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A performance by R&B star Kehlani at Cornell University in New York State has been cancelled, with the university’s president saying the booking of the singer had “injected division and discord” at Cornell, due to her making what were felt to be “antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments”.
Kehlani was due to perform at Slope Day, an annual Cornell celebration marking the end of the academic year. But president Michael I Kotlikoff wrote in a public statement: “In the days since Kehlani was announced, I have heard grave concerns from our community that many are angry, hurt, and confused that Slope Day would feature a performer who has espoused antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments in performances, videos, and on social media. While any artist has the right in our country to express hateful views, Slope Day is about uniting our community, not dividing it.”
Kehlani, whose first two albums reached the US Top 3 in 2017 and 2020, has publicly supported Palestine a number of times. She appeared in front of Palestinian flags in the video to her 2024 song Next 2 U, wearing a suit stitched with keffiyeh scarf material. The video also features the words “long live the intifada” at the outset, a phrase which has been chanted at protests over the Israel-Gaza war.
“Intifada” has been used to name particular armed conflicts between Palestinians and Israelis, and also to general Palestinian resistance to Israel. Some US politicians and academics have equated the term, which translates as “shaking off”, with calls for violence, even genocide, against Jewish people.
In an Instagram post announcing the song, Kehlani quoted US artist-activist Toni Cade Bambara’s aphorism “the role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible”, and added: “As an artist, i was nervous [to release Next 2 U]. terrified … paired with the crippling wonder of what music is appropriate to drop during the most historical tragedies of our generation.” A T-shirt made in Palestine was sold alongside the song to raise funds for aid organisation Operation Olive Branch.
In a video in May 2024 castigating some of her music peers for their lack of comments on the war, Kehlani said “fuck Israel, fuck Zionism”.
The Guardian has contacted representatives of Kehlani for comment.
Kotlikoff acknowledged that “my decision will be celebrated by some and criticised by others. I believe it is the right thing to do and the decision I must make to ensure community and safety at this high-profile event”.
Numerous US university campuses have seen pro-Palestine protests on their grounds since the October 2023 outbreak of war, and in March this year, 60 universities were sent warning letters by the Department for Education, telling them to “fulfill their obligations … to protect Jewish students on campus”. Secretary of education Linda McMahon characterised the campus protests as “relentless antisemitic eruptions”.
In a subsequent New York Times op-ed, without making direct reference to the warnings, Kotlikoff defended Cornell’s handling of a protest during an event with Israeli and Palestinian speakers. “Universities, despite rapidly escalating political, legal and financial risks, cannot afford to cede the space of public discourse and the free exchange of ideas,” he wrote. “Democracies are not silent places, and neither are universities. They are vibrant, active and sometimes unruly; differences are aired, disagreements argued, voices raised.”
Earlier this month, the Trump administration froze $1bn in federal funding for Cornell university, with university officials acknowledging they had received “more than 75 stop work orders” relating to various research grants.
The proposed Kehlani concert is the second live music event this week to face criticism over artists’ support for Palestine and condemnation of Israel, following the performance of Irish rappers Kneecap at California’s Coachella festival.
Their performance featured a backdrop with the words: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people” and “Fuck Israel. Free Palestine.”
Pro-Israel groups, Fox News presenters and Sharon Osbourne all criticised Kneecap, with Osbourne calling for their US work visas to be revoked and accusing them of “aggressive political statements … this band openly support terrorist organisations.”
Kneecap responded by saying: “Statements aren’t aggressive, murdering 20,000 children is though.”
