‘Law & Order’ creator Dick Wolf has called for the resignations of two key leaders at the University of Pennsylvania, following a Palestinian literature festival held at the school last month that featured antisemitic speakers.
In a letter addressed to both president Liz Magill and Scott Bok, chair of the school’s board of trustees, Wolf wrote, “I implore you… to step down from your UPenn positions before any more unnecessary damage to UPenn. There is no hope for unification in our community until you step aside.”
“The notion that the Wolf Humanities Center contributed to this hate fest, otherwise known as the Palestine Writes Festival, is an abomination,” he added. Wolf vowed to cease all donations to the school, of which he is an alum, unless Magill resigns.
Wolf, namesake of the Wolf Humanities Center, previously voiced his support for fellow Penn alum and former trustee Marc Rowan, who wrote in a letter obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian that donors should withhold contributions to the school until Magill and Bok step down. Wolf told the outlet, “Sadly, their leadership has inadequately represented the ideals and values of our university and they should be held to account.”
At the heart of Wolf’s objection to the Palestine Writes Literature Festival is the attendance of several people who have been credibly accused of antisemitism. This includes former CNN reporter Marc Lamont Hill, and Pink Floyd musician Roger Waters, among others.
Hill was fired by CNN in 2018 when, during a speech ostensibly advocating for a Palestinian state, he said “from the river to the sea” a shortened version of “from the river to the sea and from the south to the north,” a phrase used by several extremist groups, especially by Hamas, that is understood to mean the elimination of Israel as a country.
Waters meanwhile has been repeatedly accused of antisemitic sympathies due to imagery, derived from Pink Floyd’s “The Wall,” that he uses in live performances. He has denied all such accusations.
The event’s primary organizer, author Susan Abulhawa, stoked controversy earlier this year when she described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “nazi-promoting zionist.” She has also called for Israel to be “wiped off the map.”
The festival was questioned by a number of media outlets; The Hill, for instance, which pointed out that participation the festival by Waters and Hill was confusing at best since neither of the men are Palestinian.
Additional speakers included Salman Abusitta, who once said that “Jews were hated in Europe because they played a role in the destruction of the economy in some of the countries. The festival also hosted a screening of the film Fahra, which the American Jewish Committee says contains “a number of toxic antisemitic tropes.”
CNN was the first to report Wolf’s letter to Magill and Bok. Representatives for Wolf and Magill have not replied to TheWrap’s request for comment.
In response to complaints from prominent alumni, Magill said in a statement published Oct. 17, “I hear their anger, pain, and frustration and am taking action to make clear that I stand, and Penn stands, emphatically against the terrorist attacks on Israel and against antisemitism. As a University, we support and encourage the free exchange of ideas, along with a commitment to the safety and security of our community and the values we share and work to advance. Penn has a moral responsibility to combat antisemitism and to educate our community to recognize and reject hate in all its forms. I’ve said we should have communicated faster and more broadly about where we stand, but let there be no doubt that we are steadfast in our beliefs.”
Representatives for the University didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.