The ongoing Israel-Palestine war has seen protests from all over the world. From marches of thousands to vigils and more, a lot of the world has made their displeasure of the war clear.
Everyone agrees that innocents on both sides of the conflict don’t deserve to be held hostage, have their lives uprooted, and be put at risk. However, some people’s actions tend to show bias towards only one side.
Trigger Warning: The following article contains antisemitic comments. Reader discretion is advised.
Rachel Birney allegedly tore down the posters of kidnapped Israelis at her university campus. Her actions made many ask- Who is she? And why is she doing something so heartless?
Rachel Birney is a Physics TA and Ph.D. student at the School of Natural Science & Mathematics (USC). On November 10, 2023, she was filmed allegedly tearing down the posters of missing Israeli citizens. She is also the daughter of Angela Birney, the Mayor of Redmond, Washington. USC is investigating the incident.
Who Is Rachel Birney?
Rachel Birney is a Physics teaching assistant (TA) at the University of South California (USC). She is also pursuing a PhD at the School of Natural Science & Mathematics.
As per Twitter/ X user @Onyeka_Marco, her teaching schedule is on Tuesdays every week between 2 pm and 4.50 pm at the USC campus.
It has also been revealed that Birney is a native of Redmond, Washington, and the daughter of Angela Birney, the Mayor of Redmond. The Progressive Voters Guide endorses her.
Currently, there’s no mention of her on her mother’s Instagram page, @electangelabirney. Also, the account has been made private at the time of this writing. Rachel’s Instagram account wasn’t available on the platform as well.
Apart from this, Birney is also a former soccer/ football player at Connecticut’s Wesleyan College.
What Did Rachel Birney Do?
On November 10, a video featuring Rachel Birney allegedly tearing down the posters of missing Israeli citizens from a bulletin board went viral. In the 22-second-long video, a man can be heard asking Birney why she is taking down the posters.
In response, Rachel smiles at the camera and removes more posters containing information and pictures of the missing people before laughing. She says something inaudible in the camera. Only the word “genocide” can be heard.
The man then says, “That’s not funny; they are kidnapped individuals.” But she doesn’t pay any heed to him. Once she has collected most of the posters, she leaves with them in her hand.
The viral video has sparked fury against Rachel Birney’s actions. Many have called her insensitive and anti-semitic, while others have advocated for her expulsion. USC has put out a tweet addressing the video. They said:
“We are aware of a social media post of a person removing posters from what appears to be a building on our campus. We know this is upsetting to many of you, and we encourage everyone in the USC community to respect others’ views/act with civility toward each other.”
In a follow-up tweet, a representative of USC wrote:
“We are looking into this but are prohibited from providing additional information due to student privacy laws.”
This isn’t the only instance of something like this happening.
Previously, Lucia Mendoza and Brooklyn teacher Olivia Lynch were filmed allegedly tearing down the posters of missing Israeli citizens. Also, University of Pennsylvania student Tara Tarawneh was filmed allegedly calling the Hamas attacks glorious.
When people begin tearing down the posters of only one set of missing people, it sends a discouraging message.
Whether any action gets taken against Rachel Birney remains to be seen.
What do you think of the increasing instances of people tearing down the posters of allegedly only missing Israelis?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
