We are writing to you as concerned Jewish student leaders who feel the need to speak up for the Jewish and Wake Forest communities. On Oct. 7, an event sponsored by Wake Forest University’s Humanities Institute, Department of History, Department of Politics & International Affairs, Middle East South Asian Studies Program and the National Endowment for the Humanities is scheduled to host terrorist sympathizer and antisemite, Rabab Abdulhadi. Abdulhadi’s support for Hamas, a U.S. Department of State designated terrorist organization, makes our students unsafe.

This is not a political issue.

This is a dangerous speaker—both physically and emotionally dangerous to students. Lawsuits against San Francisco State University by Jewish students in 2017 and 2018 exemplify the disruptive implications of Abdulhadi’s actions. The lawsuits claimed that the university “has not merely fostered and embraced anti-Jewish hostility — it has systematically supported these departments and student groups as they have doggedly organized their efforts to target, threaten and intimidate Jewish students on campus and deprive them of their civil rights and their ability to feel safe and secure as they pursue their education.”

Jewish students have the right to feel safe on campus. We urge the university administration to cancel this event.

Abdulhadi is a self-proclaimed Hamas sympathizer who makes her support of terrorism evident. In 2020, Abdulhadi praised Leila Khaled, the world’s first female plane hijacker: “we really idolize somebody like Leila Khaled, someone who actually stands up for herself, speaks for herself, actually goes to a plane and hijacks it.” Furthermore, Abdulhadi claims she “wanted to grow up to become another Leila Khaled.”

Abdulhadi’s yearning for violence extends into campus life as well. She has publicly threatened San Francisco State University students in the past, tweeting, “Zionists are NOT welcome on our campuses.”

As a result of her past actions, the title of the event at Wake Forest comes as no surprise. The event, titled “One Year since al-Aqsa Flood: Reflections on a Year of Genocide and Resistance,” refers to the attack carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7, resulting in the greatest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust. The title equates the murder, rape and kidnapping of innocent Jewish and Arab life on Oct. 7 to resistance.

Students at Wake Forest have both family and friends who have been murdered and are currently being held hostage. There remain over 90 hostages in Hamas’ captivity, including American and Israeli Jews. This event not only disrespects the 1,200 people murdered on Oct. 7, but also blatantly disrespects the hostages who remain in captivity and their families grieving at home.

Oct. 7 marks a year since Hamas’ atrocious attack on Israel in which terrorists murdered, raped and kidnapped men, women, children and babies. Because they are both considered terrorist organizations by the U.S. Department of State, hosting Abdulhadi to speak on Oct. 7 is no different than having an al-Qa’ida supporter speak on 9/11.

Hate is hate whether it’s Oct. 7, 8 or 9; however, the date of this event is truly a slap in the face to our community during a day of mourning.

We attend a university that prides itself on its motto “Pro Humanitate,” yet we have opened our doors to an individual who promotes terrorism. We believe the university administration is failing to protect its students by choosing to host this event, fostering a hostile environment that endangers its students. By following through with this event, the school would be betraying its own values.

In October 2023, Syracuse University canceled an event featuring none other than Abdulhadi due to safety concerns. This month, the University of Maryland reversed its decision to allow anti-Israel protests on campus on Oct. 7. Will the university administration protect student safety by canceling the event, or will they follow in the footsteps of university presidents at Harvard, M.I.T. and Penn?

Jewish student leaders have been told time and time again that once hate speech becomes a disruption to campus life, the school must intervene. 

Well, Wake Forest Administration… Over 6,000 individuals from both your community members and beyond are here to tell you that Abdulhadi’s presence is a disruption to campus life.

Walking to class and seeing posters that advertise a speaker who plans to glorify the very attack that killed our close family and friends is a disruption.

Professor Barry Trachtenberg sending out emails advertising an event that praises the terrorist group that rapes women and children is a disruption.

Our inability to focus on academics because our university is compliant with hosting a speaker who doesn’t belong on our campus is a disruption.

We call upon members of the Wake Forest University community to help call for the cancellation of this event, as terrorism has no place here.

Link to petition: https://www.change.org/oct7wakeforest