Penn students who screened film on Israel face possible discipline

University of Pennsylvania student organizers who screened a film critical of Israel on campus against the university’s direction face potential disciplinary consequences.

The screening of Israelism by Penn Chavurah, a progressive Jewish student group, occurred Tuesday without incident with about 60 students and faculty members in attendance. Penn’s Middle East Center was able to reserve a room for students without disclosing what film would be shown.

The documentary, which debuted at a film festival in February, depicts the stories of “two young American Jews raised to unconditionally love Israel” until they travel to Israel and the West Bank and “witness the brutal way Israel treats Palestinians,” according to the film’s website. It has won awards, but also has drawn controversy for its portrayal of Israel.

» READ MORE: Penn students protest the school’s denial to show a film critical of Israel, with plans to screen anyway

The Middle East Center’s director, Harun Küçük, resigned Tuesday, before the film was shown. “I’m all out of comments,” he said, declining to elaborate. “I would not have resigned otherwise.”

The American Association of University Professors’ Penn chapter put out an urgent message, saying he resigned in response to pressure from administrators who allegedly directed the center to cancel the screening.

“His resignation underlines the gravity of the crisis, and the responsibility the President and Provost have for creating and exacerbating it,” AAUP wrote.

Penn said in a statement that its “first responsibility remains the safety and security of our campus community,” which is why it sought to postpone the screening of the film until February.

The university has been embroiled in controversy since the Palestine Writes literature festival was held on campus in late September, drawing criticism for allowing some speakers who have a history of making antisemitic comments. Tensions escalated after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Penn, like other colleges across the country, has heard from Jewish students who have said they felt threatened by antisemitism; this semester, Penn has experienced several antisemitic incidents, including the drawing of a swastika inside Meyerson Hall and vandalism at Penn Hillel. Powerful donors have withdrawn financial support, criticizing the university’s handling of the festival and its response to antisemitism, and called for Penn president Liz Magill’s and board chair Scott L. Bok’s resignations.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights opened an investigation into Penn’s handling of antisemitism following a complaint lodged by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.

Meanwhile, a petition signed by more than 500 academics and writers from inside and outside the United States has called on Penn to defend its students, faculty, and staff against targeted harassment for speaking in support of Palestinians.

Magill, who earlier this semester rolled out a plan to combat antisemitism on campus, has been called to testify before Congress next week on the topic, according to the Daily Pennsylvanian, the student newspaper. She will appear before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina. The presidents of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology also have been called to appear.

» READ MORE: Petitioners nationwide ask Penn to defend those who speak in support of Palestinians

Students first sought permission to show the film on campus over the summer and had secured permission for Oct. 24, Jack Starobin, a Penn senior and board member for Penn Chavurah, had said. But then the students decided to postpone the event given Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent military response in Gaza, he said.

When they sought approval in late October to screen the film on Nov. 28, the university initially did not respond and then ultimately last week said it would not grant approval this semester, Starobin said.

In the wake of Tuesday’s screening, university officials said in a statement that the students who organized the screening will be referred to the school’s Office of Community Standards and Accountability “to determine whether a violation of the Code of Student Conduct occurred.”

» READ MORE: U.S. Department of Education investigates Penn, Lafayette, over antisemitism and Islamophobia allegations

» READ MORE: Under pressure from Jewish community, Penn president unveils plan to combat antisemitism

Starobin said the event lasted nearly three hours, including the running of the nearly 90-minute film and a discussion. Penn security made sure only people with Penn ID cards were allowed in the screening, he said. Originally, students had hoped to also have guests from outside Penn, he said.

Starobin said he has received an outpouring of support from many of his professors and peers, but harsh words from university administrators.

Hikaru (Karu) Kozuma, Penn’s vice provost for university life, called him a half hour before the screening and threatened disciplinary action if the film was shown, Starobin said, though he said he wasn’t sure whether Kozuma meant the action would be against him or his organization. A Penn official, he had said Monday, told him that Penn Chavurah could lose its funding and status as a student group if it proceeded with the screening.

“It’s stressful for us,” said the 21-year-old political science and economics major from Olney, Md. “It’s also alarming to us that the university would double down and try to restrict not just our freedom of speech, but the academic freedom of every student and student organization on this campus.”