Cornell student details gathering 5K signatures, raising $28K to drop anti-Israel singer ‘Kehlani'
"Everybody has the right to free speech," Netanel Shapira, president of Cornellians for Israel, told Fox News Digital Friday in an interview.
"They can say what they want," he added. "The difference here with Kalani is that her statements are not just anti-Israel, they're just vehemently against Israelis, Jewish people. She spews hate. It's not like a political stance. So that immediately triggered our response, and we immediately reached out to the administration from different fronts, not just from Cornellians for Israel's perspective, from all Jewish communities around the school, people reached out to the administration."
Kehlani has shared numerous anti-Israel messages in her music and on social media in recent years, including a call for an "intifada."
One post of hers read, "it's f--- Israel from the top of my lungs. Idc [I don't care] about the f----- threats. DISMANTLE ISRAEL. ERADICATE ZIONISM."
Shapira mobilized his organization, Cornellians for Israel, and other friendly organizations on campus, to circulate a petition to get Kehlani removed from headlining Cornell's annual "Slope Day" concert, an event that celebrates the end of the school year.
"We kind of took things into our own hands and said, we have to, you know, institute a campaign to pressure the administration and show them that, hey, we Jews and we pro-Israel members of the community are very disappointed in the fact that the school could bring a performer who's this hateful towards us," Shapira said.
As concerns about Kehlani were being shared, Shapira said a defining time of the effort came when Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff held a townhall with Jewish students to hear their concerns.
"One of the most powerful moments of the story was, he asked, given how hateful her comments have been towards your community, how many of you would not be willing to come to Slope Day," Shapira said. "And the entire room of like close to a hundred people raised their hands. And sort of I could tell on his face, in that moment, that he realized, this administration messed up, something has to be done."
In a statement released Wednesday, Kotlikoff said, "Unfortunately, although it was not the intention, the selection of Kehlani as this year's headliner has injected division and discord into Slope Day."
"For that reason, I am rescinding Kehlani's invitation and expect a new lineup for a great 2025 Slope Day to be announced shortly."
Shapira said that the efforts of the students to cancel Kehlani brought in about 5,000 signatures and raised over $28,000.
"The administration kind of had to start paying attention once that started happening," Shapira said.
The senior at Cornell University said that once the school announced that Kehlani was being canceled, and that the funds would not be needed for another performer, they gave the option to the donors to get their funds back.
"We're super grateful to the whole community," Shapira said. "Almost everyone said, keep the money. You guys did an amazing job, that kind of thing. So we're very grateful as an organization for that."
Instead, the funds will be used to host pro-Israel events and speakers.
When reached for comment, Cornell University referred Fox News Digital to Kotlikoff's earlier statement announcing the rescinding of Kehlani's invitation.
In a video posted on Instagram on Saturday, Kehlani said "I am not antisemitic."
"I know you've seen Cornell University cancelled my show, and now there are attempts at other cancellations on top of the cancellations I've already experienced over the past year. If you want to cancel me from opportunity, stand on it being because of your zionism. Don't make it anti-jew. This a played out game. All this because we want people to stop dying. I hope this helps," she wrote in the post with her video.
Fox News Digital also reached out to representatives for Kehlani for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Israel's settlement plan to split the West Bank in 2 gains momentum
LONDON -- A controversial Israeli settlement plan that would effectively split the West Bank in two is gaining momentum after a key government committee -- the Higher Planning Committee of the Civil Administration under the Defense Ministry -- gave its approval. The settlement proposal approved by the Israel Defense Ministry on Wednesday consists of a plan to build 3,400 new housing units in an area known as E1 -- an area of land some 4.6 square miles in size separating Jerusalem from the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim. The E1 area is particularly significant, given it is one of the last areas linking the West Bank Palestinian cities of Ramallah in the north and Bethlehem in the south. The construction of Israeli settlements there -- which has been proposed for decades but until now not approved -- is considered by supporters and critics alike as a major obstacle to the establishment of a Palestinian state. MORE: 'Horror' in Gaza is 'incomprehensible,' says US doctor who treated patients there Any new settlement construction is expected to restrict the movement of Palestinians in the area. Israeli authorities maintain tight restrictions on Palestinian entry into and movement inside illegal settlements, as reported by the United Nations and a host of foreign, Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups. Bedouins – the descendants of historically semi-nomadic groups, many of whom now live in agricultural areas of the West Bank -- currently living in the area said this week that they have already received orders to leave. Atallah Al-Jahelin, the representative of the Bedouin community of Jabal Al-Baba to the west of Maale Adumim, said locals there had received notice of planned demolition works related to the plans. E1 is designated as part of Area C, which means Israel has full civil and security control there. Some 60% of the West Bank is designated as Area C, with only 18% classified as Area A, meaning it is under full Palestinian Authority control. Israel's far-right, pro-settlement Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the plan last week, saying it "definitively buries the idea of a Palestinian state, simply because there is nothing to recognize and no one to recognize." "The seal has broken," Smotrich said at a press conference in Maale Adumim. "Whoever in the world is trying to recognize a Palestinian state today, will receive our answer on the ground," he added, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "fully apply Israeli sovereignty" to the entire West Bank. Netanyahu has yet to comment on the plan. In a statement posted to X, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said the E1 plan "undermines the prospects of implementing the two-state solution, embodying the Palestinian state on the ground, and fragments its geographical and demographic unity." "It entrenches the division of the occupied West Bank into isolated areas and cantons, disconnected from one another geographically, resembling actual prisons where movement between them is only possible through occupation checkpoints amidst the terror of armed settler militias spread throughout the West Bank," the ministry added. MORE: Israel begins attack on Gaza City, calling up to 60,000 reservists Locals have also condemned the move. Atallah Al-Jahelin, the representative of the Bedouin community of Jabal Al-Baba to the west of Maale Adumim, said some residents have already received orders to vacate their homes ahead of planned demolition works. Western governments have also expressed their opposition to the plan. British Foreign Minister David Lammy said of the proposal in a post to X, "If implemented, it would divide a Palestinian state in two, mark a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermine the two-state solution." The White House has not commented on the E1 settlement plan, but U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee this week signaled it will not interfere. "We will not dictate to Israel what to do, we will not interfere in the running of the country,' he said. 'It would be very strange to say that others can live in this area but Israelis cannot." Past U.S. administrations have opposed the construction of Israeli settlements in the E1 area. The German Foreign Ministry said Berlin opposed the plan as it "would further restrict the mobility of the Palestinian population in the West Bank, effectively divide the West Bank into two halves and cut East Jerusalem off from the rest of the West Bank." The French Foreign Ministry urged the Israeli government to abandon the plan, which it said "constitutes a serious violation of international law." British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. will recognize an independent Palestinian state in September when the U.N. General Assembly convenes in New York unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza and take other steps toward long-term peace. French President Emmanuel Macron has also announced that France will recognize a Palestinian state at the General Assembly. ABC News' Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Netanyahu says he will give approval for Gaza City takeover despite protests
Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will give final approval for a takeover of Gaza City while also restarting negotiations with Hamas aimed at returning all of Israel's remaining hostages and ending the war on Israel's terms. The wide-scale operation in Gaza City could start within days after the Israeli Prime Minister grants final approval at a meeting with senior security officials. Hamas said earlier this week that it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal from Arab mediators which, if accepted by Israel, could forestall the offensive. The widening of the 22-month military offensive against Hamas appears to be proceeding despite protests in Israel and the Palestinian enclave. The Israeli military has been calling medical officials and international organisations in the northern Gaza Strip to encourage them to evacuate to the south ahead of the expanded operation. The military plans to call up 60,000 reservists and extend the service of 20,000 more. Israeli strikes killed at least 36 Palestinians across Gaza on Thursday, according to local hospitals. A renewed offensive could bring even more casualties and displacement to the territory, where the war has already killed tens of thousands and where experts have warned of imminent famine. Many Israelis fear it could also doom the remaining 20 or so living hostages taken by Hamas-led militants in the October 7 2023 attack that ignited the war. Israeli troops have already begun limited operations in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood and the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp, where they have carried out several previous major operations over the course of the war, only to see militants later regroup. The military says it plans to operate in areas where ground troops have not yet entered and where it says Hamas still has military and governing capabilities. There has been little sign of Palestinians fleeing en masse, as they did when Israel carried out an earlier offensive in Gaza City in the opening weeks of the war. The military says it controls around 75% of Gaza and residents say nowhere in the territory feels safe. Hundreds gathered in Gaza City on Thursday for a rare protest against the war and Israel's plans to support the mass relocation of Palestinians to other countries. Unlike in previous protests, there were no expressions of opposition to Hamas. In Israel, families of some of the 50 hostages still being held in Gaza gathered in Tel Aviv to condemn the expanded operation. Israel believes around 20 hostages are still alive. 'Forty-two hostages were kidnapped alive and murdered in captivity due to military pressure and delay in signing a deal,' said Dalia Cusnir, whose brother-in-law Eitan Horn is still being held captive. Mr Horn's brother Iair was released during a ceasefire earlier this year. 'Enough to sacrifice the hostages. Enough to sacrifice the soldiers, both regular and reservists. Enough to sacrifice the evacuees. Enough to sacrifice the younger generation in the country,' said Bar Goddard, daughter of Meni Goddard, whose body is being held by Hamas. Additional protests are planned for Thursday night in Tel Aviv. Plans for widening the offensive have sparked international outrage, with many of Israel's closest western allies — but not the US — calling on it to end the war. 'I must reiterate that it is vital to reach immediately a ceasefire in Gaza, and the unconditional release of all hostages to avoid the massive death and destruction that a military operation against Gaza City would inevitably cause,' United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said. At least 36 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including 14 who were seeking humanitarian aid, according to local hospitals. The Israeli military said it killed several armed militants in the Morag Corridor, a military zone where people seeking aid have repeatedly come under fire in recent weeks, according to witnesses and health officials. Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza had earlier reported that six people were killed in that area while seeking aid on Thursday. It was not possible to reconcile the two accounts. The Media Freedom Coalition, which promotes press freedoms worldwide, called for Israel to allow independent, foreign news organisations access to Gaza. Aside from rare guided tours, Israel has barred international media from the war which has killed at least 184 Palestinian journalists and media workers. 'Journalists and media workers play an essential role in putting the spotlight on the devastating reality of war,' said a statement signed by 27 of the coalition's member countries. Witnesses, health officials and the UN human rights office say Israeli forces have killed hundreds of people since May as they headed towards sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli-backed American contractor, and in the chaos surrounding UN aid convoys, which are frequently attacked by looters and overrun by crowds. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approach its forces. The GHF says there has been almost no violence at the sites, and that its armed contractors have only used pepper spray and fired into the air on some occasions to prevent deadly crowding. Israeli air strikes also destroyed a tent camp in Deir al-Balah, the only city in Gaza that has been relatively unscathed in the war and where many have sought refuge. Residents said the military warned them to flee shortly before the strikes set the camp ablaze, and there were no reports of casualties. Families, many with children, could later be seen sifting through the ashes for the belongings they had managed to take with them during earlier evacuations. Mohammad Kahlout, who had been displaced from northern Gaza, said they were given just five minutes to gather what they could and evacuate. 'We are civilians, not terrorists. What did we do, and what did our children do, to be displaced again?'
The Hill
28 minutes ago
- The Hill
Senate Democrat predicts ‘day of reckoning' for private prison employees
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) on Wednesday said private prison employees would have to answer to their treatment of inmates amid the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration and as more detention facilities may pop up around the U.S. 'There, at some point, is going to be a reckoning for all of this,' Ossoff told MSNBC during an appearance on 'The Weeknight.' 'These folks who are working at these private prison companies, who are on Kristi Noem's staff right now, they are at some point going to have to testify under oath about what is happening in the facilities that they're currently running,' he added. Democrats have slammed Republicans for rejecting their attempts to conduct oversight at facilities where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold detained migrants awaiting deportation. Some state lawmakers were also denied entry to 'Alligator Alcatraz' last month, the detention center in the Florida Everglades. They have also been critical of President Trump's robust immigration agenda, with turmoil rising after lawmakers joined with protestors outside of an ICE center in New York earlier this year and anti-ICE protests sprung up in Southern California and beyond in opposition to an uptick in deportation raids after the administration sent National Guard soldiers to Los Angeles to quell demonstrations. Families of those detained and human rights groups have said their loved ones are suffering from abuse while in ICE custody, such as a lack of clean water and electricity. 'We're talking about pregnant women. We're talking about children,' Ossoff told MSNBC's Alicia Menendez. 'We're talking about people who have no business being in one of these horrible detention centers.' 'And, you know, I believe that the American people have rejected this draconian and inhumane approach to interior enforcement,' the lawmaker continued. 'But in terms of my Republican colleagues, no spine is yet visible in the Senate.' The Georgia Democrat also noted that the treatment is 'indefensible' citing what he said is over 500 credible reports of abuses. House and Senate Democrats joined forces to send a Wednesday letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem hoping to address the alleged injustices. 'Brushing aside concerns from human rights watchdogs, environmentalist groups, and Tribal nations, [DHS] has greenlit the construction of this expansive detention facility that may violate detained individuals' human rights, jeopardize public and environmental health and violate federal law,' Democrats wrote in a letter to Noem inquiring about operations at 'Alligator Alcatraz.' It's unclear if they've received a response.
