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West Chester University
Students Respond to
On-Campus Antisemitism
SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER
I ncidents of antisemitism and
anti-Zionism on West Chester
University’s campus prompted
Jewish students to speak out and
request a greater response from the
WCU administration when anti-Jewish
incidents occur on campus.

On April 15, a man with signs read-
ing “Jews Caused 9/11 by Provoking
Palestine” and “Jews Reject Jesus
Christ, You Know What You Did”
walked around WCU’s campus and
neighboring streets. He has been doing
so for several days.

On April 29, the school’s Department
of English journalism program and
Peace and Confl ict Studies program
hosted Palestinian writer Mohammed
El-Kurd, who has previously tweeted
anti-Israel statements such as, “Across
the country Zionists are beating, gas-
sing, shooting, lynching Palestinians.

... State-settler collusion emboldening
an unquenchable thirst for Palestinian
blood & land. Terrorist, genocidal
nation.” Th e Anti-Defamation League
page on El-Kurd describes him as hav-
ing a “ troubling pattern of rhetoric
and slander that ranges far beyond
reasoned criticism of Israel.”
Th e WCU Offi ce for Diversity, Equity,
and Inclusion issued an email response
on April 24 suggesting students avoid
the demonstrator on campus but did
not specifi cally mention the antisemitic
nature of his signs.

“We heard from a signifi cant number
of students that the demonstrator on
the quad made them feel uncomfort-
able and the university’s response even
more so,” said Rabbi Jeremy Winaker,
executive director at Greater Philly
Hillel Network, which oversees WCU’s
Hillel. “And then we had a range of
responses to the upcoming speaker, all
of which expressed concern again, for
their safety on campus.”
Th e events on WCU’s campus hap-
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pened at the same time as the discovery
of at least a dozen antisemitic fl yers
found on Ardmore lawns. Th e fl yers,
fi rst spotted on Rock Glen Road and
Saint Georges Road on April 22, con-
tained a link to an antisemitic website.

An investigation of who distributed
the fl yers is ongoing, and the Lower
Merion Police Department have made
no arrests.

WCU Hillel, in light of the recent
antisemitic demonstrator and before
El-Kurd’s speaking engagement, posted
a statement on its Instagram asking
the school administration to “call out
antisemitic activity as antisemitic or,
at least, hate speech when it happens
on campus.”
WCU President Chris Fiorentino
released another email statement on
April 26 that addressed the demon-
strator and antisemitism explicitly, but
admitted that little action could be
taken, as the demonstrator was not
breaking a law.

“We can’t stop the gentleman from
coming to our campus because we’re a
public university,” Chief Diversity and
Inclusion Offi cer Tracey Robinson said.

“So we’ve talked about our eff orts to try
to not give hate an audience. Th at’s why
we send out our message to let people
know that there’s an uninvited guest in
the quad and, if they can, to avoid that
area or not engage. We also provide
them with strategies for using their
voice in ways that counter the message
that’s being sent.”
WCU students also met with Leah
Tobin, vice president of religious aff airs;
Zebulun Davenport, vice president of
student aff airs; and Robinson about the
El-Kurd event, bringing up concerns
about that his anti-Israel rhetoric.

“We weren’t there to discuss neces-
sarily the Israeli-Palestinian confl ict,”
WCU Hillel student President Madelyn
Chartock said. “We were more there to
address the fact that he makes com-
ments about Zionism, Israeli Jews and
Jews in general.”
Th e school’s English department