State: Pennsylvania
City: Philadelphia
Campus: University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)
Margo Natalie Crawford, chair of the Department of English and director of the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, used her faculty position to participate in rallies that glorified Hamas violence and spread hostility toward Jewish students. Instead of condemning terrorism, Crawford chose to amplify antisemitic rhetoric and align herself with radical campus movements in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s October 7 atrocities.
On October 16, 2023, Crawford spoke at Penn’s “Collective Walkout for Palestine,” a rally staged just days after Hamas murdered over 1,200 Israelis, kidnapped hundreds, and committed widespread rape and torture. At the event, chants of “When people are occupied, resistance is justified!” rang out—language long used to glorify terror. Crawford applauded colleagues who claimed Israel “humiliates every Jewish person” and accused it of “genocide.” By lending her authority as a department chair, she gave cover to extremist rhetoric at a moment when Jewish students were reeling from grief and fear.
Two days later, on October 18, 2023, Crawford again participated in a Penn rally marked by pro-terror chants of “There is only one solution! Intifada, revolution!” Protesters celebrated “martyrs” and equated terror with liberation. Crawford’s presence reinforced the legitimacy of an event that glorified violence against Jews.
Crawford’s rhetoric extended to her social media accounts, where she amplified messages comparing Israel to Nazis, accusing Jews of being “colonizers,” and demanding the “fall of Zionism.”
October 31, 2023: Retweeted a post claiming Israel’s war was not against Hamas but “the extermination of the Palestinian people.”
October 19, 2023: Shared a message reading “MAY ZIONISM FALL.”
October 12, 2023: Boosted a Black Alliance for Peace statement endorsing “resistance by any means necessary” while calling Israel a “settler-colonial apartheid state.”
October 9, 2023: Shared posts dismissing Hamas terror as “sporadic violence” while demonizing Jewish self-defense.
By comparing Israel to white supremacy and apartheid, Crawford fed conspiracies that erase Jewish history and delegitimize Jewish identity, echoing tropes that meet the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
Crawford’s behavior has gone far beyond academic critique. Speaking at rallies immediately after Hamas atrocities, applauding extremist colleagues, and amplifying antisemitic propaganda online, she has played a direct role in fueling hostility on campus. At a time when Jewish students feared harassment and exclusion, Crawford chose to normalize slogans, chants, and narratives that justify violence against them.
✔ Used her role as department chair to speak at pro-Hamas rallies on Penn’s campus
✔ Participated in events where chants glorified intifada and terror
✔ Retweeted posts comparing Israel to Nazis and demanding “Zionism fall”
✔ Amplified calls for “resistance by any means necessary” — a euphemism for terror
✔ Helped legitimize an atmosphere of antisemitism and hostility at Penn
Margo Natalie Crawford exemplifies the problem of professors who abandon academic responsibility to embrace radical activism. By defending terror and spreading antisemitic rhetoric under the banner of faculty authority, she has contributed to a toxic climate at Penn where Jewish students cannot feel safe. Crawford’s actions raise urgent questions about how far universities will allow their faculty to go in legitimizing extremism on campus.
