On April 15, a demonstrator with
antisemitic signs walks around West
Chester University’s campus and
surrounding neighborhoods.

Courtesy of Ryan Levinson
decided to continue to host the event,
reiterating, “It is important to hear
about Mohammed El-Kurd’s human
rights journalism in its full context,”
Ben Kuebrich, associate professor of
English, said of the event.

Ryan Levinson, a Jewish junior not
affi liated with Hillel, handed out fl yers
before the event to express his concerns
and disappointment in the administra-
tion for not condemning the event.

On April 29, WCU Hillel hosted an alternative event to Mohammad El-Kurd’s
speaking engagement, where students called for unity and painted a banner.

Courtesy of Madelyn Chartock
“Instead of being vague, like they
have in the past, just saying ‘antisem-
itism,’ [the school] needs to call out
the speaker and warn students because
... this isn’t a controversial, radical
speaker,” Levinson said. “Th is is some-
one that’s spewing lies.”
Hillel, along with the Student
Leadership and Involvement offi ce, hosted
a unity event at the same time as El-Kurd’s
presentation. Th e students painted a ban-
ner that said, “We choose unity.”
El-Kurd’s event, however, didn’t
necessarily warrant the overwhelming
student response, according to Hillel
member Matt Honig, who attended the
event along with 40-50 other students.

“A majority of the students, myself
included, completely blew the speaker ‘s
intentions out of proportion,” Honig said.

El-Kurd, who Honig described as
a “soft -spoken, well-mannered guy,”
shied away from anti-Israel sentiments,
Honig said, and instead read from his
poetry book “Rifqa” and spoke about
his family’s own experiences living in
East Jerusalem.

Th e debate over the speaker is part of
a greater conversation within the WCU
Jewish community about how to talk
about the Israeli-Palestinian confl ict.

Th e fi rst step, according to Winaker,
is to ensure Jewish students feel seen
and heard by school leadership, so they
feel comfortable exploring their Jewish
identities and relationship with Israel.

“College is a unique time and life
when [students] can engage with diffi -
cult ideas, and they should,” Winaker
said. “But they need to feel safe in order
to do so meaningfully.” JE
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