The University of Pennsylvania campus is a hotbed of antisemitism, with students openly chanting, “We are Hamas,” and others accused of hate crimes still allowed in classes, The Post has learned.
Students Eyal Yakoby and Jordan Davis this week filed a lawsuit alleging Penn violated federal civil rights laws and selectively enforced its rules to “fail to protect Jewish students from hate and harassment.”
Yakoby, 21, claimed to The Post that there are still “professors and students” at the university who he says are “openly antisemitic.”
“It’s crazy — they’re still coming to class and working at Penn,” he said. “We had a student who returned to class last Monday while facing [criminal] charge
“I think it is really despicable and a failure of the university.
“I call on anyone who violates school policy to be held accountable just like they do anything else.”
President Liz Magill told a congressional hearing on Tuesday that the university has formed an antisemitism task force, but its job hangs in the balance after she refused to testify at a hearing that called for the genocide of Jews to be a violation of the school’s code of conduct.
Tarawneh, a 20-year-old college junior, is still attending classes this week, sources said, despite praising the terrorist group Hamas for the “glorious October 7” terror attack on Israel that left 1,200 dead and more than 200 Israelis hostage.
UPenn student Eyal Yakoby claimed to The Post that there are still “professors and students” at the university who he says are “openly anti-Semitic.” house.gov University of Pennsylvania student Tara Tarawneh, originally from Jordan, has been identified as the woman who gave a fiery speech at a pro-Palestinian rally last month praising Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel. Artemejo
He was also arrested for allegedly stealing an Israeli flag from the front of a Campus Apartments house near the Ivy League school.
Tarawneh has been charged with theft and receiving stolen property, according to court documents seen by The Post.
He did not respond to several requests for comment from The Post, while his lawyer Grace Harris said he was “not interested in talking” and also declined to speak. UPenn also did not return calls or emails Friday.
“I still remember feeling so energized and happy,” Tarawneh said at a rally about the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
Tarawneh, a 2020 graduate of King’s Academy in Madaba, Jordan — has been open about her views, with a video of her addressing a pro-Palestinian crowd going viral.
“I still remember feeling so strong and happy, so confident that the victory was so close and so tangible,” he told people about the terrible October 7 attackas reported by the Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn’s student-run independent media organization.
“I want you all to keep that feeling in your hearts. Never let it go.”
Tarawneh hailed the “joyful and powerful image that came from the glorious October 7 Hamas attack” during his controversial speech at a rally in Philadelphia.
On Friday, bioengineering student Liam Pharr, 21, said he believed violence had taken hold at the Ivy League college after witnessing students chanting, “We are Hamas” — designated a terrorist organization by the US, EU, UK and more — at UPenn reason.
“I’m not Jewish but there is antisemitism on campus,” Pharr told The Post. “A few weeks ago, there was a group on campus who joined hands and chanted, ‘We are Hamas.’ I was in the library and I heard it.
“It’s the kind of crazy people can say on campus and get away with it. A terrorist organization has infiltrated a place where the next generation is getting the best education they can,” he continued.
A Fox 29 Philadelphia/YouTube billboard calling for Magill’s firing appeared on campus Friday. Robert Miller
“I have seen social media posts circulating about Jewish students holding Israeli flags in peaceful protest, with the caption ‘remember their faces, they will be on the wrong side of history’.”
Meanwhile, the campus has seen shocking incidents including graffiti calling for “intifada” which means “rebellion,” “Retaliation to Gaza” and, sickeningly, “The Jews R Nazis” scrawled on a building next to a Jewish fraternity.
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Students on campus are also increasingly swayed by mysterious “outsiders” who participate in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Nursing student Sam Graybill, 18, said he also noticed a growing wave of aggression against Jews among the student body both on campus and online and saw older non-students at gatherings on campus.
“There’s a good amount of antisemitism,” Graybill told The Post. “Some people here are very aggressive towards Jews. There are protests every few days. There is a lot of anger and aggression.
“Some people who are not students here will come and start a protest. They are older, not grandfathers, but they look much older than most of the students,” he added.
“A group of my friends are Jewish and they are worried about their safety on campus. I estimate 40% of antisemitism is on campus and 60% online.”
His thoughts were echoed by Alkaid Zeng, 23, who also said he noticed elderly people joining the crowd during the demonstration.
“There’s a lot of anger from both sides,” Zeng said Friday on campus. “There are protests every day. The people who participated in the protest were faculty, students and outsiders who came in.”
UPenn President Liz Magill recently acknowledged an increase in antisemitic acts on campus but many students say the response is too little, too late. Reuters
Zeng said he believed the university’s leadership was giving welfare signals without really caring about its students.
“We receive emails every day from presidents, chancellors and deans of various schools who say they listen to students’ voices but they are careful not to take sides,” he said.
“The administration doesn’t show they care. “Students don’t see much attention or empathy from the administration,” added Zeng.
“Even if they can’t do much, they can at least show they care.”
A letter from 74 members of Congress has called for Magill and the presidents of MIT and Harvard to resign following their appearance at a congressional committee this week.
College campuses — including at other Ivy League schools such as Columbia, Cornell, Yale and Harvard — have become hotbeds for disruptive anti-Israel protests. Robert Miller
In addition, the board of UPenn’s prestigious Wharton Business School has said it has lost confidence in the university’s leadership, while many donors have pulled millions in funding for the college.
“It’s ridiculous that the head of the university said it’s okay to make a statement calling for a large portion of the student base to be killed,” Pharr told The Post.
“Based on his statement, I think he should go. You can say what happened to the Palestinians is wrong, but you can’t say people should be killed,” he added. “The school does not support Jewish students.
“There was no statement even condemning Hamas until the Huntsman family said they would withdraw their funding. Only when there is money involved, they can do anything.”
Still, Magill remained president Friday night and a spokesperson for the school told CNN there were no immediate plans to replace him.
The Ivy League campus was also heavily criticized even before the October 7 terrorist attacks for hosting the Palestine Writes literary festival. Robert Miller
UPenn is facing mounting pressure to change its leadership, from major donors to its own staff — even from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
The governor, who is Jewish, called Magill’s testimony “disgraceful” and urged the board of trustees to meet to decide whether his statement was in line with the school’s values.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
