Jewish comedian
Protests against Jerry Seinfeld’s speech at a US university
Comedian and keynote speaker Jerry Seinfeld at Duke University’s graduation ceremony. photo
© Bill Snead/Duke University/AP
New Yorker Jerry Seinfeld has repeatedly sided with Israel since the beginning of the Gaza war. When he performs at a US university, he faces headwinds for this.
At a graduation ceremony at Duke University in the US state of North Carolina, students protested against the Jewish Comedian Jerry Seinfeld leaving the event. Shortly before a speech by the 70-year-old at the University football stadium in Durham, dozens of spectators stood up, US media reported. As they left the stadium, they carried Palestinian flags and chanted “Free, free Palestine.”
According to the broadcaster NBC, boos could also be heard, although it was not clear whether these were referring to the protests or to the comedian. Seinfeld, who received an honorary doctorate at Sunday’s event, did not address the disruption caused by the protesters or the Gaza war in his subsequent speech, according to the New York Times.
The 70-year-old New Yorker publicly expressed his support for Israel after the massacre by the Islamist Hamas and other groups on October 7th. According to US media, in December he traveled to Israel to meet relatives of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. When asked about the reasons for his trip, he told GQ magazine: “Well, I’m Jewish.”
In the USA there have been protests at numerous universities for weeks against Israel’s actions in the Gaza war. This mostly concerns the demand for universities and companies to cut financial relationships with Israel. Critics accuse the radical part of the movement in particular of anti-Semitism and trivializing Hamas. Pro-Palestinian groups have also set up protest camps at universities in Australia, Britain, France, Germany and other countries.