Overview
- Rutgers, which rescinded the invitation Wednesday, said some graduating students planned to skip the May 15 event because of Rami Elghandour’s social media posts about Israel.
- A university representative pointed to an April 20 post in which Elghandour accused Israel of genocide and repeated an unverified claim that Israelis train dogs to sexually assault prisoners.
- The School of Engineering said it acted after discussing concerns with Elghandour to keep the focus on students so no graduate feels forced to choose between convictions and attending.
- Elghandour criticized the decision and said he will post a video of his planned speech online, and Rutgers has not named a new convocation speaker.
- Reaction split on campus, with a Rutgers Chabad rabbi welcoming the move and the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations calling it a silencing of pro-Palestinian advocacy.