USC cancels speech by pro-Palestine valedictorian, citing "alarming tenor" of her critics

The University of Southern California has canceled its traditional graduation speech by Class of 2024 valedictorian Asna Tabassum, a Muslim who has expressed support for Palestine on social media, the Los Angeles Times reported. The school is citing safety concerns over emails and messages they received that threatened to disrupt the ceremony.

In a campus-wide letter, USC Provost Andrew T. Guzman wrote that the attacks on social media, targeting Tabassum for her pro-Palestine views, had escalated to an "alarming tenor" over the last few weeks. "The issue here is how best to maintain campus security and safety, period," Guzman wrote, saying later that the school is providing Tabassum support.

The cancellation will please on- and off-campus pro-Israel groups that opposed Tabassum's selection as speaker, attacking her for her pro-Palestine views and minor in the university's Resistance to Genocide program.

We Are Tov, a group that describes itself as "dedicated to combating antisemitism," targeted Tabassum in an Instagram post for "promoting antisemitic writings in her Instagram bio," for "supporting calls for #endtheoccupation," and for including link on her Instagram bio that offered to help people "learn about what's happening in Palestine" (and referred to Zionism as a "racist settler-colonial ideology"),

Pro-Israel groups have argued that criticism of Zionism — a nationalist movement that supports Israel remaining a Jewish-led state — is inherently antisemitic. Pro-Palestine activists reject this characterization; the page linked on Tabassum's Instagram concedes that "some anti-Zionists can be antisemitic (just as some Zionists can be antisemitic)" but says the accusation is meant "as a way to shut down criticism of Israel."

Tabassum released a statement addressing the cancellation, writing that she was "shocked by this decision and profoundly disappointed that the university is succumbing to a campaign of hate meant to silence my voice." She continued: "I am not surprised by those who attempt to propagate hatred. I am surprised that my own university—my home for four years—has abandoned me."

The cancellation was criticized by others who believe it was done to censor Tabassum, not protect her. “USC cannot hide its cowardly decision behind a disingenuous concern for ‘security,'" said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Los Angeles chapter.