Maya Harpaz, a junior at University of Pennsylvania and VP of Israel Engagement at Penn Hillel, offers a powerful response to the Palestine Writes event on campus.
This weekend’s Palestine Writes event at the University of Pennsylvania has caused a great deal of controversy. While the event’s stated aim is to celebrate Palestinian culture, it has become a platform for deeply problematic content, including speakers with well-established records of antisemitic rhetoric, along with programs and materials that present distortive and bigoted views of Israel and Zionism.
With the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre with now 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals reported dead and 134 still held hostage, there have been renewed attempts to rewrite history and assert that Jews are “foreign occupiers” with no ties to the land of Israel. Among the lies being spread is an effort to undermine Israel’s legitimacy by accusing it of being a settler-colonial state.