Duke University anti-Israel students walk out on Jerry Seinfeld graduation speech
Seinfeld spoke at Sunday's graduation ceremony, prompting a sizable group of students to walk out because of his pro-Israel stance as a Jew.
A group of anti-Israel protesters at Duke University walked out of the school’s graduation ceremony when Jerry Seinfeld gave the commencement speech.
Seinfeld spoke at Sunday’s graduation ceremony, prompting a sizable group of students to walk out because of his pro-Israel stance as a Jew.
The group of protesters could be seen carrying several Palestinian flags while they walked out of the ceremony.
However, Seinfeld gave his speech without interruption, according to Fox News Digital.
Duke invited a Jewish speaker to graduation and Pro-H@mas graduates walked out. The speaker? Jerry Seinfeld.
pic.twitter.com/5p3YWl1b2V— @amuse (@amuse) May 12, 2024
”Whatever you’re doing, I don’t care if it’s your job, your hobby, a relationship, getting a reservation at M Sushi,” he said. “Make an effort. Just pure, stupid, no-real-idea-what-I’m-doing-here effort. Effort always yields a positive value, even if the outcome of the effort is absolute failure of the desired result. This is a rule of life. Just swing the bat and pray is not a bad approach to a lot of things.”
After the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, Seinfeld posted a graphic that read “I stand with Israel” on his Instagram page.
In December, Seinfeld took a trip to Israel with his family and met with some of the freed hostages and representatives for families of those still being held by the terror organization.
Frank Tramble, Duke’s vice president for marketing, communications, and public affairs, didn’t condemn the walkout in a statement to CBS News.
”We’re excited and delighted for the Class of 2024 and their families. We understand the depth of feeling in our community, and as we have all year, we respect the right of everyone at Duke to express their views peacefully, without preventing graduates and their families from celebrating their achievement,” said Tramble.
