Last week, University of Pennsylvania President M. Elizabeth Magill answered questions from Congress about antisemitism on campus. She was asked by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) if calling for the genocide of Jews would violate the university’s code of conduct.
Magill said it was a “context-dependent decision.”
The backlash was immediate and intense.
A Penn student, sophomore Abraham Franchetti, told CBS Philadelphia that his “heart dropped.” Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, called her remarks “shameful” and “unacceptable.”
“It’s unbelievable that this needs to be said: Calls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement to The Associated Press. “Any statements that advocate for the systematic murder of Jews are dangerous and revolting — and we should all stand firmly against them, on the side of human dignity and the most basic values that unite us as Americans.”
Under pressure from the public at large and major university donors who threatened to withdraw funding, Magill resigned on Dec. 9.
“I hope this signals a new start for Penn & a wake-up call for all college presidents. Campus administrators must protect their Jewish students with the same passion they bring to protecting all students. They can’t hide behind language coached by their attorneys & look the other way when it comes to antisemitism,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted that night.
Antisemitism has increased by 337% worldwide since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, according to the ADL. The Philadelphia ADL office has seen more than 100 complaints of antisemitic incidents in the last two months. It received a little more than 500 in all of 2022.
There were several more incidents in the area in recent weeks. There was also a pro-Israel rally at Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia.
Goldie
On Dec. 3, the Philly Palestine Coalition organized a protest at which activists gathered outside Goldie, the Center City restaurant owned by Israeli chef Michael Solomonov.
“Goldie, Goldie, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” they chanted.
In October, Solomonov’s restaurant business, CookNSolo, donated money from sales to United Hatzalah, a nonprofit emergency medical service.
Shapiro said, “People have the right to peacefully protest a difference of policy in the Middle East or Israel. But they don’t have a right to come and protest a restaurant simply because it’s owned by a Jew and hold that Jew responsible for Israeli policy.”
Sabra
Sabra is a U.S.-based company that produces Middle Eastern-style food products such as hummus. It is “owned by PepsiCo and the Strauss Group, an Israeli conglomerate,” according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Strauss Group is “currently working with Israel’s national food bank Leket to aid farmers in land bordering the Gaza Strip.”
On Dec. 6, the company’s hummus products were labeled with stickers stating “boycott Israeli goods” at three Lower Merion Acme Markets locations. At separate stores in Bala Cynwyd, Narberth and Bryn Mawr, stickers were placed on the lids that stated that the hummus was “contaminated with apartheid and Zionism.”
Makom Community
The Makom Community is an after-school program in Rittenhouse Square. On Dec. 3, protesters spray-painted “Free Palestine” on the school’s windows, according to Philadelphia Magazine.
“Walking in this morning was startling, upsetting, and our first thought was all of our families and learners,” wrote an administrator in an email to the school community, according to the magazine.
A Sit-In at Haverford College
Haverford College students have held an indefinite sit-in at Founders Hall on campus calling for the school’s administration to “support an immediate and permanent ceasefire” in the war between Israel and Hamas, according to a news release.
Organizers said almost half of the student body, 696 students, or 47.1%, has signed on to the list of demands that also includes mental health counselors for students directly impacted by the conflict and educational resources about “the injustices perpetrated against the Palestinian people,” among others.
The Pro-Israel Rally
On Dec. 10 at Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia, hundreds of Jews rallied against antisemitism after the Goldie incident.
Shapiro, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and Rabbi Eli Freedman, Rodeph Shalom’s spiritual leader, all spoke.
“You have the power to combat this antisemitism, and now, more than ever, we need you,” said Shapiro, according to 6ABC.
“I have a duty to take action,” Casey said. “Steps to root it out, investigate it and to make sure people could be held accountable for it.”
“There is no place for hate in our community. I also see hope today in our vibrant Jewish community,” Freedman said.
