Auburn's Bruce Pearl on anti-Israel rhetoric
Auburn's men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl appears on OutKick's "Don't @ Me with Dan Dakich" to discuss the latest anti-Israel rhetoric.
Last week, three top university presidents made headlines when they were unable to say if calls for the genocide of Jews would violate university policy.
Liz Magill of Penn resigned, but Harvard's Claudine Gay was expected to hold her title.
Sally Kornbluth has MIT's "full and unreserved support," the school said in a statement last week.
Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl, who is Jewish, said he is "grateful" he has not sensed antisemitism on his campus. And it doesn't seem like he believes Gay, Magill or Kornbluth are necessarily antisemitic.
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Head coach Bruce Pearl of the Auburn Tigers during the first half against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Legacy Arena at the BJCC March 16, 2023, in Birmingham, Ala. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
However, he does believe there is a false narrative that Palestinian people are oppressed, which played a role in the presidents' questionable testimony.
"There's a connection between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. They would like to say they're not antisemitic … but when it comes to Israel, way too many people around the world have bought into the idea that somehow the Jews stole the Palestinians' land. That's just not true," Pearl told OutKick's Dan Dakich.
HAMAS AND THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY HAVE SAME ENDGAME: 'DESTROY' ISRAEL, EXPERT SAYS
Pearl seemed to understand that people have been protesting against what they feel is oppression among the Palestinian people.
"Why wouldn't you want to free an oppressed people? … Why wouldn't you want to free them from oppression?" Pearl said.
Head coach Bruce Pearl of the Auburn Tigers gestures during the second half against the Houston Cougars in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Legacy Arena at the BJCC March 18, 2023, in Birmingham, Ala. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
"Except it's not true. It is simply not true."
Pearl noted that Israel was created after World War II.
"There are hardly any Jews living anywhere in the Middle East, but when you go to Israel, half the people look Arabic," he said. "Because they fled annihilation throughout the Arab world … before the state of Israel was even born.
"That's what gives these presidents pause because they just can't support Israel, because they can't support apartheid or oppression. There are 9 million people in Israel. There are 6 million Jews. There are about 3 million Arabs. That's not apartheid. There are no Jews living anywhere else in the Middle East, because if they were living there, they'd be dead.
"There's no place in the world like Israel that is surrounded by people that want to destroy her, and yet, the world is saying ‘OK, cease-fire, stop.’ And somehow, it's OK for the world to believe that Israel does not have a right to exist."
Head coach Bruce Pearl of the Auburn Tigers reacts during the second half against the Kentucky Wildcats at Auburn Arena Jan. 22, 2022, in Auburn, Ala. (Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says Israel has been attacked by Hezbollah at least two times this week.
The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a resolution presented by Egypt demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire between Hamas and Israel and for the release of all hostages.
Fox News' Andrea Vacchiano and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
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