A student at Harvard Law School is under fire this morning after he called former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni “smelly” during a forum on the Israel-Palestinian conflict on Thursday.
Who does this?
https://twitter.com/Yair_Rosenberg/status/722822012679426048
The student apologized saying he didn’t know his “smelly Jew” remark would be taken as anti-Semitic:
“I would never, ever, ever call anyone, under any circumstances, a ‘smelly Jew,’” the student wrote. “Such a comment is utterly repugnant, and I am absolutely horrified that some readers have been led to believe that I would ever say such a thing. With regards to what I actually did say, I can see now, after speaking with the authors of this article and many other members of the Jewish community at HLS, how my words could have been interpreted as a reference to an anti-Semitic stereotype, one that I was entirely unaware of prior to the publication of this article. I want to be very clear that it was never my intention to invoke a hateful stereotype, but I recognize now that, regardless of my intention, words have power, and it troubles me deeply to know that I have caused some members of the Jewish community such pain with my words.”
Harvard refused to identify the student, but various groups have denounced the “smelly Jew” question. How nice of them:
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Dean @Harvard_Law Denounces Antisemitic 'Smelly' Comment at @Tzipi_Livni talkhttps://t.co/wPlzFKEPFw pic.twitter.com/UD70jBXiUy
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) April 20, 2016
According to reports, the student has been identified as Husam El-Coolaq, a “campus BDS leader” which kind of puts his comment in perspective, no?
https://twitter.com/noahpollak/status/722918468568244225
https://twitter.com/NoahPollak/status/722922109446402048
https://twitter.com/therealroseanne/status/723075030230269954
The student's name is Husam El-Qoulaq and he's the leader of Justice for Palestine at Harvard Law. https://t.co/cgy4sFv7t4
— Newsketeer °O° (@newsketeer) April 21, 2016
No wonder Harvard wants to hide the student’s identity.
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