendations or shape legislation.
Magill’s testimony on Tuesday came during intense questioning by Republican Rep. Elise M. Stefanik of New York at the hearing called to discuss antisemitism concerns on college campuses.
“If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill said in response to Stefanik.
“Conduct, meaning committing the act of genocide?” Stefanik asked. “The speech is not harassment?”
Questioned further, Magill said, “It can be harassment.”
Shapiro said he has not spoken to Magill since first vocalizing his dissatisfaction with her remarks outside of Goldie, an Israeli falafel restaurant, on Wednesday after protesters gathered there in support of Palestinians.
Students don’t feel supported
Ahead of Shapiro’s arrival, marking the first night of Hanukkah, Penn band students played animated renditions of “Dreidel Dreidel” and other festive songs as students flowed into the building, passing the Israeli and American flags hanging side by side.
Shapiro, after speaking with the students, said he was there to let them know they weren’t alone.
”They shared with me that they don’t feel safe, and they shared with me that they don’t feel supported by the administration, Shapiro said. “Some of them said they didn’t feel supported in their classes based on some of what their professors say to them.”
Criticism continues to mount
Criticism came swiftly after Magill’s testimony, from the White House , Bucks County State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat and Penn grad who called for Magill to step down, Penn Hillel leaders and others.
Critics also targeted Harvard president Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Sally Kornbluth for their answers to the same question at the hearing.
All three presidents are relative newcomers to their jobs. In the presidency for about a year and a half, Magill, a legal scholar, is the most senior.
“In that moment,” Magill explained of her testimony in the video, “I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable. I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil — plain and simple.”
Magill also took heat on social media including renewed calls for her resignation, seeming to reignite heavy criticism, including a donor backlash, that the school has faced over its handling of antisemitism in recent months.
Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, is apparently attempting to withdraw a $100 million gift to the university, according to a letter sent Thursday by his legal representatives to Penn general counsel Wendy White, as reported by Axios. The gift was given to Penn in December 2017 to help establish a center for innovation in finance.
“Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the University’s stance on antisemitism on campus,” said the letter, posted by Axios.
Magill also was under criticism for not standing up staunchly enough in support of academic freedom and faculty and students who have been protesting in support of Palestinians.
The Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors cited Magill’s failure to “fulfill her responsibility to condemn targeted harassment.” The group had been calling on Magill to publicly condemn harassment of faculty for participating in the Palestine Writes Literature Festival in late September and for speaking in support of Palestinian civilians.
“During the hearing, Republican Congressmen Joe Wilson and Jim Banks breathed new life into a months-old campaign of targeted harassment by making false and inflammatory claims about individual Penn faculty members’ political views, affiliations, and activities,” Penn’s AAUP said in a statement. “They called on the university to commit flagrant violations of academic freedom: they suggested that Penn fire faculty members for protected extramural speech and challenged one faculty member’s right to teach classes and make curricular decisions within their area of scholarly expertise.
“President Magill failed to respond to these instances of targeted harassment that unfolded before her eyes. ”
The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression blasted Magill for releasing the video in which she promised a review of free speech policies.
“This is a deeply troubling, profoundly counterproductive response to yesterday’s congressional hearing,” FIRE said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “Were Penn to retreat from the robust protection of expressive rights, university administrators would make inevitably political decisions about who may speak and what may be said on campus.”
In November, Magill rolled out a plan to combat antisemitism, including a task force that is expected to issue its report this spring, and a student advisory group on the Jewish student experience.
Penn has experienced several antisemitic acts this semester, including the drawing of a swastika inside Meyerson Hall and vandalism at Penn Hillel. Complaints also surfaced after messages the university called antisemitic were light-projected on several Penn buildings, including Penn Commons, Huntsman Hall, and Irvine Auditorium.
Scrutiny of Penn began in late September when thePalestine Writes literature festival was held on campus and criticized by some for including speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Powerful donors have withdrawnfinancial support over the university’s handling of the festival and its response to antisemitism, and called for Magill’s and Bok’s resignations. Tensions escalated following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Does Hillel sponsor speakers that claim "Palestine" never existed or that Palestinians have no right to the land they claim? If so, is that harassment, intimidation and a violation of campus conduct codes? I guess you're in favor of BDS now as well?
I suppose "free speech" ends when it comes to Israel? As abhorrent as Nazi or ANY speech advocating genocide of any people, religious or otherwise, is. I don't agree with any of it and wish it were better able to be restricted but you know, that pesky Constitution.
Calling for the genocide of Jews, constitutes bullying or harassment ONLY when it’s pervasive. Seriously? You have a strange interpretation of the first amendment.
What about Montgomery County, MD’s interpretation of the 1st Amendment? How are they doing with it?
yes, let’s trust the undemocratic, authoritarian, terrorist, Iranian sponsored state to guide us to the truth. Good luck saving your career, Magill
another career ruined believing Iranian lies?
Penn President Liz Magill faces mounting pressure to resign from Capitol Hill as university backs her
Dec. 7, 2023, 2:17 p.m. ET
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill reads her opening statement during a congressional hearing on antisemitism on campus on Tuesday.Read moreMark Schiefelbein / AP
Pressure on University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill is mounting in the wake of an appearance before Congress on Tuesday that incited rebuke from the White House, Gov. Josh Shapiro and donors who have contributed tens of millions of dollars to the Ivy League university.
By dusk Thursday, the university faced threats of more lost gifts and increasingly loud calls for Magill’s resignation and saw the start of a congressional investigation into university policies. Trustees remained quiet about Magill’s future at the school following gatherings of the board and university leadership. “There is no board plan for imminent leadership change,” a university spokesperson said Thursday evening as Shapiro criticized her while marking the start of Hanukkah at a menorah lighting held on campus.
Standing outside Penn Hillel, the governor, for the second time in 24 hours, criticized Magill’s comments, this time calling them “shameful and unacceptable.”
But he did not call for her resignation, saying that was the call of Penn’s board of trustees.
“The board here at Penn needs to determine whether or not those comments reflect the views and values of the board and of the university, and I’ve urged them to meet and meet soon and deliberate on that question,” he said. “I know they had a brief meeting this morning and I expect they’ll be meeting again in the coming days. I expect them to carefully weigh that question.”
The trustee gatherings were held in the face of bipartisan backlash over president Liz Magill’s testimony on antisemitism Tuesday before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Multiple sources say the gathering ended with Magill still in the job, despite renewed calls for her resignation.
When asked repeatedly if calling for genocide of Jewish people violates Penn’s rules or code of conduct, Magill testified: “It is a context-dependent decision.” She walked that back in a video she released Wednesday night following criticism from the White House and Shapiro, saying she does view it as harassment or intimidation and would launch a review of Penn’s policies on free speech.
The House committee said it also would investigate Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose presidents testified along with Magill.
“This investigation will include substantial document requests, and the committee will not hesitate to utilize compulsory measures including subpoenas if a full response is not immediately forthcoming,” said committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, in a news release on the committee’s website.
In a statement, Penn pledged to cooperate fully.
A spokesman for the committee said it’s not unusual for the committee to launch investigations into the agencies it oversees, but it is unusual to target colleges, all three of which are private. It’s unclear what could come out of the probes, but information gathered could be used to issue recommendations or shape legislation.
Magill’s testimony on Tuesday came during intense questioning by Republican Rep. Elise M. Stefanik of New York at the hearing called to discuss antisemitism concerns on college campuses.
“If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill said in response to Stefanik.
“Conduct, meaning committing the act of genocide?” Stefanik asked. “The speech is not harassment?”
Questioned further, Magill said, “It can be harassment.”
Shapiro said he has not spoken to Magill since first vocalizing his dissatisfaction with her remarks outside of Goldie, an Israeli falafel restaurant, on Wednesday after protesters gathered there in support of Palestinians.
Students don’t feel supported
Ahead of Shapiro’s arrival, marking the first night of Hanukkah, Penn band students played animated renditions of “Dreidel Dreidel” and other festive songs as students flowed into the building, passing the Israeli and American flags hanging side by side.
Shapiro, after speaking with the students, said he was there to let them know they weren’t alone.
”They shared with me that they don’t feel safe, and they shared with me that they don’t feel supported by the administration, Shapiro said. “Some of them said they didn’t feel supported in their classes based on some of what their professors say to them.”
Criticism continues to mount
Criticism came swiftly after Magill’s testimony, from the White House , Bucks County State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat and Penn grad who called for Magill to step down, Penn Hillel leaders and others.
Critics also targeted Harvard president Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Sally Kornbluth for their answers to the same question at the hearing.
All three presidents are relative newcomers to their jobs. In the presidency for about a year and a half, Magill, a legal scholar, is the most senior.
“In that moment,” Magill explained of her testimony in the video, “I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable. I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil — plain and simple.”
Magill also took heat on social media including renewed calls for her resignation, seeming to reignite heavy criticism, including a donor backlash, that the school has faced over its handling of antisemitism in recent months.
Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, is apparently attempting to withdraw a $100 million gift to the university, according to a letter sent Thursday by his legal representatives to Penn general counsel Wendy White, as reported by Axios. The gift was given to Penn in December 2017 to help establish a center for innovation in finance.
“Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the University’s stance on antisemitism on campus,” said the letter, posted by Axios.
Magill also was under criticism for not standing up staunchly enough in support of academic freedom and faculty and students who have been protesting in support of Palestinians.
The Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors cited Magill’s failure to “fulfill her responsibility to condemn targeted harassment.” The group had been calling on Magill to publicly condemn harassment of faculty for participating in the Palestine Writes Literature Festival in late September and for speaking in support of Palestinian civilians.
“During the hearing, Republican Congressmen Joe Wilson and Jim Banks breathed new life into a months-old campaign of targeted harassment by making false and inflammatory claims about individual Penn faculty members’ political views, affiliations, and activities,” Penn’s AAUP said in a statement. “They called on the university to commit flagrant violations of academic freedom: they suggested that Penn fire faculty members for protected extramural speech and challenged one faculty member’s right to teach classes and make curricular decisions within their area of scholarly expertise.
“President Magill failed to respond to these instances of targeted harassment that unfolded before her eyes. ”
The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression blasted Magill for releasing the video in which she promised a review of free speech policies.
“This is a deeply troubling, profoundly counterproductive response to yesterday’s congressional hearing,” FIRE said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “Were Penn to retreat from the robust protection of expressive rights, university administrators would make inevitably political decisions about who may speak and what may be said on campus.”
In November, Magill rolled out a plan to combat antisemitism, including a task force that is expected to issue its report this spring, and a student advisory group on the Jewish student experience.
Penn has experienced several antisemitic acts this semester, including the drawing of a swastika inside Meyerson Hall and vandalism at Penn Hillel. Complaints also surfaced after messages the university called antisemitic were light-projected on several Penn buildings, including Penn Commons, Huntsman Hall, and Irvine Auditorium.
Scrutiny of Penn began in late September when thePalestine Writes literature festival was held on campus and criticized by some for including speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Powerful donors have withdrawnfinancial support over the university’s handling of the festival and its response to antisemitism, and called for Magill’s and Bok’s resignations. Tensions escalated following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Does Hillel sponsor speakers that claim "Palestine" never existed or that Palestinians have no right to the land they claim? If so, is that harassment, intimidation and a violation of campus conduct codes? I guess you're in favor of BDS now as well?
I suppose "free speech" ends when it comes to Israel? As abhorrent as Nazi or ANY speech advocating genocide of any people, religious or otherwise, is. I don't agree with any of it and wish it were better able to be restricted but you know, that pesky Constitution.
Calling for the genocide of Jews, constitutes bullying or harassment ONLY when it’s pervasive. Seriously? You have a strange interpretation of the first amendment.
What about Montgomery County, MD’s interpretation of the 1st Amendment? How are they doing with it?
They made it clear in their policies. NO quotations on any sort in the email signature.
whats unclear is enforcement....
The complaint says, “Ms. El-Haggan was informed that including any political or non-political quotes in an email signature was against the MCPS Employee Code of Conduct, yet this policy was never enforced against any of Ms. El-Haggan’s colleagues who participated in similar conduct.”
The complaint includes photos and screenshots of other email signatures from teachers at the school that included political and social justice quotes and links in support of topics such as Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ rights.
CAIR held a press conference in front of the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education with El-Haggan to announce the filing of the complaint.
“It is clear that Ms. El-Haggan was treated very different from her non-Muslim, non-Arab colleagues who engage in the same conduct,” Rawda Fawaz, El-Haggan’s attorney, said Friday.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
yes, let’s trust the undemocratic, authoritarian, terrorist, Iranian sponsored state to guide us to the truth. Good luck saving your career, Magill
another career ruined believing Iranian lies?
Penn President Liz Magill faces mounting pressure to resign from Capitol Hill as university backs her
Dec. 7, 2023, 2:17 p.m. ET
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill reads her opening statement during a congressional hearing on antisemitism on campus on Tuesday.Read moreMark Schiefelbein / AP
Pressure on University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill is mounting in the wake of an appearance before Congress on Tuesday that incited rebuke from the White House, Gov. Josh Shapiro and donors who have contributed tens of millions of dollars to the Ivy League university.
By dusk Thursday, the university faced threats of more lost gifts and increasingly loud calls for Magill’s resignation and saw the start of a congressional investigation into university policies. Trustees remained quiet about Magill’s future at the school following gatherings of the board and university leadership. “There is no board plan for imminent leadership change,” a university spokesperson said Thursday evening as Shapiro criticized her while marking the start of Hanukkah at a menorah lighting held on campus.
Standing outside Penn Hillel, the governor, for the second time in 24 hours, criticized Magill’s comments, this time calling them “shameful and unacceptable.”
But he did not call for her resignation, saying that was the call of Penn’s board of trustees.
“The board here at Penn needs to determine whether or not those comments reflect the views and values of the board and of the university, and I’ve urged them to meet and meet soon and deliberate on that question,” he said. “I know they had a brief meeting this morning and I expect they’ll be meeting again in the coming days. I expect them to carefully weigh that question.”
The trustee gatherings were held in the face of bipartisan backlash over president Liz Magill’s testimony on antisemitism Tuesday before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Multiple sources say the gathering ended with Magill still in the job, despite renewed calls for her resignation.
When asked repeatedly if calling for genocide of Jewish people violates Penn’s rules or code of conduct, Magill testified: “It is a context-dependent decision.” She walked that back in a video she released Wednesday night following criticism from the White House and Shapiro, saying she does view it as harassment or intimidation and would launch a review of Penn’s policies on free speech.
The House committee said it also would investigate Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose presidents testified along with Magill.
“This investigation will include substantial document requests, and the committee will not hesitate to utilize compulsory measures including subpoenas if a full response is not immediately forthcoming,” said committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, in a news release on the committee’s website.
In a statement, Penn pledged to cooperate fully.
A spokesman for the committee said it’s not unusual for the committee to launch investigations into the agencies it oversees, but it is unusual to target colleges, all three of which are private. It’s unclear what could come out of the probes, but information gathered could be used to issue recommendations or shape legislation.
Magill’s testimony on Tuesday came during intense questioning by Republican Rep. Elise M. Stefanik of New York at the hearing called to discuss antisemitism concerns on college campuses.
“If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill said in response to Stefanik.
“Conduct, meaning committing the act of genocide?” Stefanik asked. “The speech is not harassment?”
Questioned further, Magill said, “It can be harassment.”
Shapiro said he has not spoken to Magill since first vocalizing his dissatisfaction with her remarks outside of Goldie, an Israeli falafel restaurant, on Wednesday after protesters gathered there in support of Palestinians.
Students don’t feel supported
Ahead of Shapiro’s arrival, marking the first night of Hanukkah, Penn band students played animated renditions of “Dreidel Dreidel” and other festive songs as students flowed into the building, passing the Israeli and American flags hanging side by side.
Shapiro, after speaking with the students, said he was there to let them know they weren’t alone.
”They shared with me that they don’t feel safe, and they shared with me that they don’t feel supported by the administration, Shapiro said. “Some of them said they didn’t feel supported in their classes based on some of what their professors say to them.”
Criticism continues to mount
Criticism came swiftly after Magill’s testimony, from the White House , Bucks County State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat and Penn grad who called for Magill to step down, Penn Hillel leaders and others.
Critics also targeted Harvard president Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Sally Kornbluth for their answers to the same question at the hearing.
All three presidents are relative newcomers to their jobs. In the presidency for about a year and a half, Magill, a legal scholar, is the most senior.
“In that moment,” Magill explained of her testimony in the video, “I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable. I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil — plain and simple.”
Magill also took heat on social media including renewed calls for her resignation, seeming to reignite heavy criticism, including a donor backlash, that the school has faced over its handling of antisemitism in recent months.
Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, is apparently attempting to withdraw a $100 million gift to the university, according to a letter sent Thursday by his legal representatives to Penn general counsel Wendy White, as reported by Axios. The gift was given to Penn in December 2017 to help establish a center for innovation in finance.
“Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the University’s stance on antisemitism on campus,” said the letter, posted by Axios.
Magill also was under criticism for not standing up staunchly enough in support of academic freedom and faculty and students who have been protesting in support of Palestinians.
The Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors cited Magill’s failure to “fulfill her responsibility to condemn targeted harassment.” The group had been calling on Magill to publicly condemn harassment of faculty for participating in the Palestine Writes Literature Festival in late September and for speaking in support of Palestinian civilians.
“During the hearing, Republican Congressmen Joe Wilson and Jim Banks breathed new life into a months-old campaign of targeted harassment by making false and inflammatory claims about individual Penn faculty members’ political views, affiliations, and activities,” Penn’s AAUP said in a statement. “They called on the university to commit flagrant violations of academic freedom: they suggested that Penn fire faculty members for protected extramural speech and challenged one faculty member’s right to teach classes and make curricular decisions within their area of scholarly expertise.
“President Magill failed to respond to these instances of targeted harassment that unfolded before her eyes. ”
The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression blasted Magill for releasing the video in which she promised a review of free speech policies.
“This is a deeply troubling, profoundly counterproductive response to yesterday’s congressional hearing,” FIRE said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “Were Penn to retreat from the robust protection of expressive rights, university administrators would make inevitably political decisions about who may speak and what may be said on campus.”
In November, Magill rolled out a plan to combat antisemitism, including a task force that is expected to issue its report this spring, and a student advisory group on the Jewish student experience.
Penn has experienced several antisemitic acts this semester, including the drawing of a swastika inside Meyerson Hall and vandalism at Penn Hillel. Complaints also surfaced after messages the university called antisemitic were light-projected on several Penn buildings, including Penn Commons, Huntsman Hall, and Irvine Auditorium.
Scrutiny of Penn began in late September when thePalestine Writes literature festival was held on campus and criticized by some for including speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Powerful donors have withdrawnfinancial support over the university’s handling of the festival and its response to antisemitism, and called for Magill’s and Bok’s resignations. Tensions escalated following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Does Hillel sponsor speakers that claim "Palestine" never existed or that Palestinians have no right to the land they claim? If so, is that harassment, intimidation and a violation of campus conduct codes? I guess you're in favor of BDS now as well?
I suppose "free speech" ends when it comes to Israel? As abhorrent as Nazi or ANY speech advocating genocide of any people, religious or otherwise, is. I don't agree with any of it and wish it were better able to be restricted but you know, that pesky Constitution.
Calling for the genocide of Jews, constitutes bullying or harassment ONLY when it’s pervasive. Seriously? You have a strange interpretation of the first amendment.
Are you saying a one off is “bullying and harassment?” Or that a speaker’s group event that includes people who have called for Israel’s destruction is? What do you think of Hillel hosting speakers who claim Palestine never existed? Are they bullies and harassers for the one or hundred times they speak on campus?
Why won’t you answer questions as they relate to Israel’s transgressions and violence against Palestinians? Why your silence when it’s repeatedly pointed out that Israel is not without blame? Some of us acknowledge Hamas for what they are, a terrorist organization that should rightly be condemned. You act as if Israel, Bibi, and particularly the Zionist right wing are just sitting over there by themselves, minding their own business, holding up their end of the bargain and they’re being put upon. Can you at least acknowledge that that is not the case nor the history? If you can’t, there’s no hope for there ever being a solution.
The first amendment, as flawed as it is, allows for anyone to spew hate speech for as long as they want. And pretty much anywhere.
First, I’ve said multiple times if Netanyahu is out after this that’s great, as he is too far right wing. Secondly, I’ve said many times the only step that can lead to peace is Palestine must recognize Israel’s right to peacefully exist. Outside of that, any step, including a full cease fire, will only lead to more terrible war down the road. I’ve yet to see a reply on that.
As far as first amendment, people in universities are losing their jobs because what we have witnessed goes far beyond “hate speech.”
Calling for the "genocide of Jews," is far beyond “hate speech.” I’d think folks so interested in current events that post and Twitter here would know the constitutional test for that.
yes, let’s trust the undemocratic, authoritarian, terrorist, Iranian sponsored state to guide us to the truth. Good luck saving your career, Magill
another career ruined believing Iranian lies?
Penn President Liz Magill faces mounting pressure to resign from Capitol Hill as university backs her
Dec. 7, 2023, 2:17 p.m. ET
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill reads her opening statement during a congressional hearing on antisemitism on campus on Tuesday.Read moreMark Schiefelbein / AP
Pressure on University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill is mounting in the wake of an appearance before Congress on Tuesday that incited rebuke from the White House, Gov. Josh Shapiro and donors who have contributed tens of millions of dollars to the Ivy League university.
By dusk Thursday, the university faced threats of more lost gifts and increasingly loud calls for Magill’s resignation and saw the start of a congressional investigation into university policies. Trustees remained quiet about Magill’s future at the school following gatherings of the board and university leadership. “There is no board plan for imminent leadership change,” a university spokesperson said Thursday evening as Shapiro criticized her while marking the start of Hanukkah at a menorah lighting held on campus.
Standing outside Penn Hillel, the governor, for the second time in 24 hours, criticized Magill’s comments, this time calling them “shameful and unacceptable.”
But he did not call for her resignation, saying that was the call of Penn’s board of trustees.
“The board here at Penn needs to determine whether or not those comments reflect the views and values of the board and of the university, and I’ve urged them to meet and meet soon and deliberate on that question,” he said. “I know they had a brief meeting this morning and I expect they’ll be meeting again in the coming days. I expect them to carefully weigh that question.”
The trustee gatherings were held in the face of bipartisan backlash over president Liz Magill’s testimony on antisemitism Tuesday before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Multiple sources say the gathering ended with Magill still in the job, despite renewed calls for her resignation.
When asked repeatedly if calling for genocide of Jewish people violates Penn’s rules or code of conduct, Magill testified: “It is a context-dependent decision.” She walked that back in a video she released Wednesday night following criticism from the White House and Shapiro, saying she does view it as harassment or intimidation and would launch a review of Penn’s policies on free speech.
The House committee said it also would investigate Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose presidents testified along with Magill.
“This investigation will include substantial document requests, and the committee will not hesitate to utilize compulsory measures including subpoenas if a full response is not immediately forthcoming,” said committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, in a news release on the committee’s website.
In a statement, Penn pledged to cooperate fully.
A spokesman for the committee said it’s not unusual for the committee to launch investigations into the agencies it oversees, but it is unusual to target colleges, all three of which are private. It’s unclear what could come out of the probes, but information gathered could be used to issue recommendations or shape legislation.
Magill’s testimony on Tuesday came during intense questioning by Republican Rep. Elise M. Stefanik of New York at the hearing called to discuss antisemitism concerns on college campuses.
“If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill said in response to Stefanik.
“Conduct, meaning committing the act of genocide?” Stefanik asked. “The speech is not harassment?”
Questioned further, Magill said, “It can be harassment.”
Shapiro said he has not spoken to Magill since first vocalizing his dissatisfaction with her remarks outside of Goldie, an Israeli falafel restaurant, on Wednesday after protesters gathered there in support of Palestinians.
Students don’t feel supported
Ahead of Shapiro’s arrival, marking the first night of Hanukkah, Penn band students played animated renditions of “Dreidel Dreidel” and other festive songs as students flowed into the building, passing the Israeli and American flags hanging side by side.
Shapiro, after speaking with the students, said he was there to let them know they weren’t alone.
”They shared with me that they don’t feel safe, and they shared with me that they don’t feel supported by the administration, Shapiro said. “Some of them said they didn’t feel supported in their classes based on some of what their professors say to them.”
Criticism continues to mount
Criticism came swiftly after Magill’s testimony, from the White House , Bucks County State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat and Penn grad who called for Magill to step down, Penn Hillel leaders and others.
Critics also targeted Harvard president Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Sally Kornbluth for their answers to the same question at the hearing.
All three presidents are relative newcomers to their jobs. In the presidency for about a year and a half, Magill, a legal scholar, is the most senior.
“In that moment,” Magill explained of her testimony in the video, “I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable. I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil — plain and simple.”
Magill also took heat on social media including renewed calls for her resignation, seeming to reignite heavy criticism, including a donor backlash, that the school has faced over its handling of antisemitism in recent months.
Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, is apparently attempting to withdraw a $100 million gift to the university, according to a letter sent Thursday by his legal representatives to Penn general counsel Wendy White, as reported by Axios. The gift was given to Penn in December 2017 to help establish a center for innovation in finance.
“Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the University’s stance on antisemitism on campus,” said the letter, posted by Axios.
Magill also was under criticism for not standing up staunchly enough in support of academic freedom and faculty and students who have been protesting in support of Palestinians.
The Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors cited Magill’s failure to “fulfill her responsibility to condemn targeted harassment.” The group had been calling on Magill to publicly condemn harassment of faculty for participating in the Palestine Writes Literature Festival in late September and for speaking in support of Palestinian civilians.
“During the hearing, Republican Congressmen Joe Wilson and Jim Banks breathed new life into a months-old campaign of targeted harassment by making false and inflammatory claims about individual Penn faculty members’ political views, affiliations, and activities,” Penn’s AAUP said in a statement. “They called on the university to commit flagrant violations of academic freedom: they suggested that Penn fire faculty members for protected extramural speech and challenged one faculty member’s right to teach classes and make curricular decisions within their area of scholarly expertise.
“President Magill failed to respond to these instances of targeted harassment that unfolded before her eyes. ”
The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression blasted Magill for releasing the video in which she promised a review of free speech policies.
“This is a deeply troubling, profoundly counterproductive response to yesterday’s congressional hearing,” FIRE said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “Were Penn to retreat from the robust protection of expressive rights, university administrators would make inevitably political decisions about who may speak and what may be said on campus.”
In November, Magill rolled out a plan to combat antisemitism, including a task force that is expected to issue its report this spring, and a student advisory group on the Jewish student experience.
Penn has experienced several antisemitic acts this semester, including the drawing of a swastika inside Meyerson Hall and vandalism at Penn Hillel. Complaints also surfaced after messages the university called antisemitic were light-projected on several Penn buildings, including Penn Commons, Huntsman Hall, and Irvine Auditorium.
Scrutiny of Penn began in late September when thePalestine Writes literature festival was held on campus and criticized by some for including speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Powerful donors have withdrawnfinancial support over the university’s handling of the festival and its response to antisemitism, and called for Magill’s and Bok’s resignations. Tensions escalated following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Does Hillel sponsor speakers that claim "Palestine" never existed or that Palestinians have no right to the land they claim? If so, is that harassment, intimidation and a violation of campus conduct codes? I guess you're in favor of BDS now as well?
I suppose "free speech" ends when it comes to Israel? As abhorrent as Nazi or ANY speech advocating genocide of any people, religious or otherwise, is. I don't agree with any of it and wish it were better able to be restricted but you know, that pesky Constitution.
Calling for the genocide of Jews, constitutes bullying or harassment ONLY when it’s pervasive. Seriously? You have a strange interpretation of the first amendment.
Are you saying a one off is “bullying and harassment?” Or that a speaker’s group event that includes people who have called for Israel’s destruction is? What do you think of Hillel hosting speakers who claim Palestine never existed? Are they bullies and harassers for the one or hundred times they speak on campus?
Why won’t you answer questions as they relate to Israel’s transgressions and violence against Palestinians? Why your silence when it’s repeatedly pointed out that Israel is not without blame? Some of us acknowledge Hamas for what they are, a terrorist organization that should rightly be condemned. You act as if Israel, Bibi, and particularly the Zionist right wing are just sitting over there by themselves, minding their own business, holding up their end of the bargain and they’re being put upon. Can you at least acknowledge that that is not the case nor the history? If you can’t, there’s no hope for there ever being a solution.
The first amendment, as flawed as it is, allows for anyone to spew hate speech for as long as they want. And pretty much anywhere.
First, I’ve said multiple times if Netanyahu is out after this that’s great, as he is too far right wing. Secondly, I’ve said many times the only step that can lead to peace is Palestine must recognize Israel’s right to peacefully exist. Outside of that, any step, including a full cease fire, will only lead to more terrible war down the road. I’ve yet to see a reply on that.
As far as first amendment, people in universities are losing their jobs because what we have witnessed goes far beyond “hate speech.”
Calling for the "genocide of Jews," is far beyond “hate speech.” I’d think folks so interested in current events that post and Twitter here would know the constitutional test for that.
yes, let’s trust the undemocratic, authoritarian, terrorist, Iranian sponsored state to guide us to the truth. Good luck saving your career, Magill
another career ruined believing Iranian lies?
Penn President Liz Magill faces mounting pressure to resign from Capitol Hill as university backs her
Dec. 7, 2023, 2:17 p.m. ET
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill reads her opening statement during a congressional hearing on antisemitism on campus on Tuesday.Read moreMark Schiefelbein / AP
Pressure on University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill is mounting in the wake of an appearance before Congress on Tuesday that incited rebuke from the White House, Gov. Josh Shapiro and donors who have contributed tens of millions of dollars to the Ivy League university.
By dusk Thursday, the university faced threats of more lost gifts and increasingly loud calls for Magill’s resignation and saw the start of a congressional investigation into university policies. Trustees remained quiet about Magill’s future at the school following gatherings of the board and university leadership. “There is no board plan for imminent leadership change,” a university spokesperson said Thursday evening as Shapiro criticized her while marking the start of Hanukkah at a menorah lighting held on campus.
Standing outside Penn Hillel, the governor, for the second time in 24 hours, criticized Magill’s comments, this time calling them “shameful and unacceptable.”
But he did not call for her resignation, saying that was the call of Penn’s board of trustees.
“The board here at Penn needs to determine whether or not those comments reflect the views and values of the board and of the university, and I’ve urged them to meet and meet soon and deliberate on that question,” he said. “I know they had a brief meeting this morning and I expect they’ll be meeting again in the coming days. I expect them to carefully weigh that question.”
The trustee gatherings were held in the face of bipartisan backlash over president Liz Magill’s testimony on antisemitism Tuesday before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Multiple sources say the gathering ended with Magill still in the job, despite renewed calls for her resignation.
When asked repeatedly if calling for genocide of Jewish people violates Penn’s rules or code of conduct, Magill testified: “It is a context-dependent decision.” She walked that back in a video she released Wednesday night following criticism from the White House and Shapiro, saying she does view it as harassment or intimidation and would launch a review of Penn’s policies on free speech.
The House committee said it also would investigate Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose presidents testified along with Magill.
“This investigation will include substantial document requests, and the committee will not hesitate to utilize compulsory measures including subpoenas if a full response is not immediately forthcoming,” said committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, in a news release on the committee’s website.
In a statement, Penn pledged to cooperate fully.
A spokesman for the committee said it’s not unusual for the committee to launch investigations into the agencies it oversees, but it is unusual to target colleges, all three of which are private. It’s unclear what could come out of the probes, but information gathered could be used to issue recommendations or shape legislation.
Magill’s testimony on Tuesday came during intense questioning by Republican Rep. Elise M. Stefanik of New York at the hearing called to discuss antisemitism concerns on college campuses.
“If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill said in response to Stefanik.
“Conduct, meaning committing the act of genocide?” Stefanik asked. “The speech is not harassment?”
Questioned further, Magill said, “It can be harassment.”
Shapiro said he has not spoken to Magill since first vocalizing his dissatisfaction with her remarks outside of Goldie, an Israeli falafel restaurant, on Wednesday after protesters gathered there in support of Palestinians.
Students don’t feel supported
Ahead of Shapiro’s arrival, marking the first night of Hanukkah, Penn band students played animated renditions of “Dreidel Dreidel” and other festive songs as students flowed into the building, passing the Israeli and American flags hanging side by side.
Shapiro, after speaking with the students, said he was there to let them know they weren’t alone.
”They shared with me that they don’t feel safe, and they shared with me that they don’t feel supported by the administration, Shapiro said. “Some of them said they didn’t feel supported in their classes based on some of what their professors say to them.”
Criticism continues to mount
Criticism came swiftly after Magill’s testimony, from the White House , Bucks County State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat and Penn grad who called for Magill to step down, Penn Hillel leaders and others.
Critics also targeted Harvard president Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Sally Kornbluth for their answers to the same question at the hearing.
All three presidents are relative newcomers to their jobs. In the presidency for about a year and a half, Magill, a legal scholar, is the most senior.
“In that moment,” Magill explained of her testimony in the video, “I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable. I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil — plain and simple.”
Magill also took heat on social media including renewed calls for her resignation, seeming to reignite heavy criticism, including a donor backlash, that the school has faced over its handling of antisemitism in recent months.
Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, is apparently attempting to withdraw a $100 million gift to the university, according to a letter sent Thursday by his legal representatives to Penn general counsel Wendy White, as reported by Axios. The gift was given to Penn in December 2017 to help establish a center for innovation in finance.
“Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the University’s stance on antisemitism on campus,” said the letter, posted by Axios.
Magill also was under criticism for not standing up staunchly enough in support of academic freedom and faculty and students who have been protesting in support of Palestinians.
The Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors cited Magill’s failure to “fulfill her responsibility to condemn targeted harassment.” The group had been calling on Magill to publicly condemn harassment of faculty for participating in the Palestine Writes Literature Festival in late September and for speaking in support of Palestinian civilians.
“During the hearing, Republican Congressmen Joe Wilson and Jim Banks breathed new life into a months-old campaign of targeted harassment by making false and inflammatory claims about individual Penn faculty members’ political views, affiliations, and activities,” Penn’s AAUP said in a statement. “They called on the university to commit flagrant violations of academic freedom: they suggested that Penn fire faculty members for protected extramural speech and challenged one faculty member’s right to teach classes and make curricular decisions within their area of scholarly expertise.
“President Magill failed to respond to these instances of targeted harassment that unfolded before her eyes. ”
The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression blasted Magill for releasing the video in which she promised a review of free speech policies.
“This is a deeply troubling, profoundly counterproductive response to yesterday’s congressional hearing,” FIRE said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “Were Penn to retreat from the robust protection of expressive rights, university administrators would make inevitably political decisions about who may speak and what may be said on campus.”
In November, Magill rolled out a plan to combat antisemitism, including a task force that is expected to issue its report this spring, and a student advisory group on the Jewish student experience.
Penn has experienced several antisemitic acts this semester, including the drawing of a swastika inside Meyerson Hall and vandalism at Penn Hillel. Complaints also surfaced after messages the university called antisemitic were light-projected on several Penn buildings, including Penn Commons, Huntsman Hall, and Irvine Auditorium.
Scrutiny of Penn began in late September when thePalestine Writes literature festival was held on campus and criticized by some for including speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Powerful donors have withdrawnfinancial support over the university’s handling of the festival and its response to antisemitism, and called for Magill’s and Bok’s resignations. Tensions escalated following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Does Hillel sponsor speakers that claim "Palestine" never existed or that Palestinians have no right to the land they claim? If so, is that harassment, intimidation and a violation of campus conduct codes? I guess you're in favor of BDS now as well?
I suppose "free speech" ends when it comes to Israel? As abhorrent as Nazi or ANY speech advocating genocide of any people, religious or otherwise, is. I don't agree with any of it and wish it were better able to be restricted but you know, that pesky Constitution.
Calling for the genocide of Jews, constitutes bullying or harassment ONLY when it’s pervasive. Seriously? You have a strange interpretation of the first amendment.
Are you saying a one off is “bullying and harassment?” Or that a speaker’s group event that includes people who have called for Israel’s destruction is? What do you think of Hillel hosting speakers who claim Palestine never existed? Are they bullies and harassers for the one or hundred times they speak on campus?
Why won’t you answer questions as they relate to Israel’s transgressions and violence against Palestinians? Why your silence when it’s repeatedly pointed out that Israel is not without blame? Some of us acknowledge Hamas for what they are, a terrorist organization that should rightly be condemned. You act as if Israel, Bibi, and particularly the Zionist right wing are just sitting over there by themselves, minding their own business, holding up their end of the bargain and they’re being put upon. Can you at least acknowledge that that is not the case nor the history? If you can’t, there’s no hope for there ever being a solution.
The first amendment, as flawed as it is, allows for anyone to spew hate speech for as long as they want. And pretty much anywhere.
First, I’ve said multiple times if Netanyahu is out after this that’s great, as he is too far right wing. Secondly, I’ve said many times the only step that can lead to peace is Palestine must recognize Israel’s right to peacefully exist. Outside of that, any step, including a full cease fire, will only lead to more terrible war down the road. I’ve yet to see a reply on that.
As far as first amendment, people in universities are losing their jobs because what we have witnessed goes far beyond “hate speech.”
Calling for the "genocide of Jews," is far beyond “hate speech.” I’d think folks so interested in current events that post and Twitter here would know the constitutional test for that.
no no no. you see he's equating Hamas with ALL Palestinians.
Found it interesting to learn there had one been one election that voted Hamas in a position of supposed governance. in that it wasn't even a majority vote but a plurality , though they won a majority of seats in the legislature. NO elections since. SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO. I wonder how many of the current population was even alive then or were even of an age to vote at that time.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
yes, let’s trust the undemocratic, authoritarian, terrorist, Iranian sponsored state to guide us to the truth. Good luck saving your career, Magill
another career ruined believing Iranian lies?
Penn President Liz Magill faces mounting pressure to resign from Capitol Hill as university backs her
Dec. 7, 2023, 2:17 p.m. ET
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill reads her opening statement during a congressional hearing on antisemitism on campus on Tuesday.Read moreMark Schiefelbein / AP
Pressure on University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill is mounting in the wake of an appearance before Congress on Tuesday that incited rebuke from the White House, Gov. Josh Shapiro and donors who have contributed tens of millions of dollars to the Ivy League university.
By dusk Thursday, the university faced threats of more lost gifts and increasingly loud calls for Magill’s resignation and saw the start of a congressional investigation into university policies. Trustees remained quiet about Magill’s future at the school following gatherings of the board and university leadership. “There is no board plan for imminent leadership change,” a university spokesperson said Thursday evening as Shapiro criticized her while marking the start of Hanukkah at a menorah lighting held on campus.
Standing outside Penn Hillel, the governor, for the second time in 24 hours, criticized Magill’s comments, this time calling them “shameful and unacceptable.”
But he did not call for her resignation, saying that was the call of Penn’s board of trustees.
“The board here at Penn needs to determine whether or not those comments reflect the views and values of the board and of the university, and I’ve urged them to meet and meet soon and deliberate on that question,” he said. “I know they had a brief meeting this morning and I expect they’ll be meeting again in the coming days. I expect them to carefully weigh that question.”
The trustee gatherings were held in the face of bipartisan backlash over president Liz Magill’s testimony on antisemitism Tuesday before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Multiple sources say the gathering ended with Magill still in the job, despite renewed calls for her resignation.
When asked repeatedly if calling for genocide of Jewish people violates Penn’s rules or code of conduct, Magill testified: “It is a context-dependent decision.” She walked that back in a video she released Wednesday night following criticism from the White House and Shapiro, saying she does view it as harassment or intimidation and would launch a review of Penn’s policies on free speech.
The House committee said it also would investigate Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose presidents testified along with Magill.
“This investigation will include substantial document requests, and the committee will not hesitate to utilize compulsory measures including subpoenas if a full response is not immediately forthcoming,” said committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, in a news release on the committee’s website.
In a statement, Penn pledged to cooperate fully.
A spokesman for the committee said it’s not unusual for the committee to launch investigations into the agencies it oversees, but it is unusual to target colleges, all three of which are private. It’s unclear what could come out of the probes, but information gathered could be used to issue recommendations or shape legislation.
Magill’s testimony on Tuesday came during intense questioning by Republican Rep. Elise M. Stefanik of New York at the hearing called to discuss antisemitism concerns on college campuses.
“If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill said in response to Stefanik.
“Conduct, meaning committing the act of genocide?” Stefanik asked. “The speech is not harassment?”
Questioned further, Magill said, “It can be harassment.”
Shapiro said he has not spoken to Magill since first vocalizing his dissatisfaction with her remarks outside of Goldie, an Israeli falafel restaurant, on Wednesday after protesters gathered there in support of Palestinians.
Students don’t feel supported
Ahead of Shapiro’s arrival, marking the first night of Hanukkah, Penn band students played animated renditions of “Dreidel Dreidel” and other festive songs as students flowed into the building, passing the Israeli and American flags hanging side by side.
Shapiro, after speaking with the students, said he was there to let them know they weren’t alone.
”They shared with me that they don’t feel safe, and they shared with me that they don’t feel supported by the administration, Shapiro said. “Some of them said they didn’t feel supported in their classes based on some of what their professors say to them.”
Criticism continues to mount
Criticism came swiftly after Magill’s testimony, from the White House , Bucks County State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat and Penn grad who called for Magill to step down, Penn Hillel leaders and others.
Critics also targeted Harvard president Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Sally Kornbluth for their answers to the same question at the hearing.
All three presidents are relative newcomers to their jobs. In the presidency for about a year and a half, Magill, a legal scholar, is the most senior.
“In that moment,” Magill explained of her testimony in the video, “I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable. I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil — plain and simple.”
Magill also took heat on social media including renewed calls for her resignation, seeming to reignite heavy criticism, including a donor backlash, that the school has faced over its handling of antisemitism in recent months.
Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, is apparently attempting to withdraw a $100 million gift to the university, according to a letter sent Thursday by his legal representatives to Penn general counsel Wendy White, as reported by Axios. The gift was given to Penn in December 2017 to help establish a center for innovation in finance.
“Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the University’s stance on antisemitism on campus,” said the letter, posted by Axios.
Magill also was under criticism for not standing up staunchly enough in support of academic freedom and faculty and students who have been protesting in support of Palestinians.
The Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors cited Magill’s failure to “fulfill her responsibility to condemn targeted harassment.” The group had been calling on Magill to publicly condemn harassment of faculty for participating in the Palestine Writes Literature Festival in late September and for speaking in support of Palestinian civilians.
“During the hearing, Republican Congressmen Joe Wilson and Jim Banks breathed new life into a months-old campaign of targeted harassment by making false and inflammatory claims about individual Penn faculty members’ political views, affiliations, and activities,” Penn’s AAUP said in a statement. “They called on the university to commit flagrant violations of academic freedom: they suggested that Penn fire faculty members for protected extramural speech and challenged one faculty member’s right to teach classes and make curricular decisions within their area of scholarly expertise.
“President Magill failed to respond to these instances of targeted harassment that unfolded before her eyes. ”
The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression blasted Magill for releasing the video in which she promised a review of free speech policies.
“This is a deeply troubling, profoundly counterproductive response to yesterday’s congressional hearing,” FIRE said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “Were Penn to retreat from the robust protection of expressive rights, university administrators would make inevitably political decisions about who may speak and what may be said on campus.”
In November, Magill rolled out a plan to combat antisemitism, including a task force that is expected to issue its report this spring, and a student advisory group on the Jewish student experience.
Penn has experienced several antisemitic acts this semester, including the drawing of a swastika inside Meyerson Hall and vandalism at Penn Hillel. Complaints also surfaced after messages the university called antisemitic were light-projected on several Penn buildings, including Penn Commons, Huntsman Hall, and Irvine Auditorium.
Scrutiny of Penn began in late September when thePalestine Writes literature festival was held on campus and criticized by some for including speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Powerful donors have withdrawnfinancial support over the university’s handling of the festival and its response to antisemitism, and called for Magill’s and Bok’s resignations. Tensions escalated following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Does Hillel sponsor speakers that claim "Palestine" never existed or that Palestinians have no right to the land they claim? If so, is that harassment, intimidation and a violation of campus conduct codes? I guess you're in favor of BDS now as well?
I suppose "free speech" ends when it comes to Israel? As abhorrent as Nazi or ANY speech advocating genocide of any people, religious or otherwise, is. I don't agree with any of it and wish it were better able to be restricted but you know, that pesky Constitution.
Calling for the genocide of Jews, constitutes bullying or harassment ONLY when it’s pervasive. Seriously? You have a strange interpretation of the first amendment.
Are you saying a one off is “bullying and harassment?” Or that a speaker’s group event that includes people who have called for Israel’s destruction is? What do you think of Hillel hosting speakers who claim Palestine never existed? Are they bullies and harassers for the one or hundred times they speak on campus?
Why won’t you answer questions as they relate to Israel’s transgressions and violence against Palestinians? Why your silence when it’s repeatedly pointed out that Israel is not without blame? Some of us acknowledge Hamas for what they are, a terrorist organization that should rightly be condemned. You act as if Israel, Bibi, and particularly the Zionist right wing are just sitting over there by themselves, minding their own business, holding up their end of the bargain and they’re being put upon. Can you at least acknowledge that that is not the case nor the history? If you can’t, there’s no hope for there ever being a solution.
The first amendment, as flawed as it is, allows for anyone to spew hate speech for as long as they want. And pretty much anywhere.
First, I’ve said multiple times if Netanyahu is out after this that’s great, as he is too far right wing. Secondly, I’ve said many times the only step that can lead to peace is Palestine must recognize Israel’s right to peacefully exist. Outside of that, any step, including a full cease fire, will only lead to more terrible war down the road. I’ve yet to see a reply on that.
As far as first amendment, people in universities are losing their jobs because what we have witnessed goes far beyond “hate speech.”
Calling for the "genocide of Jews," is far beyond “hate speech.” I’d think folks so interested in current events that post and Twitter here would know the constitutional test for that.
no no no. you see he's equating Hamas with ALL Palestinians.
Found it interesting to learn there had one been one election that voted Hamas in a position of supposed governance. in that it wasn't even a majority vote but a plurality , though they won a majority of seats in the legislature. NO elections since. SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO. I wonder how many of the current population was even alive then or were even of an age to vote at that time.
More than half the population is under 18 and doesn’t get to vote but you know, children shouldn’t support Hamas and should pay the price for Hamas’s actions.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Comments
edit, you and others continue to use the word apartheid, and that’s in bad faith. The territories in the West Bank that are referred to areas A B C are the direct result of two deals signed off by the Palestinian leadership. That was supposed to be a steppingstone to future deals, for which Palestine has refused to continue negotiations after Hamas took over
None of this justifies the Oct 7 attack. However, that attack does not justify displacing and killing as many or more Palestinian civilians, if reports are to be believed, as were killed when Israel first forced the Palestinians off their land in the event known as the Nakba 1948.
I think everyone recognizes that Palestinian leadership does not have clean hands. The problem seems to be that almost any violent action Israel has ever undertaken is somehow seen as justified. It's two sets of rules and two different sets of standards being used to judge the two players.
To me saying war is hell and that none of this would have happened if the oct 7 attack had not occurred is lazy and one sided.
Here we are 75 years later. We can't go back 1000 years or even 78 years. There needs to be a new way of looking at this and new ways to try to solve the problem. If not well, expect more and worse repeats with both sides acting as if they have no-fault.
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
But hey, only killing two civilians for every Hamas terrorist is A-OK.
Conflating the PA, Hamas, Gazans and Palestinians as one entity is disingenuous, particularly given Bibi and the Israeli far right’s machinations.
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
By Loveday Morris
December 05, 2023 at 10:39 ET
TEL AVIV — As Israel opens a new southern front in its war in Gaza, it is still far from achieving its stated military objective: the total destruction of the Hamas militant group that rules the strip and spearheaded the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
At least 5,000 Hamas militants have been killed, according to three Israeli security officials, leaving the majority of its estimated 30,000-strong military wing intact.
The Israeli officials spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing military operations and details that have not been made public.
[Biden administration presses Israel for restraint in south Gaza]
Operations in the north are far from complete. Though much of Gaza City has been leveled by airstrikes, ground forces have yet to enter some of Hamas’s key strongholds there.
“This is going to be a long haul,” said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, a spokesman for the Israeli military. “We need the time,” he added, acknowledging the diplomatic clock was ticking.
International pressure to minimize civilians deaths is likely to influence the pace of operations in the south, as Israel tries to maintain the support of the United States, its key backer.
The cost has already been devastating, with nearly 16,000 Palestinians killed, including more than 5,000 children, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
[Gaza becomes ‘a graveyard for children’ as Israel intensifies airstrikes]
“I think we have reached a moment when the Israeli authorities will have to define more clearly what their final objective is,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday. “The total destruction of Hamas? Does anybody think that’s possible? If it’s that, the war will last 10 years.”
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Palestinians in the West Bank are tried in Israeli military courts, where conviction rates approach 100 percent, according to the United Nations. The majority of those freed last week had never been convicted of a crime; many had never had a day in court. Israel’s practice of administrative detention allows Palestinian detainees to be held for months or years without charge or trial.
Use of administrative detention, long criticized by rights groups, “dramatically increased” this year, according to Amnesty International, especially after Oct. 7.
Young Palestinian prisoners describe harsh treatment in Israeli jails - The Washington Post
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another career ruined believing Iranian lies?
Penn President Liz Magill faces mounting pressure to resign from Capitol Hill as university backs her
Pressure on University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill is mounting in the wake of an appearance before Congress on Tuesday that incited rebuke from the White House, Gov. Josh Shapiro and donors who have contributed tens of millions of dollars to the Ivy League university.
By dusk Thursday, the university faced threats of more lost gifts and increasingly loud calls for Magill’s resignation and saw the start of a congressional investigation into university policies. Trustees remained quiet about Magill’s future at the school following gatherings of the board and university leadership. “There is no board plan for imminent leadership change,” a university spokesperson said Thursday evening as Shapiro criticized her while marking the start of Hanukkah at a menorah lighting held on campus.
Standing outside Penn Hillel, the governor, for the second time in 24 hours, criticized Magill’s comments, this time calling them “shameful and unacceptable.”
But he did not call for her resignation, saying that was the call of Penn’s board of trustees.
“The board here at Penn needs to determine whether or not those comments reflect the views and values of the board and of the university, and I’ve urged them to meet and meet soon and deliberate on that question,” he said. “I know they had a brief meeting this morning and I expect they’ll be meeting again in the coming days. I expect them to carefully weigh that question.”
The trustee gatherings were held in the face of bipartisan backlash over president Liz Magill’s testimony on antisemitism Tuesday before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Multiple sources say the gathering ended with Magill still in the job, despite renewed calls for her resignation.
When asked repeatedly if calling for genocide of Jewish people violates Penn’s rules or code of conduct, Magill testified: “It is a context-dependent decision.” She walked that back in a video she released Wednesday night following criticism from the White House and Shapiro, saying she does view it as harassment or intimidation and would launch a review of Penn’s policies on free speech.
The House committee said it also would investigate Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose presidents testified along with Magill.
“This investigation will include substantial document requests, and the committee will not hesitate to utilize compulsory measures including subpoenas if a full response is not immediately forthcoming,” said committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, in a news release on the committee’s website.
In a statement, Penn pledged to cooperate fully.
A spokesman for the committee said it’s not unusual for the committee to launch investigations into the agencies it oversees, but it is unusual to target colleges, all three of which are private. It’s unclear what could come out of the probes, but information gathered could be used to issue recommendations or shape legislation.
» READ MORE: Penn President Liz Magill is facing criticism from Gov. Shapiro, White House and others for comments at a congressional hearing on antisemitism
The testimony that drew fire
Magill’s testimony on Tuesday came during intense questioning by Republican Rep. Elise M. Stefanik of New York at the hearing called to discuss antisemitism concerns on college campuses.
“If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill said in response to Stefanik.
“Conduct, meaning committing the act of genocide?” Stefanik asked. “The speech is not harassment?”
Questioned further, Magill said, “It can be harassment.”
» READ MORE: Penn president Liz Magill got grilled by Congressional committee over the university’s response to antisemitism
Shapiro said he has not spoken to Magill since first vocalizing his dissatisfaction with her remarks outside of Goldie, an Israeli falafel restaurant, on Wednesday after protesters gathered there in support of Palestinians.
Students don’t feel supported
Ahead of Shapiro’s arrival, marking the first night of Hanukkah, Penn band students played animated renditions of “Dreidel Dreidel” and other festive songs as students flowed into the building, passing the Israeli and American flags hanging side by side.
Shapiro, after speaking with the students, said he was there to let them know they weren’t alone.
”They shared with me that they don’t feel safe, and they shared with me that they don’t feel supported by the administration, Shapiro said. “Some of them said they didn’t feel supported in their classes based on some of what their professors say to them.”
Criticism continues to mount
Criticism came swiftly after Magill’s testimony, from the White House , Bucks County State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat and Penn grad who called for Magill to step down, Penn Hillel leaders and others.
Critics also targeted Harvard president Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Sally Kornbluth for their answers to the same question at the hearing.
All three presidents are relative newcomers to their jobs. In the presidency for about a year and a half, Magill, a legal scholar, is the most senior.
“In that moment,” Magill explained of her testimony in the video, “I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable. I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil — plain and simple.”
Magill also took heat on social media including renewed calls for her resignation, seeming to reignite heavy criticism, including a donor backlash, that the school has faced over its handling of antisemitism in recent months.
Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, is apparently attempting to withdraw a $100 million gift to the university, according to a letter sent Thursday by his legal representatives to Penn general counsel Wendy White, as reported by Axios. The gift was given to Penn in December 2017 to help establish a center for innovation in finance.
“Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the University’s stance on antisemitism on campus,” said the letter, posted by Axios.
A change.org petition calling for Magill’s resignation had garnered more than 16,300 signatures by early Thursday evening.
Failure to defend academic freedom
Magill also was under criticism for not standing up staunchly enough in support of academic freedom and faculty and students who have been protesting in support of Palestinians.
The Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors cited Magill’s failure to “fulfill her responsibility to condemn targeted harassment.” The group had been calling on Magill to publicly condemn harassment of faculty for participating in the Palestine Writes Literature Festival in late September and for speaking in support of Palestinian civilians.
“During the hearing, Republican Congressmen Joe Wilson and Jim Banks breathed new life into a months-old campaign of targeted harassment by making false and inflammatory claims about individual Penn faculty members’ political views, affiliations, and activities,” Penn’s AAUP said in a statement. “They called on the university to commit flagrant violations of academic freedom: they suggested that Penn fire faculty members for protected extramural speech and challenged one faculty member’s right to teach classes and make curricular decisions within their area of scholarly expertise.
“President Magill failed to respond to these instances of targeted harassment that unfolded before her eyes. ”
The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression blasted Magill for releasing the video in which she promised a review of free speech policies.
“This is a deeply troubling, profoundly counterproductive response to yesterday’s congressional hearing,” FIRE said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “Were Penn to retreat from the robust protection of expressive rights, university administrators would make inevitably political decisions about who may speak and what may be said on campus.”
In November, Magill rolled out a plan to combat antisemitism, including a task force that is expected to issue its report this spring, and a student advisory group on the Jewish student experience.
Penn has experienced several antisemitic acts this semester, including the drawing of a swastika inside Meyerson Hall and vandalism at Penn Hillel. Complaints also surfaced after messages the university called antisemitic were light-projected on several Penn buildings, including Penn Commons, Huntsman Hall, and Irvine Auditorium.
Scrutiny of Penn began in late September when thePalestine Writes literature festival was held on campus and criticized by some for including speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Powerful donors have withdrawnfinancial support over the university’s handling of the festival and its response to antisemitism, and called for Magill’s and Bok’s resignations. Tensions escalated following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
I suppose "free speech" ends when it comes to Israel? As abhorrent as Nazi or ANY speech advocating genocide of any people, religious or otherwise, is. I don't agree with any of it and wish it were better able to be restricted but you know, that pesky Constitution.
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Why won’t you answer questions as they relate to Israel’s transgressions and violence against Palestinians? Why your silence when it’s repeatedly pointed out that Israel is not without blame? Some of us acknowledge Hamas for what they are, a terrorist organization that should rightly be condemned. You act as if Israel, Bibi, and particularly the Zionist right wing are just sitting over there by themselves, minding their own business, holding up their end of the bargain and they’re being put upon. Can you at least acknowledge that that is not the case nor the history? If you can’t, there’s no hope for there ever being a solution.
The first amendment, as flawed as it is, allows for anyone to spew hate speech for as long as they want. And pretty much anywhere.
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its not cant. its wont.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
https://www.cnn.com/us/teacher-disciplined-palestinian-email-slogan/index.html
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Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
''Civilian proportion of deaths is higher than that in all world conflicts in 20th century''..
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/09/civilian-toll-israeli-airstrikes-gaza-unprecedented-killing-study
Prague Krakow Berlin 2018. Berlin 2022
EV, Taormina 1+2 2017.
I wish i was the souvenir you kept your house key on..
Prague Krakow Berlin 2018. Berlin 2022
EV, Taormina 1+2 2017.
I wish i was the souvenir you kept your house key on..
astoria 06
albany 06
hartford 06
reading 06
barcelona 06
paris 06
wembley 07
dusseldorf 07
nijmegen 07
this song is meant to be called i got shit,itshould be called i got shit tickets-hartford 06 -
As far as first amendment, people in universities are losing their jobs because what we have witnessed goes far beyond “hate speech.”
Calling for the "genocide of Jews," is far beyond “hate speech.” I’d think folks so interested in current events that post and Twitter here would know the constitutional test for that.
In the early 1990s, Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian political leader Yasser Arafat exchanged the Letters of Mutual Recognition. Pursuant to this correspondence, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) formally recognized Israel's right to exist as a sovereign state while Israel formally recognized the PLO as a legitimate entity representing the Palestinian people. This development set the stage for negotiations towards achieving a two-state solution (i.e., Israel alongside the State of Palestine) through what would become known as the Oslo Accords, as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process.
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Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14