Cornell student details gathering 5K signatures, raising $28K to drop anti-Israel singer ‘Kehlani’

The president of a pro-Israel group at Cornell University said his organization worked hard to drop anti-Israel singer Kehlani from an end-of-the-year concert at their school. 

"Everybody has the right to free speech," Netanel Shapira, president of Cornellians for Israel, told Fox News Digital Friday in an interview.  

"They can say what they want," he added. "The difference here with Kalani is that her statements are not just anti-Israel, they're just vehemently against Israelis, Jewish people. She spews hate. It's not like a political stance. So that immediately triggered our response, and we immediately reached out to the administration from different fronts, not just from Cornellians for Israel's perspective, from all Jewish communities around the school, people reached out to the administration." 

PRO-ISRAEL STUDENTS AT CORNELL RIP UNIVERSITY FOR HOSTING ISRAEL-HATING SINGER AT UPCOMING CONCERT

Kehlani has shared numerous anti-Israel messages in her music and on social media in recent years, including a call for an "intifada."

One post of hers read, "it’s f--- Israel from the top of my lungs. Idc [I don’t care] about the f----- threats. DISMANTLE ISRAEL. ERADICATE ZIONISM."

Shapira mobilized his organization, Cornellians for Israel, and other friendly organizations on campus, to circulate a petition to get Kehlani removed from headlining Cornell’s annual "Slope Day" concert, an event that celebrates the end of the school year. 

"We kind of took things into our own hands and said, we have to, you know, institute a campaign to pressure the administration and show them that, hey, we Jews and we pro-Israel members of the community are very disappointed in the fact that the school could bring a performer who's this hateful towards us," Shapira said. 

As concerns about Kehlani were being shared, Shapira said a defining time of the effort came when Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff held a townhall with Jewish students to hear their concerns. 

"One of the most powerful moments of the story was, he asked, given how hateful her comments have been towards your community, how many of you would not be willing to come to Slope Day," Shapira said. "And the entire room of like close to a hundred people raised their hands. And sort of I could tell on his face, in that moment, that he realized, this administration messed up, something has to be done."  

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In a statement released Wednesday, Kotlikoff said, "Unfortunately, although it was not the intention, the selection of Kehlani as this year’s headliner has injected division and discord into Slope Day." 

"For that reason, I am rescinding Kehlani’s invitation and expect a new lineup for a great 2025 Slope Day to be announced shortly." 

Shapira said that the efforts of the students to cancel Kehlani brought in about 5,000 signatures and raised over $28,000. 

"The administration kind of had to start paying attention once that started happening," Shapira said. 

The senior at Cornell University said that once the school announced that Kehlani was being canceled, and that the funds would not be needed for another performer, they gave the option to the donors to get their funds back. 

"We're super grateful to the whole community," Shapira said. "Almost everyone said, keep the money. You guys did an amazing job, that kind of thing. So we're very grateful as an organization for that." 

Instead, the funds will be used to host pro-Israel events and speakers. 

When reached for comment, Cornell University referred Fox News Digital to Kotlikoff's earlier statement announcing the rescinding of Kehlani's invitation. 

In a video posted on Instagram on Saturday, Kehlani said "I am not antisemitic." 

"I know you’ve seen Cornell University cancelled my show, and now there are attempts at other cancellations on top of the cancellations I’ve already experienced over the past year. If you want to cancel me from opportunity, stand on it being because of your zionism. Don’t make it anti-jew. This a played out game. All this because we want people to stop dying. I hope this helps," she wrote in the post with her video. 

Fox News Digital also reached out to representatives for Kehlani for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.