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Brooklyn College Volleyball Players Kneel During Israeli National Anthem
Just before the playing of Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem, two volleyball players from Brooklyn College, Hunnan Butt, and Omar Rezika, decided to kneel before a game held on February 23 against Yeshiva University (YU).
The action of “taking a knee” is a form of political protest in sports that became popular after American athletes started to kneel during the US national anthem to protest against racism and police brutality in 2016.
The gesture was condemned by Yeshiva University president Dr. Ari Berman. Berman told the YU Observer, YU’s student newspaper, “It is unfortunate that some members of the opposing team disrespected Israel’s national anthem.” Dr. Berman also stated, “We are proud to be the only university who sings both the American and Israeli national anthems before every athletic competition and major event. Nothing makes me prouder to be an American than living in a country where our religious freedom, our Zionism, and our commitment to our people will never be impeded and always be prized.”
The Simon Wiesenthal Center also condemned the action as a “flagrant display of antisemitism.”
The action of “taking a knee” is a form of political protest in sports that became popular after American athletes started to kneel during the US national anthem to protest against racism and police brutality in 2016.
The gesture was condemned by Yeshiva University president Dr. Ari Berman. Berman told the YU Observer, YU’s student newspaper, “It is unfortunate that some members of the opposing team disrespected Israel’s national anthem.” Dr. Berman also stated, “We are proud to be the only university who sings both the American and Israeli national anthems before every athletic competition and major event. Nothing makes me prouder to be an American than living in a country where our religious freedom, our Zionism, and our commitment to our people will never be impeded and always be prized.”
The Simon Wiesenthal Center also condemned the action as a “flagrant display of antisemitism.”