Jewish model responds to alma mater UPenn hosting speaker that called Israel 'demonic,' 'tumor'

Jewish model and activist Elizabeth Pipko spoke out against her alma mater after the University of Pennsylvania hosted a Palestinian writers festival featuring speakers who have repeatedly called for "death to Israel" and referred to the Jewish State as a "tumor."

Penn came under intense backlash last month for hosting the "Palestine Writes Literature Festival" on campus, featuring a lineup of speakers who have drawn criticism in the past for their history of controversial comments. The event was widely condemned by prominent Jewish groups, alumni, trustees and current Penn students, who urged the president and faculty to take steps to ban the event from taking place on campus.

Many of the event's speakers including Palestinian-American author Susan Abulhawa, Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah and illustrator and Palestinian author Aya Ghanameh have drawn criticism for previous remarks or actions that have been largely criticized as antisemitic. They didn't respond to a request for comment.

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Ghanameh has tweeted "Death to Israel" on various occasions. Abdel-Fattah has called Israel a "demonic, sick project" and added that she "can’t wait for the day we commemorate its end." Abulhawa has called for the dismantling of Israel, which she called "a colonial nation of degenerates" on her now-suspended account on X, formerly Twitter. She also said Israel is "one big, militarized tumor" just days after seven Jews were killed in a shooting outside a synagogue.

A truck was seen traveling around the city and campus in the week following up to the event which broadcasted some of the anti-Israel statements made by the speakers. A banner on the bottom called for people to urge Penn to move the event and send the message that "racists are not welcome at UPenn."

But despite pressure from the Anti-Defamation League and an open letter from high-profile trustees and alumni, the school’s president, Elizabeth Magill, allowed the event to proceed on campus. Magill said the school would include "antisemitism awareness as part of our equity and inclusion programs" moving forward but took no action with regard to the speaker lineup.

Pipko, who graduated from Penn earlier this year with a master's degree from the School of Social Policy and Practice, said she was disappointed to learn of the university's part in hosting the event and slammed the organizers for inviting speakers with a history of antisemitic rhetoric.

"It was incredibly sad and scary for me to know that not only UPenn, but any school in the U.S., in the year 2023, is welcoming speakers who are proudly antisemitic," she told Fox News Digital. "It would seem to me that a Palestinian festival can exist without the addition of Jew-hating speakers. If anything, the addition of antisemitic speakers… only undermines the festival’s mission."

Addressing the university faculty directly, Pipko continued, "Please be willing to stand up for those that are telling you that they feel threatened or unsafe, whether that be Jewish students or anybody else. As faculty, I believe there is a responsibility to help and create an environment where students know that celebrating the value of Palestinian writers is something that can and should be done, and which does not need the addition of antisemitic speakers or threats. This only divides us further and in my opinion defeats the purpose of the festival to begin with."

As tensions heated up on campus in the days leading up to the festival, a Jewish organization at Penn was vandalized ahead of morning prayer services. A student knocked over several pieces of furniture, while shouting "antisemitic obscenities about Jewish people," the Penn Hillel said in a statement. Penn police intercepted the student, who they determined was experiencing a "crisis" and transported the student for further evaluation, the school said.

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Pipko, who founded Lest People Forget, a Holocaust education initiative, urged Jewish students on college campuses across the U.S. to stand tall and "never allow anyone to scare you into not being proud of who you are."

"As we know, not only are antisemitic incidents at an all-time high, but the majority of religious hate crimes in the U.S. are committed against Jewish people. I don’t blame anyone for being afraid because of this incident and so many others around the country, but the goal of those committing these crimes is not just to scare you, but also to make you feel as if you are doing something wrong by being proud to be a Jew," she said.

The New York City-raised model, who has appeared in Grazia, Harper's Bazaar, and L'Officiel, said her family "faced tactics like these - and so much worse - back in the former Soviet Union and raised me with the hopes that I would never see something similar as a young person here in the United States."

"I would hope that others would also agree with the notion that any university which is responsible not only for the education, but also the safety, of many young people, would want to do everything in their power to distance themselves from any antisemitic speakers;" she added, "much like they would any other speakers or rhetoric which directly fuel hatred on campus and threaten students' safety."

Pipko joins many other Penn graduates who've been vocal against the school's decision to welcome many of the event speakers on campus.

In September, several high-profile trustees and University of Pennsylvania alumni signed an open letter expressing "deep concerns" over the school’s decision to allow the event to proceed. Some of the signatories include Josh Harris, the private equity investor who now owns the Washington Commanders; Marc Rowan, the CEO of Apollo Global Management; Jay Clayton, the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission; and Jeff Blau, the CEO of Related Companies, Jewish Insider reported.

"The University of Pennsylvania should be doing all within its power to distance itself from the event’s antisemitic speakers, make clear that such antisemitism is wholly at odds with the university’s values, and take proactive steps to ensure that Jewish students, faculty and staff are safe and welcome at Penn," the letter reads, according to a copy obtained by the outlet.

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"Neither academic freedom nor freedom-of-speech principles prevent the university from using its own voice to speak out against antisemitism wherever and whenever it occurs, especially on campus," they wrote. "Unfortunately, without stronger leadership from campus administrators, antisemitism has and will continue to find a home in academia by those who allow antisemitic beliefs to be couched in anti-Israel or anti-Zionist fig leaves."

Lizzy Savetsky, a well-known social media influencer who regularly uses her platform to advocate for Jewish and pro-Israel causes, said she felt "extremely sad and appalled" when she heard the university she graduated from in 2010 was giving a platform to "rabid antisemites."

"Penn has always had a vibrant Jewish life and I knew this would make Jewish students feel uncomfortable and unsafe," she told Fox News Digital. "Wherever anti-Zionism goes, antisemitism follows as we saw in this case with the attack on Penn's Hillel. A college campus has a responsibility to protect its students, and they failed badly here."

Savetsky visited her old campus days before the festival to speak with Jewish students about their concerns with the planned event. 

"They were already feeling uneasy, unsafe and unprotected," she said. "The Hillel vandalization only proved why this conference is dangerous for Jewish students." 

As for Magill's refusal to move the festival, Savetsky said pointedly, "Shame on you."

"You clearly have a problem on your hands, and you failed to protect your students."

David Harris, the vice chair of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, said he feels "shame" that his alma mater played a part in hosting an event for "Jew haters."

"When I was accepted by @Penn, I was proud. When I graduated, I was proud. When I served on the search committee that chose Ivy League’s 1st Jewish pres., I was proud. When I was an admissions officer, I was proud. Now, after Penn was venue for Jew haters, all I feel is shame," Harris wrote on social media.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Magill acknowledged that many have raised concerns about several of the speakers who have a "documented and troubling history of engaging in antisemitism by speaking and acting in ways that denigrate Jewish people."

Magill "unequivocally" condemned antisemitism, while "fiercely" expressing support "for the free exchange of ideas." She emphasized that the event was not organized by the university despite being held on campus, and that it was intended to "highlight the importance and cultural impact of Palestinian writers and artists." 

"We unequivocally and empathetically condemn antisemitism as antithetical to our institutional values. As a university, we also fiercely support the free exchange of ideas as central to our educational mission. This includes the expression of views that are controversial and even those that are incompatible with our institutional values," the statement read.

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Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, who wore a Nazi-style uniform during a concert in Berlin in May, was slated to speak at the event but was reportedly barred from entering the campus. He joined the panel virtually via Zoom from the Philadelphia International Airport, though the organizers reportedly left a chair open for him on stage.

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Fox News' Emma Colton contributed to this report.