Jerry Seinfeld likened the Free Palestine movement to the Ku Klux Klan during a student event at Duke University, NBC News reports.
Seinfeld said people who use the phrase “Free Palestine” are worse than the white supremacist group on Tuesday at the Duke event meant to honor hostages that are being held in Gaza.
Seinfeld introduced a former Israeli hostage, Omer Shem Tov, when he made the remarks, according to the university’s student newspaper, The Duke Chronicle. The student publication reported that Seinfeld started by saying, in reference to the Free Palestine activist movement, “just say you don’t like Jews.”
“By saying ‘Free Palestine,’ you’re not admitting what you really think. So it’s actually — compared to the Ku Klux Klan, I’m actually thinking the Klan is actually a little better here because they can come right out and say, ‘We don’t like Blacks, we don’t like Jews.’ OK, that’s honest,'” the Duke Chronicle reported Seinfeld said.
On Wednesday, representatives for Seinfeld did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
A spokesperson for Duke University provided a statement to NBC News, saying the school does not preview remarks of speakers who are invited to campus and an invitation “does not imply any endorsement of their remarks.”
“The student group Chabad at Duke was the lead organizer of Tuesday’s event and invited the speakers. Omer Shem Tov was introduced by Jerry Seinfeld, who requested his appearance not be announced beforehand given Omer Shem Tov’s spiritual journey during captivity was the focus of the event,” the spokesperson said.
Mason Herman, a Duke student and president of the Chabad student group, told NBC News that neither the organization nor the university are responsible for remarks made by an invited speaker.
“This event was highlighting the fact that there are more than 40 hostages still in Gaza,” Herman told NBC News. “To one, raise awareness of that fact, and, two, to share their plight while in captivity. And to share Omer’s story.”
On Oct. 7, 2023, Shem Tov was taken hostage from the Nova music festival in Israel. Hamas did not release him until February during a ceasefire agreement. The 22-year-old was reunited with his parents at a hospital after his return to Israel.
Seinfeld has been outspoken in his support of Israel since the Hamas-led October 2023 attack that killed 1,200 people and when about 250 others were taken hostage. Since then, NBC News reports Israeli forces have killed more than 64,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health officials in the enclave.
Officials believe about 20 of the 48 hostages who remain in Gaza are still alive, according to NBC News.
Duke students protested against Seinfeld’s commencement speech in May 2024 amid a wave of antiwar demonstrations on college campuses across the country. Seinfeld was met with boos as he took the stage, and many people walked out of the ceremony.
Reporting from NBC News and The Duke Chronicle contributed to this story.
Source link
