Impressive young woman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So she has studied genocide and written about it and her conclusion is that ... those poor Palestinians are being genocided when they have a historical claim to the land. Umm, now do the other guys.

Such blindness. SMH

She comes across as a lot more nuanced and smarter than you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a student at USC and a I am glad that she is not being allowed to speak. This is neither the time or place to politicize a speech that is meant to be a celebration of 4 years of hard work by ALL the students. The pro-Palestinian protests are all over the place and there are many forums in which to make your voice heard. Just the other day, roads were blocked to O'Hare and the Golden Gate bridge. Columbia University has on-going protests. Or you can just take your sentiments where they belong and vote for people who share your common views.

Let's no kid ourselves here that this would not make Jewish students uncomfortable. Can't they all just be students for a day and celebrate their common achievements or do we need to continue down this road where everything is a political sh!!!tshow?

I’m impressed by her. She is smart and articulate. Why would Jewish students feel threatened when her message is that let’s use our education to fight against injustice in the world. Everyone can interpret that how they wish. Is no one allowed to be pro-Palestinian? It is chilling to me how colleges are caving in to their wealthy Jewish donors. Freedom of speech is a critical benchmark of the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a student at USC and a I am glad that she is not being allowed to speak. This is neither the time or place to politicize a speech that is meant to be a celebration of 4 years of hard work by ALL the students. The pro-Palestinian protests are all over the place and there are many forums in which to make your voice heard. Just the other day, roads were blocked to O'Hare and the Golden Gate bridge. Columbia University has on-going protests. Or you can just take your sentiments where they belong and vote for people who share your common views.

Let's no kid ourselves here that this would not make Jewish students uncomfortable. Can't they all just be students for a day and celebrate their common achievements or do we need to continue down this road where everything is a political sh!!!tshow?

The presence of a Muslim woman makes Jewish students uncomfortable? That’s literally what you’re saying, as she had not even written her remarks yet. You’ve jumped to so many conclusions on her based on what? Her ethnicity and religion. Do you want to go down this road?

We do no favors for our kids when we try to keep them in a bubble of likeminded sycophants.

I actually would give this woman the benefit of the doubt that she would give a speech that is uplifting and uniting, as she has promised.

-Father of Jewish children

Dear Father of Jewish Children

When a student of this caliber has a link on a social media site calling for the destruction of Israel, I have jumped to no conclusions. Over 200,000 people signed a petition calling for her to be removed. You may have all the free speech you want and you may expose your children to as many hateful messages as you would like, but Jewish students are being harrassed and bullied on a daily basis at these schools and made to feel unsafe. It has absolutely happened at USC and my daughter has seen it first hand. Have you forgotten the images of students banging on the door at a college trying to get inside a room that Jewish students were held up in?

This is not meant to shield them but to provide them ONE DAY, a respectful environment in which to celebrate their accomplishments.

They see harrassment every day. Have you not seen the congressional hearings wth these so called presidents that finally admitted that anti-semitism absolutely has been very present on their campuses?

I have no ill will toward this young woman, but free speech has consequences and unfortunately she shared an inciteful link and that message matters.

Signed a Catholic Mom

I am not going to respond anymore - I said what I said.

There are some bad actors on all sides. That is reality. But they are a minority. We should encourage our kids to be strong enough to allow all voices to be heard. Silencing the opposition never works well in the long run. We are not Russia. Dialogue is always the way forward even if it is uncomfortable for some people

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes let her go on more tv channels and have her minute of fame. When it all dies down good luck getting the jobs and scholarship opportunities leading to more wealth. Nobody wants a rabble rouser working for them as Google has proved. She can join some far fringe activist outfits but twenty years from now she will be complaining how her peers can afford the trappings of wealth and she will be forgotten.

Yes, I hope she enjoys being unemployable.

Wow. This is scary. So any opposition to Israel makes one unemployable? Some of you are disgusting. There is a huge number of people in the US who have been silenced by fear. I don’t think Jewish people should be proud of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like USC jumped the gun. I assume it’s customary for the valedictorian to show admin their speech beforehand. USC should’ve waited to see her draft speech, and then worked with her if something in her speech was offensive or inflammatory.

Maybe. But kids these days think the rules don't apply to them and even if she agrees to abide by their rules, she still might not.



Beyond that though are the people who would be drawn to her speech to protest and counter protest. Safety concerns are real.

There will probably be more protests now at graduation than before. USC has made this event political not the student

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes let her go on more tv channels and have her minute of fame. When it all dies down good luck getting the jobs and scholarship opportunities leading to more wealth. Nobody wants a rabble rouser working for them as Google has proved. She can join some far fringe activist outfits but twenty years from now she will be complaining how her peers can afford the trappings of wealth and she will be forgotten.

Rabble rouser? You’re literally trying to parse the social media page of a random STEM student in California. She didn’t even have a public social media page. She apparently did post her own views online. You’re inferring so much off a single hyperlink a college student had in their bio on Instagram.

Honestly? You sound like Mao’s Red Guard, hunting down for anyone wrong-think. I think you don’t even realize how rabid you appear.

Would you feel the same if her bio had a link to a white supremacist site?

Serious question.

This stuff is hardly unique to the Israel/Palestine situation--folks have been getting canceled for "offensive" online speech for the last 20 years.

That website was not akin to StormFront.

Should a Jewish student not be able to speak if they state they are a supporter of Bezalel Smotrich, Netanyahu’s finance minister?

Here’s his quotes:
To Israeli-Arab politicians in the Knesset: “You're here by mistake, it's a mistake that Ben-Gurion didn't finish the job and didn't throw you out in 1948.”

On a settler pogroms against a West Bank village: “I believe that the village of Huwara should be wiped out. I believe that the state of Israel should do so, and not, God forbid, ordinary individuals."

He has said there is no Palestinian people, no Palestinian history, and that Palestine should not exist.

That’s very similar to the website. I’m sure there’s plenty of Likud supporters at USC. I guess they should be canceled too?

Like I said, this young woman has - by all reports I’ve read - not been actively involved in the campus protests. I do hope USC is investigated, because this is very close to both a Title IV and religious discrimination.

Pp here.

Yes, I would argue that a Smotrich supporter or a supporter of ethnic cleansing in Gaza (for example) should also NOT be chosen as a commencement speaker.

No a Smotrich supporter would be celebrated by the right and the university would fully support anything she/he said. The groups behind this fully support much more radical views than Smotrich.

Also remember she was not chosen but won the award. The valedictorian has alway addressed the graduating class. There is no world in which a Jewish student who won valedictorian who have their remarks/speech reviewed, edited or censored. There zero chance he/she would be denied the opportunity to speak because the administration was worried about what a Jew would say. This was done to silence and humiliate Muslims. This has gone too far.

This. The pro-Israel people have gone too far. They are literally trying to force the US to give up some of our most important values. They are in bed with crazy extreme republicans. I shudder at what lies ahead

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a student at USC and a I am glad that she is not being allowed to speak. This is neither the time or place to politicize a speech that is meant to be a celebration of 4 years of hard work by ALL the students. The pro-Palestinian protests are all over the place and there are many forums in which to make your voice heard. Just the other day, roads were blocked to O'Hare and the Golden Gate bridge. Columbia University has on-going protests. Or you can just take your sentiments where they belong and vote for people who share your common views.

Let's no kid ourselves here that this would not make Jewish students uncomfortable. Can't they all just be students for a day and celebrate their common achievements or do we need to continue down this road where everything is a political sh!!!tshow?

The presence of a Muslim woman makes Jewish students uncomfortable? That’s literally what you’re saying, as she had not even written her remarks yet. You’ve jumped to so many conclusions on her based on what? Her ethnicity and religion. Do you want to go down this road?

We do no favors for our kids when we try to keep them in a bubble of likeminded sycophants.

I actually would give this woman the benefit of the doubt that she would give a speech that is uplifting and uniting, as she has promised.

-Father of Jewish children

Dear Father of Jewish Children

When a student of this caliber has a link on a social media site calling for the destruction of Israel, I have jumped to no conclusions. Over 200,000 people signed a petition calling for her to be removed. You may have all the free speech you want and you may expose your children to as many hateful messages as you would like, but Jewish students are being harrassed and bullied on a daily basis at these schools and made to feel unsafe. It has absolutely happened at USC and my daughter has seen it first hand. Have you forgotten the images of students banging on the door at a college trying to get inside a room that Jewish students were held up in?

This is not meant to shield them but to provide them ONE DAY, a respectful environment in which to celebrate their accomplishments.

They see harrassment every day. Have you not seen the congressional hearings wth these so called presidents that finally admitted that anti-semitism absolutely has been very present on their campuses?

I have no ill will toward this young woman, but free speech has consequences and unfortunately she shared an inciteful link and that message matters.

Signed a Catholic Mom

I am not going to respond anymore - I said what I said.

+100
Interesting that in all the praise for this young woman, no one bothered to mention this:

USC student advocacy group Trojans for Israel accused Tabassum of sharing a link in the bio of her Instagram page that calls Zionism “a racist settler-colonial ideology” and advocates for the “complete abolishment” of Israel, it wrote in a social media post.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/16/us/usc-valedictorian-commencement-speech-canceled/index.html

Thanks but no thanks.

Abolishment of a Jewish state of Israel in favor of one state with equal rights for everyone is a common viewpoint of a lot of people. She did not disparage Jews or call for any harm towards them. We have to stop looking at criticism of Israel as criticism of Jewish people.

Also, it was a link in her social media. I mean, come on. I equate this to more like if a student had a link to a pro-life website that called women who had abortions as baby killers or something. If that student was cancelled, it would be an uproar. This is the stifling of people who have different views on a college campus, and is wrong.

I think you're being a bit glib about pro-life post-Dobbs. And you're being extremely glib about how protests about the Middle East are a current issue in colleges right now. College presidents have lost their jobs, students have been harmed and caused harm to other students. Being pro-Palestinian is not just a viewpoint, now, in 2024. It's a collision of free speech, free ideas at universities, and anti-Semitism, sometimes a violent collision.

No, being pro-Palestinian is a viewpoint. Some people act on that viewpoint with peaceful protests, disruptive protests, social media posts, boycotts, or other actions.

From what I understand, all she has done is have a link on her Instagram. She should not have been cancelled for that.

She was ostensibly cancelled for security concerns, which seems legitimate to me.

She not only had a link on her Instagram, she also minored in genocide studies and is pro one- or two-state solution with Jewish and Arab citizens living peacefully together after Jewish citizens give up their majority. If you have more than one brain cell, you can see the problem with that.

I guess if the word genocide makes you uncomfortable then you can force USC to eliminate Genocide Studies as a major or minor. I’m sure that will be the next step of Jewish groups. We need to silence everyone except for pro-Israel voices

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just ask the simple question: Would Ackman and the Zionist mob simply shrug their shoulders if this girl had an Israeli flag on her IG page and a link to a page that supports Israel's actions in the ME region?

Y'all know the answer to that rhetorical question. The dude would be apoplectic, so would every other Zionist in the Zionism zombie army, and we would never hear the end of it until USC leadership was swept out to sea.

I’m Jewish and I am embarrassed to be associated with Ackman and people like him

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a student at USC and a I am glad that she is not being allowed to speak. This is neither the time or place to politicize a speech that is meant to be a celebration of 4 years of hard work by ALL the students. The pro-Palestinian protests are all over the place and there are many forums in which to make your voice heard. Just the other day, roads were blocked to O'Hare and the Golden Gate bridge. Columbia University has on-going protests. Or you can just take your sentiments where they belong and vote for people who share your common views.

Let's no kid ourselves here that this would not make Jewish students uncomfortable. Can't they all just be students for a day and celebrate their common achievements or do we need to continue down this road where everything is a political sh!!!tshow?

The presence of a Muslim woman makes Jewish students uncomfortable? That’s literally what you’re saying, as she had not even written her remarks yet. You’ve jumped to so many conclusions on her based on what? Her ethnicity and religion. Do you want to go down this road?

We do no favors for our kids when we try to keep them in a bubble of likeminded sycophants.

I actually would give this woman the benefit of the doubt that she would give a speech that is uplifting and uniting, as she has promised.

-Father of Jewish children

Dear Father of Jewish Children

When a student of this caliber has a link on a social media site calling for the destruction of Israel, I have jumped to no conclusions. Over 200,000 people signed a petition calling for her to be removed. You may have all the free speech you want and you may expose your children to as many hateful messages as you would like, but Jewish students are being harrassed and bullied on a daily basis at these schools and made to feel unsafe. It has absolutely happened at USC and my daughter has seen it first hand. Have you forgotten the images of students banging on the door at a college trying to get inside a room that Jewish students were held up in?

This is not meant to shield them but to provide them ONE DAY, a respectful environment in which to celebrate their accomplishments.

They see harrassment every day. Have you not seen the congressional hearings wth these so called presidents that finally admitted that anti-semitism absolutely has been very present on their campuses?

I have no ill will toward this young woman, but free speech has consequences and unfortunately she shared an inciteful link and that message matters.

Signed a Catholic Mom

I am not going to respond anymore - I said what I said.

+100
Interesting that in all the praise for this young woman, no one bothered to mention this:

USC student advocacy group Trojans for Israel accused Tabassum of sharing a link in the bio of her Instagram page that calls Zionism “a racist settler-colonial ideology” and advocates for the “complete abolishment” of Israel, it wrote in a social media post.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/16/us/usc-valedictorian-commencement-speech-canceled/index.html

Thanks but no thanks.

Abolishment of a Jewish state of Israel in favor of one state with equal rights for everyone is a common viewpoint of a lot of people. She did not disparage Jews or call for any harm towards them. We have to stop looking at criticism of Israel as criticism of Jewish people.

Also, it was a link in her social media. I mean, come on. I equate this to more like if a student had a link to a pro-life website that called women who had abortions as baby killers or something. If that student was cancelled, it would be an uproar. This is the stifling of people who have different views on a college campus, and is wrong.

1. Criticism of Israel is VERY different from calling for ABOLITION of Israel, and its replacement with "a Palestinian state".

2. I assume that your abortion example is a joke. If a valedictorian called women who had abortions "baby-killers", they would absolutely be cancelled immediately.

Zero percent chance that such a student would be allowed to speak. (Then Faux News would make them a martyr, etc., etc.).

3. This is following the exact same pattern that we've seen over and over again for the last ~15 years.

The lesson: don't take/support extreme political views, especially in a public manner.

A Palestinian state where everyone has equal rights. Name the country whatever you want. I am sure there are some college students here who think Taiwan should be a part of China. Some college students who think parts of Ukraine should be a part of Russia. And have liked tweets or shared websites that share their views. I don't think that in and of itself should disqualify them from giving a speech at a university. That is shutting down dissenting viewpoints.

I didn't say the person called women baby killers, but shared a website that held that called women that. I am not talking about someone who is harassing women outside of an abortion clinic, or protesting outside the campus clinic. A lot of people who are pro-life, hold the view that women who have abortions are killing their babies. That is their belief. I have no doubt that there are many, many college students in this country who have that belief and have shared websites that also hold that view point. There is even probably a student who has shared those views or "liked" those views giving a commencement speech this spring. Maybe not around the DMV, but some college in the midwest or south, highly likely.

I respectfully disagree.

1. This isn't just "giving a speech". This is being honored as valedictorian and giving a speech to celebrate/represent the entire class. Important distinction, with different criteria than "ordinary" speech.

2. I'd argue that students who call for the forcible annexation of Taiwan or Ukraine should (and would) also be disqualified from giving a commencement address. And understandably so, given #1.

3. Same with someone who shares a website calling women baby-killers. Do you really think a student who did that would be chosen to give a commencement address at USC?

I absolutely do not. Left-leaning groups would be outraged.

Again, this isn't anything new or different from what we've seen across society for the last 15 years.

Person takes controversial/extreme position. Opponents scream bloody murder. Person is canceled. Person's supporters complain about cancel culture, attack the "cancellers". Hand-wringing ensues.

Rinse, wash, repeat.

What a load of crap. This is a group of right wing religious fanatics dictating what can and can not be thought and said. It is Orwellian with a mix of mcCarthyism. Even if she stood up and said Israel does not have a right to exist it is not a crime. She should be allowed to say what she wants.

It is the same as anyone else saying a Palestinian state will never exist(the state position of Israel). The thing is she never said anything like that and she is not Palestinian. So that is not the issue. The issue is some Jewish students said they feel threaten seeing Muslims on campus. Let alone hearing from one. That is all it takes to be attacked by the right today.

Why do right wing Jewish agitators get to do decide what is said, though and who is president of a university? This has go way too far.

Her sin wasn’t even the thoughts and words she had not yet formed. Her sin was not being a member of the one tribe that has exempted itself from criticism by proactively, ferociously, and hypocritically demonizing its critics.

She had no chance. If her message was supportive of Palestinian rights or even neutral on that topic, she had to go. No message is acceptable to this mob that doesn’t involve full-throated, unconditional support of Israel. It’s disgusting, actually.

Why should a valedictorian speech include anything about Palestine or Israel? It’s not the forum for it.

She has not even written her speech yet. Stop putting words in her mouth. And valedictorian speeches often have a little politics thrown in. No one cares unless there is a danger that someone might be pro-Palestinian. It is scary to me that anti-Muslim bias is on full display here and the majority of people are completely blind to it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/us/usc-graduation-commencement-guests.html


Jon M. Chu, the director of “Crazy Rich Asians,” and Billie Jean King also uninvited.

I’m guessing he withdrew and said he wants nothing to do with this dumpster fire. And USC is trying to save face by saying he was uninvited. Why would he be uninvited?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some Jewish faculty members joined a rally to support her.

https://laist.com/news/education/usc-valedictorian-asna-tabassum-plans-to-attend-commencement-as-pressure-grows

They are a lot smarter than some of the folks on this thread who have unfortunately lost the ability to consider facts when it comes to Israel.
Selective amnesia is fascinating

[Anonymous]

At this point, USC should just go all the way and invite one of the extreme West Bank settlers to give the primary graduation speech.
We already know that Biden does not think that Palestinian lives are worth much. The US government has embraced Netanyahu for better or worse. Many people are sick of how the US is behaving but are too scared to say anything because of the vicious cancel culture instigated by the powerful pro-Israel lobby

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a student at USC and a I am glad that she is not being allowed to speak. This is neither the time or place to politicize a speech that is meant to be a celebration of 4 years of hard work by ALL the students. The pro-Palestinian protests are all over the place and there are many forums in which to make your voice heard. Just the other day, roads were blocked to O'Hare and the Golden Gate bridge. Columbia University has on-going protests. Or you can just take your sentiments where they belong and vote for people who share your common views.

Let's no kid ourselves here that this would not make Jewish students uncomfortable. Can't they all just be students for a day and celebrate their common achievements or do we need to continue down this road where everything is a political sh!!!tshow?

The presence of a Muslim woman makes Jewish students uncomfortable? That’s literally what you’re saying, as she had not even written her remarks yet. You’ve jumped to so many conclusions on her based on what? Her ethnicity and religion. Do you want to go down this road?

We do no favors for our kids when we try to keep them in a bubble of likeminded sycophants.

I actually would give this woman the benefit of the doubt that she would give a speech that is uplifting and uniting, as she has promised.

-Father of Jewish children

Dear Father of Jewish Children

When a student of this caliber has a link on a social media site calling for the destruction of Israel, I have jumped to no conclusions. Over 200,000 people signed a petition calling for her to be removed. You may have all the free speech you want and you may expose your children to as many hateful messages as you would like, but Jewish students are being harrassed and bullied on a daily basis at these schools and made to feel unsafe. It has absolutely happened at USC and my daughter has seen it first hand. Have you forgotten the images of students banging on the door at a college trying to get inside a room that Jewish students were held up in?

This is not meant to shield them but to provide them ONE DAY, a respectful environment in which to celebrate their accomplishments.

They see harrassment every day. Have you not seen the congressional hearings wth these so called presidents that finally admitted that anti-semitism absolutely has been very present on their campuses?

I have no ill will toward this young woman, but free speech has consequences and unfortunately she shared an inciteful link and that message matters.

Signed a Catholic Mom

I am not going to respond anymore - I said what I said.

+100
Interesting that in all the praise for this young woman, no one bothered to mention this:

USC student advocacy group Trojans for Israel accused Tabassum of sharing a link in the bio of her Instagram page that calls Zionism “a racist settler-colonial ideology” and advocates for the “complete abolishment” of Israel, it wrote in a social media post.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/16/us/usc-valedictorian-commencement-speech-canceled/index.html

Thanks but no thanks.

Abolishment of a Jewish state of Israel in favor of one state with equal rights for everyone is a common viewpoint of a lot of people. She did not disparage Jews or call for any harm towards them. We have to stop looking at criticism of Israel as criticism of Jewish people.

Also, it was a link in her social media. I mean, come on. I equate this to more like if a student had a link to a pro-life website that called women who had abortions as baby killers or something. If that student was cancelled, it would be an uproar. This is the stifling of people who have different views on a college campus, and is wrong.

1. Criticism of Israel is VERY different from calling for ABOLITION of Israel, and its replacement with "a Palestinian state".

2. I assume that your abortion example is a joke. If a valedictorian called women who had abortions "baby-killers", they would absolutely be cancelled immediately.

Zero percent chance that such a student would be allowed to speak. (Then Faux News would make them a martyr, etc., etc.).

3. This is following the exact same pattern that we've seen over and over again for the last ~15 years.

The lesson: don't take/support extreme political views, especially in a public manner.

A Palestinian state where everyone has equal rights. Name the country whatever you want. I am sure there are some college students here who think Taiwan should be a part of China. Some college students who think parts of Ukraine should be a part of Russia. And have liked tweets or shared websites that share their views. I don't think that in and of itself should disqualify them from giving a speech at a university. That is shutting down dissenting viewpoints.

I didn't say the person called women baby killers, but shared a website that held that called women that. I am not talking about someone who is harassing women outside of an abortion clinic, or protesting outside the campus clinic. A lot of people who are pro-life, hold the view that women who have abortions are killing their babies. That is their belief. I have no doubt that there are many, many college students in this country who have that belief and have shared websites that also hold that view point. There is even probably a student who has shared those views or "liked" those views giving a commencement speech this spring. Maybe not around the DMV, but some college in the midwest or south, highly likely.

I respectfully disagree.

1. This isn't just "giving a speech". This is being honored as valedictorian and giving a speech to celebrate/represent the entire class. Important distinction, with different criteria than "ordinary" speech.

2. I'd argue that students who call for the forcible annexation of Taiwan or Ukraine should (and would) also be disqualified from giving a commencement address. And understandably so, given #1.

3. Same with someone who shares a website calling women baby-killers. Do you really think a student who did that would be chosen to give a commencement address at USC?

I absolutely do not. Left-leaning groups would be outraged.

Again, this isn't anything new or different from what we've seen across society for the last 15 years.

Person takes controversial/extreme position. Opponents scream bloody murder. Person is canceled. Person's supporters complain about cancel culture, attack the "cancellers". Hand-wringing ensues.

Rinse, wash, repeat.

What a load of crap. This is a group of right wing religious fanatics dictating what can and can not be thought and said. It is Orwellian with a mix of mcCarthyism. Even if she stood up and said Israel does not have a right to exist it is not a crime. She should be allowed to say what she wants.

It is the same as anyone else saying a Palestinian state will never exist(the state position of Israel). The thing is she never said anything like that and she is not Palestinian. So that is not the issue. The issue is some Jewish students said they feel threaten seeing Muslims on campus. Let alone hearing from one. That is all it takes to be attacked by the right today.

Why do right wing Jewish agitators get to do decide what is said, though and who is president of a university? This has go way too far.

Her sin wasn’t even the thoughts and words she had not yet formed. Her sin was not being a member of the one tribe that has exempted itself from criticism by proactively, ferociously, and hypocritically demonizing its critics.

She had no chance. If her message was supportive of Palestinian rights or even neutral on that topic, she had to go. No message is acceptable to this mob that doesn’t involve full-throated, unconditional support of Israel. It’s disgusting, actually.

Why should a valedictorian speech include anything about Palestine or Israel? It’s not the forum for it.

One she is not Palestinian so no way of knowing what she would have talked about. Two why have the students who cause the “security” situation(Trojans for Israel and the Chabad Jewish Student Center members) not been expelled? Three we can not live in a society where this type of intimidation and oppression is allowed to happen.

USC needs to go after the hates groups on campus- Trojans for Israel and the Chabad Jewish Student Center.

She is a pro Palestinian activist with a minor in genocide studies (how is this even a minor?) so of course she was going to talk about it as many pro Palestinian activist feel there is a genocide. There is also no evidence those groups are a security concern.

I feel for you because it is hard to justify your position with a straight face , but sue was canceled regardless of the content of her speech, which the school never saw. You and other posters keeps saying “should could have given an inclusive speech”, “she could have avoided talking about palestine” but the reality is she was canceled without the school having looked at her speech, just because she is an accomplished muslim student and extremist Israel supporters scoured her online presence and found a link to pro- palestinian sites and threatened violence apparently (she was removed from the speech for safety reasons according to the school). Again, nobody ever saw her speech.

Based on the reasons she was removed, every single Jewish student valedictorian this year should be removed from the position as well because 1 obviously she is going to talk about the palestinian conflict, 2 there is a security threat due to neonazi or pro palestinian groups 3 muslim students and particularly palestinian would obviously feel uncomfortable.

Finally there is plenty of evidence these group are a security concern. As soon as a muslim student was nominated valedictorian they dug through her life and mounted a campaign to remove her without a real basis in any action or word sue had ever done or said and the school canceled her speech “for safety reasons”. Who do you think was doing the threats ?

Some Jewish groups are really using terroristic tactics: are you a muslim/Palestinian or even just a young American of all background and religion? say anything against Israel, even a post on X and we will mount a campaign against you, flood your employer with bad reviews or questions why do you keep an antisemitic monster until you are fired and you will never find a job again. She was canceled regardless of her speech so please dont lie

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes let her go on more tv channels and have her minute of fame. When it all dies down good luck getting the jobs and scholarship opportunities leading to more wealth. Nobody wants a rabble rouser working for them as Google has proved. She can join some far fringe activist outfits but twenty years from now she will be complaining how her peers can afford the trappings of wealth and she will be forgotten.

Rabble rouser? You’re literally trying to parse the social media page of a random STEM student in California. She didn’t even have a public social media page. She apparently did post her own views online. You’re inferring so much off a single hyperlink a college student had in their bio on Instagram.

Honestly? You sound like Mao’s Red Guard, hunting down for anyone wrong-think. I think you don’t even realize how rabid you appear.

Would you feel the same if her bio had a link to a white supremacist site?

Serious question.

This stuff is hardly unique to the Israel/Palestine situation--folks have been getting canceled for "offensive" online speech for the last 20 years.

That website was not akin to StormFront.

Should a Jewish student not be able to speak if they state they are a supporter of Bezalel Smotrich, Netanyahu’s finance minister?

Here’s his quotes:
To Israeli-Arab politicians in the Knesset: “You're here by mistake, it's a mistake that Ben-Gurion didn't finish the job and didn't throw you out in 1948.”

On a settler pogroms against a West Bank village: “I believe that the village of Huwara should be wiped out. I believe that the state of Israel should do so, and not, God forbid, ordinary individuals."

He has said there is no Palestinian people, no Palestinian history, and that Palestine should not exist.

That’s very similar to the website. I’m sure there’s plenty of Likud supporters at USC. I guess they should be canceled too?

Like I said, this young woman has - by all reports I’ve read - not been actively involved in the campus protests. I do hope USC is investigated, because this is very close to both a Title IV and religious discrimination.

Pp here.

Yes, I would argue that a Smotrich supporter or a supporter of ethnic cleansing in Gaza (for example) should also NOT be chosen as a commencement speaker.

No a Smotrich supporter would be celebrated by the right and the university would fully support anything she/he said. The groups behind this fully support much more radical views than Smotrich.

Also remember she was not chosen but won the award. The valedictorian has alway addressed the graduating class. There is no world in which a Jewish student who won valedictorian who have their remarks/speech reviewed, edited or censored. There zero chance he/she would be denied the opportunity to speak because the administration was worried about what a Jew would say. This was done to silence and humiliate Muslims. This has gone too far.

This. The pro-Israel people have gone too far. They are literally trying to force the US to give up some of our most important values. They are in bed with crazy extreme republicans. I shudder at what lies ahead

You spelled Democrat wrong.

Yes the Middle East has made this country crazy. Including USC and including many posters on this thread who can't tell their right from their left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/us/usc-graduation-commencement-guests.html


Jon M. Chu, the director of “Crazy Rich Asians,” and Billie Jean King also uninvited.

I’m guessing he withdrew and said he wants nothing to do with this dumpster fire. And USC is trying to save face by saying he was uninvited. Why would he be uninvited?

USC uninvited all external speakers to minimize the risk of the valedictorian successfully suing under California’s Leonard Law, which guarantees the 1st Amendment rights of students on private high school and college campuses. Very difficult for USC to say with a straight face that the security risk only applied to her when speaking and no one else.