Antisemitic Slogans Projected Onto UPenn Buildings

In the latest incident of antisemitism at the Ivy League institution, pro-Palestinian slogans were projected onto buildings at the University of Pennsylvania, which is accused of being "a magnet for antisemites" in a recently filed civil rights complaint.

The New York Post reported that multiple social media accounts shared images of a "light show" on campus Thursday, where anti-Israel messages were projected onto the sides of buildings.

"From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," one message reportedly read, while another declared "Zionism is racism." A third said, "Penn funds Palestinian genocide."

The antisemitic culture at UPenn, which school President Liz Magill recently acknowledged, has become so widespread that the Brandeis Center, a Jewish nonprofit organization, announced it was filing a complaint against the university with the federal Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.

According to the Post, the complaint states: "Penn has allowed its campus to become a hostile environment for its Jewish students as well as a magnet for anti-Semites."

Brandeis Center Founder and Chairman Kenneth Marcus told the Post that colleges and universities have "failed to keep Jewish students safe and are in clear violation of well-established federal civil rights law."

"There's been a lot of talk about rooting out antisemitism on campuses, and it's time to hold these colleges accountable," Marcus added.

In a separate incident, several UPenn employees were targeted on Monday, receiving antisemitic emails that threatened violence against members of the school's Jewish community.

In a statement Monday, Magill said the emails "threatened violence" against Jewish members of the university affiliated with Penn Hillel, a Jewish organization on campus, and Lauder College House.

"These messages also included hateful language, targeting the personal identities of the recipients," Magill said. "Threats of violence are not tolerated at Penn and will be met with swift and forceful action.

"The perniciousness of antisemitic acts on our campus is causing deep hurt and fear for our Jewish students, faculty, and staff and shaking their sense of safety and belonging at Penn. This is intolerable. I condemn personally these vicious and hateful antisemitic acts and words."

No credible threat was found, but security has reportedly been increased around campus. The university is investigating and also notified the FBI.

Magill said Penn's public safety department is "working urgently with the FBI to identify the individual or individuals who are responsible for these hateful, threatening emails and to ensure they are apprehended and punished to the fullest extent of the law."

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