The kill-the-Jews rallies going on across America have resulted in casualties, including the leader of Columbia’s protests, now banned from the campus although it doesn’t appear that he has been expelled.
Here in Minnesota, we have the entertaining spectacle of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion officer at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health being fired, and subsequently starting a lawsuit. On to that in a moment, but first, who is she? The Daily Mail, usually the best source for Minnesota news, has the story:
A model-turned DEI manager who was fired because she posed in front of an Israeli flag emblazoned with swastikas is now suing because her First Amendment rights were ‘violated’.
Mashal Sherzad, 29, was fired from her position as the diversity, equity and inclusion manager at the University of Minnesota because of now seemingly deleted pictures that she accidentally uploaded onto her public social media of her posing in front of the controversial flag.
Ms. Sherzad, a former model, is something of a bombshell:
Sherzad is a lesbian who checks just about every politically-correct box. She describes herself as “a proud Queer, Muslim, Afghan and SWANA woman.” (I don’t know what SWANA means, either.) Beyond her multiple-minority status, I have seen no explanation of her qualifications for the DEI post.
But why was she fired?
Mashal Sherzad, 29, was fired from her position as the diversity, equity and inclusion manager at the University of Minnesota because of now seemingly deleted pictures that she accidentally uploaded onto her public social media of her posing in front of the controversial flag.
Sherzad, who identified as Muslim, and who is in a relationship with a woman, began her role in October, 2023, and travelled to Barcelona to attend a pro-Palestinian rally just two months later. She shared pictures of herself from the rally – including snaps of her posing in front of the swastika-embezzled [sic] Israeli flag.
That was too much for the Dean of the School of Public Health:
[I]n a January letter School of Public Health Dean Melinda Pettigrew told Sherzad she respects employees’ rights ‘to comment on matters of public concern’ but ‘your conduct directly undermines your credibility in this role.’
‘I find that continuing your employment would create a real risk of significant disruption to School and University activities,’ Pettigrew wrote.
‘This is particularly true given the current climate around the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, within the University community and around the globe, and the highly inflammatory nature of the image you posted.’
The swastika flag was just one in a series of anti-Jewish social media posts by Sherzad:
Sherzad has posted videos of herself chanting at rallies in support of Palestine, pictures comparing Nazi occupied Poland to Israeli occupied Palestine and plenty of pro-Palestine infographics and protest pics.
Sherzad’s case against the university alleges that it violated her free speech rights:
The activist showed up to a news conference on Friday in a very tight bodycon dress with risqué cut-outs to make her case and beg for her job back – explaining that the vandalized flag she posed in front of was ‘somebody else’s intellectual property’.
***
‘The caption on said post was, ‘This is not a conflict. This is not a war. This is genocide’,’ Sherzad explained.
A familiar claim. CAIR is supporting Sherzad:
The executive director of Minnesota’s Council on American-Islamic Relations, Jaylani Hussein, has said: ‘The facts of this case are completely unbelievable. It is a dark day for freedom of speech.’
That’s rich. Sherzad apparently fails to understand how her endorsement of “kill the Jews” protests could compromise her position as a diversity officer. I suppose she would say, if asked, “I didn’t think they meant that kind of diversity.” And to be fair, they probably didn’t. But the outburst of anti-Semitic rallies across the country has forced the hand of a number of institutions, like Columbia and the University of Minnesota, who were happy to go along with quieter forms of racism and anti-Semitism.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.