TED fellows resign over 'genocide apologists' Ackman, Weiss invitation
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TED Fellows have accused the organization of making a decision "not only to align itself with enablers and supporters of genocide but to amplify their racist propaganda."
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Bill Ackman in July 2017 (X photo, @BillAckman)
Five TED fellows quit on Wednesday after the organization invited Jewish American Billionaire Bill Ackman and journalist Bari Weiss to speak at its 2024 flagship conference in Vancouver.
Self-described inventor Ayah Bdeir, filmmaker Saeed Taji Farouky, cosmologist Renée Hlozek, artist Sarah Sandman, and astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz sent a letter to TED founder Chris Anderson and fellows program director Lily James Olds under the headline "TED Fellows refuse to be associated with genocide apologists." They accused TED of making a decision "not only to align itself with enablers and supporters of genocide but to amplify their racist propaganda."
The authors further expressed that Ackman "has defended Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and has cynically weaponized antisemitism in his programme to purge American universities of Pro-Palestinian freedom of speech.”
The five former fellows also cited Free Press founder and editor Bari Weiss' invitation to the conference as another reason they parted ways with TED. Weiss, according to the report, "has a long, sordid, and well-documented history of anti-Palestinian speech," further accusing her, like Ackman, of weaponizing "antisemitism to defend Israel's genocide in Gaza."
Ackman has utilized his influence to suppress pro-Palestinian voices, leading a crackdown on pro-Palestinian groups on the Harvard campus.
He also pressured Harvard's Claudine Gay into resigning and condemned the university's decision to install Derek Penslar, accusing them of "continuing on a path of darkness."
.@Harvard continues on the path of darkness. https://t.co/b2TWTHLfBs
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) January 19, 2024
Penslar is an active intellectual who has on certain occasions voiced his opinion on "Israel" and antisemitism, which placed him at the front of critical judgment and opposition from the public Harvard community.
Most notably, Penslar signed a collective letter last year stating that the occupation aims to deprive Palestinians of their equal rights and annihilate Palestinian territories gradually. He also discussed the danger of interrelating criticism of "Israel" with antisemitism, saying it endangers the Harvard community and creates major divisions among it.
While Ackman accuses Harvard of continuing on a "path of darkness," he seems to willfully ignore the complete darkness - literally that has befallen Gaza.
This comes as the escalation of Israeli hostilities in proximity to hospitals and shelters for the forcibly displaced Palestinians is causing individuals to be trapped inside, hindering crucial life-saving operations, according to UNRWA Director in Gaza Thomas White.
Israeli occupation forces committed a new massacre after targeting an area where thousands of Palestinians were waiting to receive aid at the Kuwait roundabout, south of the city of Gaza.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, this resulted in 20 martyrs and the injury of 150 people in a nonfinal toll. The Ministry estimated that the number of casualties would rise.
Who is Bari Weiss?
Bari Weiss, on the other hand, is the author of "How to Fight Anti-Semitism," which was published in 2019. She has earned a reputation as a supporter of the "Jewish state" and has visited "Israel" previously.
She was also a co-founder of Columbians for Academic Freedom (CAF) and accused a professor at Columbia of addressing Israeli crimes too often in a class about the Middle East.
Previously, Gleen Greenwald wrote a piece in The Intercept, in which he described the campaign as an effort "to ruin the careers of Arab professors by equating their criticisms of Israel with racism, anti-Semitism, and bullying, and its central demand was that those professors (some of whom lacked tenure) be disciplined for their transgressions."
Greenwald previously reported on Weiss' long history of being involved in "numerous campaigns to vilify and ruin the careers of several Arab and Muslim professors due to their criticisms of Israel."
Most ironically, Greenwald notes that Weiss has written about what she believes is "left-wing intolerance for dissent in general," completely denying her years of attempting to destroy the careers of those who disagree with the policies of "Israel".
The letter by TED fellows called for both to be uninvited and for TED to "make a genuine effort to respond to the ongoing genocide by inviting Palestinians themselves to speak about their research, scholarship, and experiences that for decades have clearly documented Israel’s apartheid, occupation, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.”
TED was also accused of long-term platforming of the US war machine, calling the war on terror “indefensible, disastrous, and unconsciously destructive” and referring to the US as “the world’s most prolific weapons dealer."
At least 55 people associated with TED have signed the letter thus far.
