Heavy Backlash Forces Brown's University's Hillel to Pull Sponsorship of 'Nakba Day' Event
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Brown University Hillel House. Photo: Brown University Hillel.
Brown University’s Hillel has pulled its sponsorship of a Wednesday event commemorating the 1948 Palestinian Arab exodus from Israel — more commonly referred to as the “Nakba” — following heavy backlash, The Algemeiner has learned.
Hillel, along with other pro-Israel and Jewish student organizations, initially agreed to sponsor the campus event set to feature a film screening and discussion of the Nakba, an Arabic word which literally translates as “disaster” or “catastrophe.” Nakba Day is generally observed on May 15, the day after Israel’s Independence Day on the Gregorian calendar, and often sees heavy rioting and violent protest by Palestinians across Israel and the West Bank.
The initially planned event, titled “Jews Facing the Nakba,” was cancelled by its student organizers following Hillel’s withdrawal of support, sources told The Algemeiner. However, a new private screening, sans Hillel’s sponsorship, but on Hillel premises will take place Wednesday evening. Several other pro-Israel and Jewish groups remain sponsors of the screening.
According to part of a statement — published by pro-Israel blogger IsraellyCool — that was posted on the private Facebook group for the event: