INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 140, No. 17
8 Pages – Free
TUESDAY, OCTOBER, 17, 2023 n ITHACA, NEW YORK
News
Arts and Culture
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TCAT Contribution
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Return to the Rink
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Cornell and TCAT announced that the University will pay a base contribution of $3.3 million to TCAT per year. | Page 3
Sydney Levinton '27 discusses the comparison between Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift. | Page 5
Hockey began the season with a win against Toronto Metropolitan University in an exhibition match. | Page 8
HIGH: 56º LOW: 46º
Rickford Defends Remark SJP Vigil Honors Israeli, Prof. "exhilarated" by Hamas's attack at Sunday rally
By SOFIA RUBINSON Sun Managing Editor
Prof. Russell Rickford, history, is no stranger to controversial remarks. In 2017, during a “kneel-in” event in support of students and professional athletes fighting against racism in America, he led a “Free Palestine” chant, which some students regarded as inappropriate as the IsraeliPalestinian conflict was not the topic of the demonstration. Now, some students are expressing outrage over Rickford’s statement at a pro-Palestinian rally on Sunday, Oct. 15 at the Ithaca Commons. Rickford stated that he was initially “exhilarated” by Hamas’s attack on Israel, in which 1,400 civilians were killed. The United States and the European Union classify Hamas as a terrorist organization. “Hamas has challenged the monopoly of violence. And in those first few hours, even as horrific acts were being carried out, many of which we would not learn about until later, there are many Gazans of good will, many Palestinians of conscience, who abhor violence, as do you, as do I. Who abhor the targeting of civilians, as do you, as do I,”
MING DEMERS / SUN ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
"I was exhilarated" | Prof. Russell Rickford's statement at a pro-Palestinian rally sparked outrage among some Cornellians.
Rickford said during the rally. “Who were able to breathe, they were able to breathe for the first time in years. It was exhilarating. It was energizing. And if they weren't exhilarated by this challenge to the monopoly of violence, by this shifting of the balance of power, then they would not be human. I was exhilarated." He added: "What has Hamas done? Hamas has shifted the balance of power. Hamas has punctured the illusion of invincibility. That's what they have done. You don't have to be a Hamas supporter to recognize that,” Rickford said. “Hamas has changed the terms of the debate. Israeli officials are right — nothing will be the same again.” In an interview with The Sun, Rickford clarified his remarks, but did not backpedal his choice of words. “What I was referring to is in those first few hours, when they broke through the apartheid wall, that it seemed to be a symbol of resistance, and indeed a new phase of resistance in the Palestinian struggle,” Rickford said. “We are acutely aware of the devastation, the daily destruction and degradation caused by Israeli policies, caused by Israeli apartheid, caused by the occupation. So in that context, this act of defiance of boring across the wall was a significant symbol. It really signaled that the Palestinian will to resist had not been broken. In subsequent days, we learned of some of the horrifying realities. I want to make it clear that Hamas is a fundamentalist organization. It’s important to note that in some ways, the fundamentalism of Hamas mirrors that of Israeli leadership.” Rickford referred to Gaza as an “open-air prison,” citing the lack of abundant food, clean water and healthcare in the region. According to B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, most Palestinians are prohibited from entering or leaving the area except in rare cases. See RICKFORD page 3
Palestinian Lives Lost
JULIA NAGEL / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Vigil | Members of the Cornell community gathered at a vigil hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine to mourn the loss of lives in the Israel-Hamas War. By HENRY FERNANDEZ and DOUAE MAAROUF Sun Contributors
Students for Justice in Palestine held a vigil to mourn the loss of Palestinian and Israeli lives in the ongoing Israel-Hamas War — which has killed 2,383 Palestinians and 1,300 Israelis — on Friday, Oct. 13. Roughly 200 students, faculty and community members shaped into a circle at Ho Plaza, and the event commenced after a collective moment of silence in honor of those killed. Malak Abuhashim ’24, President of the Students for Justice in Palestine and the Arab Student Association, spoke about her family currently residing in Gaza, many
of whom she has lost contact with due to the evacuation as well as internet and data service cuts for many in the area. “My cousin is the same age as me and has already experienced six to seven wars. I remember one time my dad was calling our family and we were worried about them and we could hear the bombs in the background,” Abuhashim said. “My cousin told me, ‘Don’t be scared. If I die, at least I died for my country. I died for a good cause.’” On Saturday, Oct. 7, Hamas stormed into southern Israel, killing nearly 1,300 Israelis. In response, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut off food, water, electricity and other supplies from entering Gaza.
Nearly half of Gaza’s population of 2 million has been displaced, and 77 percent of households rely on foreign aid. Friday’s vigil came mere hours after the Israel Ministry of Defense and the Israel Defense Forces issued a directive calling for the evacuation of 1.1 million Palestinians residing in the northern region of Gaza. The IDF formally notified the United Nations that Palestinians were required to evacuate within a 24-hour timeframe. Hamas told civilians in northern Gaza not to heed the evacuation call, despite concerns about an Israeli occupation of Gaza. See VIGIL page 4
Pollack Condemns Support of Hamas Attacks in Statement By JONATHAN MONG and GABRIEL MUÑOZ Sun News Editors
President Martha Pollack condemned members of the Cornell community who have made statements in support of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel committed by Hamas — a group that controls the Gaza Strip and which the United States and European Union have designated as a terrorist organization — in a statement sent to the Cornell community on Monday, Oct. 16. “I am sickened by statements glorifying the evilness of Hamas terrorism. Any members of our community who have made such statements do not speak for Cornell; in fact, they speak in direct opposition to all we stand for at Cornell. There is no justification for or moral equivalent to these violent and abhorrent acts,” Pollack wrote in the statement. “I am outraged by them and, along with senior
leadership of the Cornell Board of Trustees, I again condemn them in the strongest possible terms.” The statement comes following a comment made by Prof. Russell Rickford, history, at an Oct. 15 rally in support of Palestine on the Ithaca Commons. Rickford spoke of feeling “exhilarated” by Hamas’s attacks. “[The attacks were] exhilarating. [They were] energizing,” Rickford said. “And if [Gazans and Palestinians] weren't exhilarated by this challenge to the monopoly of violence, by this shifting of the balance of power, then they would not be human. I was exhilarated.” In Pollack’s first email statement in response to the Israel-Hamas war on Tuesday, Oct. 10, Pollack described the University’s overall support for faculty, staff and students impacted by global conflicts and natural disasters. The same day, Pollack sent a follow-up email in which she apologized for not referring
to Hamas’s attacks as acts of terrorism. This third email is the first time Pollack has included the words “Palestine” and “Palestinians” in a public statement after the start of the conflict, something for which she has been criticized by students in other previous communications talking about the conflict for not talking about Palestine. “The Cornell community on our campuses and around the world includes students, faculty, staff and alumni who are Israeli, Palestinian and others who have close ties to the region. As the fighting there continues, the pain and suffering felt by all people throughout the region is and will be completely heart-wrenching,” Pollack wrote in the statement. “I am a grandmother and I weep for the Israeli babies who were murdered or kidnapped; I weep for the Palestinian babies now in harm’s way.” An international Cornell student, who requested anonymity due to privacy concerns,
stood firm against Pollack’s previous omission of the word “Palestine” during a vigil held by Students for Justice in Palestine on Oct. 15. “[I say this] at the risk of losing my visa as an international student, at the risk of losing my funding, at the risk of being deported from this country — your silence is saying that Muslim bodies do not matter to you, that Palestinian bodies do not matter to you,” the student said at the vigil. At an Oct. 12 Student Assembly meeting, students from both pro-Palestine groups and Jewish affinity groups spoke at length regarding a resolution sponsored by the campus group Students for Justice in Palestine, which called for the University to reassess its messaging about the attacks and that the statements should represent both sides of the ongoing struggles. See POLLACK page 4