CONTROVERSY has broken out at a Scottish university after a Zionist campaigner was allowed to hold a talk at a multi-faith chaplaincy on campus.
St Andrews Jewish Society has been criticised for hosting an event with American-Israeli activist and rapper Noah Shufutinsky, who goes by the stage name Westside Gravy.
Under his stage name, Shufutinsky recently released a song called Homeland, which featured the lyrics: “Imma make you touch grass, all my homies go blast for the homeland, we gon’ make 'em hurt for the homeland, we gon’ put 'em in the dirt for the homeland.”
Fourth year student Madiha Hassan, former president of the St Andrews Muslim Students Association, argued he should not have been allowed to speak at the multi-faith chaplaincy.The event took place on February 5, after the International Court of Justice’s ruling that there was a plausible case Israel was committing genocide in Palestine, ordering the country to take steps to avoid this.
READ MORE: 'At least 50' Palestinians killed while waiting for food aid in Gaza
Hassan also suggested the university should have put a stop to the event when it became aware it was going ahead.
The 23-year-old French and Arabic student told the Sunday National: “The chaplaincy is indeed a multi-faith space, but Zionism is not a faith.
“Mixing Judaism and Zionism is a big problem. Judaism is a faith. Zionism is a political movement that has resulted in 30,000 deaths, multiple war crimes and multiple breaches of international law.
READ MORE: Palestinian death toll in Gaza has risen above 30,000, says health ministry
“Apart from the general Muslim student population feeling unsafe, there are actual Palestinian students who use that building regularly.”
Shufutinsky has spoken at a number of UK universities and was faced with protests when he attended an event at Brunel University, in west London.
A spokesperson for St Andrews University said: “We understand this was a private lunchtime event organised by a student faith society, and that the speaker has been hosted at a number of UK universities recently.
“We’ve listened to and are sensitive to concerns expressed by some students about the way the event was organised, and we are reflecting on these, as is our chaplaincy which is deeply committed to student wellbeing and supporting a vibrant interfaith community in St Andrews.”
Shufutinsky and St Andrews Jewish Society did not respond to requests for comment.
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