Anne Norton, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), recently came under fire after her alleged antisemitic posts went viral.
On Friday, December 8, the non-profit group @StopAntisemites on X (formerly Twitter) reported that Anne Norton liked a tweet claiming “Playing the victim is what Jews are best at.” Not only that, but the X handle also shared an image of Anne Norton responding to a netizen, saying Hamas captors were well treated.
As soon as the post went viral, netizens demanded that Anne Norton be fired from UPenn. Meanwhile, Norton’s investors, Henry Jackson and his wife Stacey, have expressed their desire to withdraw funding due to the professor’s alleged antisemitism.
Investigating Anne Norton’s alleged anti-Semitic behavior on social media
The X handle @StopAntisemites pointed out last week that Anne Norton, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, was engaging in anti-Jewish behavior on social media. For example, she liked the following tweet by @nowun_: “Three Palestinian students were shot, but no Jewish student was ever shot, and yet they keep pushing the false premise that the Jewish students are the ones at risk…Playing the victim is what Jews are best at.”A netizen claims the firing of Professor Norton. (Image via X/SachaRoytman)
Similarly, Anne Norton responded to an X post criticizing the conditions of Israelis held captive by Hamas. It stated that Israel could not be “expected to drop its hands” while “200 of its men, women, and children were being held in terrorist dungeons, subjected to god knows what torture, r*pe, etc.” Norton, on the other hand, commented beneath it, writing:
“Released hostages have testified that they ate the same food as their captors, slept on mattresses, and had access to health care.”
The UPenn professor also reshared a tweet calling the r*pe of a Jewish woman “alleged.”
Investors are withdrawing financial support for Norton as a result of his controversial activities and remarks. For example, Henry Jackson, a UPenn alumnus and co-founder and CEO of the British private equity firm OpCapita LLP, confirmed to the New York Post that he and his singer-songwriter wife Stacey were about to cut ties with the UPenn professor for allegedly inciting antisemitism.
The Jacksons, who have been supporting Anne through the President’s Distinguished Professorship since 2018, told the Post:
“We are deeply concerned to learn of the comments made by Professor Anne Norton on social media that appear to endorse hatred and violence. We accept that Professor Norton has made these remarks in a personal capacity. Nevertheless, we strongly condemn any form of racism or antisemitism.”An X account reports about the Jacksons’ defunding of Anne Norton.
Norton’s response pending, UPenn denies the statement
Their joint statement also revealed that they were in negotiations with the university to end their contract with the professorship and hoped that UPenn would be able to overcome all of the challenges it was currently facing.
“We are proud to have supported the University of Pennsylvania over many years and remain passionate believers in the power of higher education to expand opportunity,” the Jacksons further mentioned.
Norton has yet to respond to her defunding. A UPenn spokesperson also denied making a statement, citing a personal matter. However, a petition demanding her dismissal has been launched on change.org.
Interestingly, prior to the Jacksons, other investors withdrew funds from UPenn in the aftermath of the Israel-Hamas conflict, including billionaire AQR Capital Management founder Clifford Asness, Apollo Management CEO Marc Rowan, former US Ambassador Jon Huntsman, and hedge funder David Magerman, among others.