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May 6, 2019

Pro-Palestinian UMass Panel Attracts 2,000 After Lawsuit Fails to Halt Event
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And thousands gathered Saturday for "Not Backing Down: Israel, Free
Speech, and the Battle for Palestinian Human Rights," a pro-Palestine
event at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The event was allowed
to proceed despite three anonymous UMass students filing a lawsuit to
stop the panel. Speakers included Palestinian-American activist Linda
Sarsour, who has faced death threats for her outspokenness, Temple
University professor Marc Lamont Hill, who was recently fired from CNN
for speaking up for Palestinian rights, and Roger Waters, co-founder of
the group Pink Floyd. This is Dave Zirin, sports editor for the Nation,
speaking at Saturday's event.

Dave Zirin: "There is nothing Anti-Semitic about criticizing the actions
of the Israeli state and it is absurd that I even have to say that.
There is nothing anti-Semitic about this panel, or the people on this
panel and it is damn slander to say otherwise. In fact the people up
here have been on the frontline of fighting anti-semitism, especially
the most dire threat to me and my fellow Jews…the resurgent white
nationalism of the Trump era."



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