US student's speech cancelled in Israel-Gaza hate row
By Max Matza
The University of Southern California (USC) has cancelled a student’s graduation speech amid a backlash over her comments about Israel.
Asna Tabassum said the move came in response to “a campaign of hate meant to silence my voice”.
USC cited “substantial risks” to campus security in the decision to halt the Muslim student’s address.
Ms Tabassum is the 2024 valedictorian, a student picked out for high academic scores and involvement in campus life.
The decision to cancel her speech came after claims that her social media posts and likes were antisemitic. A debate about free speech on US college campuses has intensified since the Israel-Gaza war erupted last October.
Ms Tabassum’s Instagram account links to a website that criticises Israel and calls for its “complete abolishment”, instead arguing for a “one-state solution… in which both arabs and jews can live together”.
The website also claims that “Zionism is a racist settler-colonial ideology that advocates for a Jewish ethnostate built on Palestinian land”.
