Eliana Atienza suspended at UPenn for attending pro-Palestine protest | ABS-CBN
Welcome, Kapamilya! We use cookies to improve your browsing experience. Continuing to use this site means you agree to our use of cookies. Tell me more!
Eliana Atienza suspended at UPenn for attending pro-Palestine protest
Eliana Atienza suspended at UPenn for attending pro-Palestine protest
Don Tagala,
ABS-CBN News
Published Jun 01, 2024 02:32 PM PHT
A US Police officer stands guard as a demonstrator holds a placard reading "Free Palestine" at a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), after clashes erupted in Los Angeles on May 1, 2024. Etienne Laurent, AFP
A US Police officer stands guard as a demonstrator holds a placard reading "Free Palestine" at a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), after clashes erupted in Los Angeles on May 1, 2024. Etienne Laurent, AFP The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) suspended Eliana Atienza, the daughter of TV personality Kim Atienza, after she joined a pro-Palestine protest.
The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) suspended Eliana Atienza, the daughter of TV personality Kim Atienza, after she joined a pro-Palestine protest.
The pro-Palestine protest aimed to demand UPenn to divest from companies profiting from Israel’s war on Hamas, disclose those investments and to defend its Palestinian students.
The pro-Palestine protest aimed to demand UPenn to divest from companies profiting from Israel’s war on Hamas, disclose those investments and to defend its Palestinian students.
Atienza is among the six UPenn students who were suspended. The Environmental Studies student lost her dorm and campus access after she was identified as a “threat to the university and its students, a day after a negotiation with UPenn president Larry Jameson."
Atienza is among the six UPenn students who were suspended. The Environmental Studies student lost her dorm and campus access after she was identified as a “threat to the university and its students, a day after a negotiation with UPenn president Larry Jameson."
"The ban meant that my PennCard, which is my access card to my dorm, the dining halls, whatever, no longer worked. So I remember when I got it, I was... I walked out of my dorm wearing my pambahay, I was wearing Crocs. I only had my cell phone when I realized 'Oh, shoot. I can't re-enter'. So I wasn't allowed in the building. My card no longer worked and I was like, the university would rather do this to their students."
"The ban meant that my PennCard, which is my access card to my dorm, the dining halls, whatever, no longer worked. So I remember when I got it, I was... I walked out of my dorm wearing my pambahay, I was wearing Crocs. I only had my cell phone when I realized 'Oh, shoot. I can't re-enter'. So I wasn't allowed in the building. My card no longer worked and I was like, the university would rather do this to their students."
ADVERTISEMENT
The negotiation was conducted to deescalate the situation.
The negotiation was conducted to deescalate the situation.
"We need to be able to critique the government, to critique the [Israel Defense Force] because of exactly what's going on in Gaza right now. I think once we stop critiquing and the world looks away, then then the destruction will continue," Atienza said.
"We need to be able to critique the government, to critique the [Israel Defense Force] because of exactly what's going on in Gaza right now. I think once we stop critiquing and the world looks away, then then the destruction will continue," Atienza said.
She also emphasized that she does not support Hamas and that there's a difference between critiquing Israel and being anti-Semitic and those two are very, very different things.
She also emphasized that she does not support Hamas and that there's a difference between critiquing Israel and being anti-Semitic and those two are very, very different things.
"The right to protest the right to be able to say what you want, to the right to be out in the streets and voice your opinion I think is very very important. Just this past few days there have been an aggressive assault on Rafah. Over 40,000 Palestinians are dead and. Now more than ever, the world needs to be angry," she said.
Without a dorm to go to home to, she ended up staying at a professor’s home temporarily. She also crashed at a friend’s place until she is able to find her own apartment outside the campus.
Without a dorm to go to home to, she ended up staying at a professor’s home temporarily. She also crashed at a friend’s place until she is able to find her own apartment outside the campus.
For now, she says she is steering clear of social media and bashers.
"I think the alt-right media did not have anything about my political beliefs to attack, so they attacked my family. They attacked the fact that I was a woman, the fact that I wear bikinis, but the fact that my dad is on TV because they had nothing else about my mind or my beliefs to attack," Atienza shared.
Her ban has been lifted. She will be back in school as a junior (third year). After the summer break to continue her environmental studies.
"I think the alt-right media did not have anything about my political beliefs to attack, so they attacked my family. They attacked the fact that I was a woman, the fact that I wear bikinis, but the fact that my dad is on TV because they had nothing else about my mind or my beliefs to attack," Atienza shared.
Her ban has been lifted. She will be back in school as a junior (third year). After the summer break to continue her environmental studies.
Atienza is still on a disciplinary probation until May 2025, that means another strike then she will face a suspension from the university, she has two strikes at this point.
Atienza is still on a disciplinary probation until May 2025, that means another strike then she will face a suspension from the university, she has two strikes at this point.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
