Tulane University canceled an in-person lecture, slated for Thursday night, with Dr. Salman Khan, associate professor of medicine at Columbia University, titled “Israel’s weaponization of infectious diseases in Gaza.”
The event was planned by student groups. Organizers shared a letter from the private New Orleans university, in which it wrote that “due to heightened safety concerns, the university has determined that the hybrid format of your event this evening will need to shift to a fully virtual format, without an in-person, on-campus component.”
The university wrote that it received “thousands of concerns that have escalated significantly, including threats of disruption and counter-activity that could inhibit the safe delivery of your program,” according to the letter that organizers posted. (JNS sought comment from Tulane.)
The school promised to reimburse the groups for costs of food for the event, according to the letter.
Palestine Solidarity Coalition and the Minority Association of Pre-Med Students were permitted to live-stream the event, according to organizers, but decided late on Thursday, “after lengthy, unproductive discussions with Tulane administrators,” to postpone instead.
The lecture faced backlash for promoting Jew-hatred and antisemitic tropes about Jews spreading disease and poisoning wells in Europe, which led to pogroms and mass slaughter of Jews.
Organizers accused the school of “engaging in blatant viewpoint discrimination” and giving in to concerns about losing “Zionist-backed funding” and asked supporters to email the university.
On Wednesday, Susan Tuchman, director of the Center for Law and Justice at the Zionist Organization of America, asked Tulane to “publicly condemn the program with Dr. Khan as hateful, antisemitic and against the values of the university and let its sponsors know that they can host him elsewhere, without the imprimatur or support of Tulane University.”
Tuchman asked the university to “cancel tomorrow’s program, since it will encourage antisemitism, create fear and worry among Jewish students and violate Tulane’s values to build a welcoming and respectful community, engage collaboratively and pursue academic excellence.”
She also recommended the school “encourage the sponsorship of campus programs that promote the truth about Israel and the war in Gaza.”
