Cornell University has invited Jew-bashing entertainer Kehlani to perform on campus May 7 — defending the move as just giving its students what they want.
Kehlani has a music video that starts with, “Long live the Intifada” — an inflammatory phrase that critics say promotes violence against Israelis and Jews — shared a map online that eliminates the state of Israel and refused to condemn Hamas for the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
The invite to the multi-Grammy Award-nominated R&B artist comes after the Trump administration froze $1 billion in federal funding to the upstate Ivy League school amid a civil-rights probe over whether it failed to prevent antisemitic discrimination and harassment on campus.
“Kehlani isn’t just an artist with controversial views — she is someone who has publicly glorified violence against Jews and consistently promoted dangerous, antisemitic rhetoric that directly threatens our community,” said disgusted Cornell student Amanda Silberstein.
“For a university that claims to value inclusion and the safety for all students, this decision is not just tone-deaf — it’s profoundly alienating,” said Silberstein, a 21-year-old junior who is president of the Chabad Center at the school and vice president of the group Cornell for Israel.
“By inviting someone with such a deeply troubling history of antisemitism to headline one of our most high-profile campus events, Cornell is sending a message that Jewish safety and wellbeing are negotiable,” she said.
The watchdog group StopAntisemitism agreed that the invitation is beyond the pale and previously highlighted the performer’s anti-Israel and antisemitic views in a July 12, 2024, post.
Kehlani supports the terrorist regime Hamas “under the guise of ‘resistance,’ ” the group said.
It cited her “Next 2 U” music video that admired the Palestinian terror group’s violence against Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, opening her song with, “Long live the Intifada” appearing across the screen and featuring dancers in keffiyehs waving Palestinian flags.
The group noted Kehlani refused to condemn Hamas for the massacre of Israeli civilians that day.
“Instead, Kehlani directly called for the destruction of Israel and its people,” the group said.
“Kehlani doubles down on her support for the global call to murder Jews by sharing genocidal phrases such as ‘long live the resistance’ and ‘from the river to the sea.’ “
The singer also shared a map on Instagram that eliminates the state of Israel, and she touted several posts and uttered rants including, “Zionists are all evil” and Zionists are the “scum of the earth” and they should all “go to hell.”
“It’s f–k Israel, it’s f–k Zionism, and it’s also f–k a lot of y’all, too,” she said on X last year.
StopAntisemitism founder Liora Rez said, “Now, Cornell is doubling down by featuring vile Jew-hater Kehlani as a headliner for their end-of-year celebration.
“Kehlani uses her platform of 20 million followers, more than the number of Jews on the planet, to incite hate against the world’s only Jewish state. She openly calls for intifada, the violent targeting of Jews, and the eradication of Zionists, code for over 95% of the global Jewish population,” Rez said.
“Black students wouldn’t be expected to welcome a KKK rock band on campus. Asian students weren’t told, `Asian hate …Get over it.’ So why are Jewish students treated as the exception?”
Rez said Cornell and every other university enabling bigotry, harassment and violent extremism must be “fully defunded,” investigated for foreign funding and have their endowments, real estate and income taxed.
Cornell defended the invitation, saying Kehlani is performing at the request of a student-run group on “Slope Day,” an end-of-year celebration for students.
“The headliner is selected by the student-run Slope Day Planning Board following a poll of students,” a Cornell rep said. “Kehlani was chosen based on her popularity and the genre of her music. She recently performed at Northeastern University without political expression or incident.
“The personal views expressed by this artist are their own and do not represent the university. However, the artist must uphold Cornell’s anti-discrimination policies, which includes prohibition of political expression as part of the concert. Failure to do so constitutes breach of contract and will result in loss of payment.”
Kehlani’s reps did not respond to a Post request for comment.
Cornell has been roiled by numerous anti-Israel protests, and Jewish students’ lives have been threatened.
Student Patrick Da pleaded guilty last year to threatening to kill Jews in posts on the university’s website.
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