The University Of Southern California Has Canceled This Muslim Woman Valedictorian’s Speech After She Showed Her Support For Palestine On Social Media
Asna Tabassum was accused of being anti-semitic because she had liked Instagram posts from a student group supporting Palestine.
The University of Southern California has canceled this Muslim woman valedictorian’s speech after she showed her support for Palestine on social media.
Asna Tabassum, a biomedical engineering student who also minored in “Resistance to Genocide”, had been chosen from nearly 100 students with GPAs of over 3.98.
She had been scheduled to deliver a speech at USC’s 2024 commencement ceremony on May 10, which is attended by about 65,000 people each year.
But after Tabassum was announced as the valedictorian – or the top student – people both on and off-campus started attacking her over her social media activities.
Tabassum was accused of being anti-semitic because she had liked Instagram posts from a student group supporting Palestine.
Another student group supporting Israel then called for her to be removed because her Instagram bio links to a page that says “learn about what’s happening in Palestine and how to help”.
The group said that the website linked to a page that called Zionism a “racist settler-colonial ideology”.
Then on Monday, April 15, USC announced that it was canceling Tabassum’s speech to “maintain campus safety and security”.
This is the first time that USC has ever canceled a valedictorian’s speech.
In a statement, the school’s vice president said the decision had nothing to do with freedom of speech.
It said that its decision to choose Tabassum had led to an “alarming tenor” of discussions that had escalated to the point of creating “substantial security risks”.
In a statement, Tabassum said she was shocked that her school had “succumbed to a campaign of hatred” and abandoned her.
She said that she had been subject to racist hatred because of her “uncompromising belief in human rights for all”.
USC’s vice president told the Los Angeles Times that the university would provide Tabassum support but added that its top priority is ensuring that the campus and community is safe.
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