Cornell University’s Endorsement of Genocide Persists Despite $1 Billion Fund Freeze Against Antisemitism

How serious are prestigious universities about ensuring their campuses are safe from antisemitism?

Take Cornell, for instance. The university demonstrates its commitment to this issue by hosting a musical performer who has openly advocated for genocide against Jews, even in light of the Trump administration’s freeze on $1 billion in funding to the institution.

And what excuse did they offer in response to the criticism? They claimed they were unaware of Kehlani’s antisemitic views until it was too late to find a replacement.

Please. Her inflammatory remarks are readily available online. Ignorance about them seems more like a deliberate choice.

So, just how extreme are Kehlani’s views? She effectively supports the annihilation of Israel and the Jewish people in a music video that opens with the phrase “Long live the intifada”— i.e., the violent, terrorist campaign aimed at removing Jews from Israel through bombings, assassinations, and (post-Oct. 7) mass rape, slaughter, and abduction.

By supporting the intifada, the singer clearly endorses all of those actions—regardless of any attempts from her or her management to reframe or deny it.

She has also stated on social media that “Zionists are all evil,” the “scum of the earth,” and that they should all “go to hell.”

By allowing a student group to invite her to the campus, Cornell implicitly endorses these abhorrent views.

And don’t fall for that weak claim of ignorance or the assertion that it’s too late to find another performer. (Or simply cancel the event.)

Would Cornell permit students to invite a country-rock group that admires the KKK? Certainly not.

It’s only when the targets of hate are Jews (and white individuals, straight men, and Asians) that these institutions suddenly begin to speak about viewpoint neutrality.

This is regrettably not surprising for Cornell, the same institution where just days after October 7, a history “professor,” Russell Rickford, remarked that the horrific acts committed by Hamas were “exhilarating.”

What consequence did he face? A minor reprimand; Rickford is back to teaching in no time.

Cornell realizes it has made a mistake; it’s now trying to backtrack, shift blame onto the student organization that issued the invitation.

But it’s obvious where the sympathies of its leadership lie. This serves as further evidence that Ivy League schools and many other elite institutions are deeply flawed.