Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Culllors gave a commencement speech at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs this weekend.
Cullors has a long history of anti-Israel rhetoric, but that apparently didn’t bother UCLA leadership.
Aaron Bandler first reported at Jewish Journal:
UCLA Confirms BLM Co-founder Who Called to End “Project That’s Called Israel” Will Be Commencement SpeakerThe UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs confirmed to the Journal that Black Lives Matter (BLM) co-founder Patrisse Cullors will be giving a pre-recorded speech as the keynote speaker to the school’s June 11 graduation ceremony.Cullors, who recently resigned from the Black Lives Matter Global Foundation, said during a 2015 panel, “Palestine is our generation’s South Africa. If we don’t step up boldly and courageously to end the imperialist project that’s called Israel, we’re doomed.” She also encouraged people to look into the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and to show support for Rasmea Odeh, who was convicted of two 1969 bombings in Jerusalem and was deported from Chicago to Jordan in 2017 after pleading guilty of failing to disclose her prior conviction when applying for United States citizenship in 2004.Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Agenda at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Rabbi Abraham Cooper told the Journal that UCLA needs to determine if Cullors still holds the viewpoints she expressed in 2015. Judea Pearl,Chancellor’s Professor of Computer Science at UCLA, National Academy of Sciences member and Daniel Pearl Foundation president, told the Journal he asked UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs Dean Professor Gary Segura if he would ask Cullors if she would retract her 2015 remarks.
The response from Segura is something else.
Thomas Barrabi of FOX News:
“Respect for diversity of opinion on matters of public concern is a key tenet of the educational philosophy of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, and it’s important to remember that an invitation to speak does not represent an endorsement of all past or future statements by a given speaker,” Segura said in a statement. “We do not condone racism, sexism, anti-Semitism or any form of bias.””The prerecorded commencement message from Patrisse Cullors is one of unity, tolerance and forgiveness,” Segura added. “She suggests that a cooperative spirit can help heal old wounds and advance new solutions. I am confident that our graduating students will appreciate her perspective and find inspiration in her call to look forward without judgment in pursuit of a happier, more equitable society.”
Author Shahar Azani offers a few comments below:
If a Republican was invited to speak at UCLA, there would be protests, and the decision would be called controversial. But someone who has advocated for the destruction of Israel is no big deal at all.
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