Can they face the music?
A disgruntled fundraiser is trying to hire a mariachi band to perpetually serenade the anti-Israel camp at the University of Pennsylvania. And supporters are donating to the idea in droves.
Protesters occupying College Green on the Philadelphia campus are reluctant to talk to outsiders. According to CNN – But fundraiser Rob Martinez says it’s okay to shout out your ideals for everyone to hear.
“A hymn is given to the efforts of these protesters (sic), just as they continually praised my efforts studying for finals with a megaphone and a drum set. I believe he deserves to be saved,” Martinez wrote on his GoFundMe. Continue setting up the tent until you run out of shelves.
“Please donate so that the mariachi band can continue to play next to the campground until we run out of money to pay for their efforts,” Martinez wrote.
The fundraiser also asked donors to donate “a few dollars for nose plugs” for the band, as the “bunch of merry campers” on the green “are not big bathers.”
Martinez did not respond to The Post’s request for comment, but he launched a GoFundMe on Thursday. By Saturday morning, he had nearly doubled his original goal of $14,000.
“Best money spent all week. Play it loud,” one contributor commented with a $100 donation.
One donor suggested to Martinez that he arrange for an Ashkenazi Jewish klezmer band to play near the protesters, but a third party quickly arranged for this.
“Jewish expressions of joy and resilience would be a welcome change. Instead of screaming, we can show that we are a strong and loving people and that we are not going anywhere,” they said. .
The UPenn encampment is part of anti-Israel protests that have occupied college campuses across the United States over the past few weeks.
Most of the protests occurred in response to the initial tent movement at Columbia University, where hundreds of students and other demonstrators have since been arrested for trespassing and other violations.
The encampment has called on the university to sever ties with Israel in light of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, and its rhetoric has been condemned as anti-Semitic and hateful.
When a group of violent protesters entered the Columbia University building earlier this week, they hung a large banner reading “Intifada” on one of the central windows.
“Hamas is proud of us, kill another soldier now,” was one of the chants heard at the Morningside Heights encampment on October 7, when 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel. pointing to the terrorist group behind the deadly attack.
Philadelphia police had a heavy presence on UPenn’s campus Friday, but no arrests were made. WPVI reported.
The day before, the Philadelphia chapter of the Israeli American Council submitted a petition to the university’s interim president asking the government to disband the camp, the paper said.
The University of Pennsylvania has been embroiled in accusations of anti-Semitism and controversy over free speech on campus since the Oct. 7 attack opened the floodgates of anti-Israel speech.
In early December, President Liz McGill resigned after a disastrous appearance before the House Education Committee regarding the issue of Jewish hatred at Ivy League schools.
Despite the ongoing scandal, one Jewish student told the Post last month that the UPenn administration seems “powerless” to remove protesters who flout the rules.
