Open Letter Urges Brown University To Dump Speaker Who Blamed Israel for October 7 Attack

A top official for the United Nations, who has publicly accused Israel of “committing genocide” against Palestinian Arabs, will be speaking before a crowd at Brown University, raising the ire of many attending the Ivy League institution.According to the Washington Free Beacon, an open letter condemned the school for allowing UN Special Rapporteur to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Francesca Albanese, to speak at the September 16 event entitled “Anatomy of a Genocide: A failure of the International System?” and urged university officials to rescind the invitation.In the hours after Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, Ms. Albanese, who has long claimed that the Jewish state has no right to defend itself against Hamas, said in a post on X that the “violence must be put into context.”In the open letter, the authors cite the institution’s core values — community safety, open and respectful learning environments, care and empathy, and a strong stance against bias and discrimination — as reasons to cancel the talk.“We understand that Brown is dedicated to the values of free expression, constructive dialogue, and learning across differences, and we understand the importance of hearing from multiple perspectives on the subject of the Israel-Hamas war. However, as Provost Francis J. Doyle III and President Paxson have shared many times, ‘the University remains focused on four central priorities,'” reads a passage of the letter. “We believe that hosting Francesca Albanese would be counterproductive to these priorities as a result of her internationally-recognized antisemitism and concerning support for terrorism.”The letter also points out that Ms. Albanese — who in March penned a report published by the United Nations entitled “Anatomy of a Genocide,” in which she accuses Israel of advancing a “settler-colonial project in Palestine” — has given justification and support for the terroristic activities of Hamas as evidenced in comments she made during a 2022 conference held by Hamas’s Council on International Relations telling those in attendance via video conference call, “You have a right to resist this occupation.”Ms. Albanese has been banned from entering Israel by authorities there, calling her past statements antisemitic. She has also faced condemnation from the leaders of France and Germany and officials here in America.Officials at Brown University have not publicly responded to calls for the event’s cancellation.

Open Letter Urges Brown University To Dump Speaker Who Blamed Israel for October 7 Attack

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