Northwestern University students cancel food fest after protest against Israel group’s participation

A student group at Northwestern University, in Illinois, cancels a multicultural food festival after students rejected a pro-Israel group’s participation.

The organizers, Spoon University Northwestern, had scheduled a Cultural Food Festival today that included a campus group, Wildcats for Israel.

Wildcats for Israel says its goal is “educating the Northwestern community about Israel” and that it “welcomes all viewpoints.”

Yesterday, three other student groups posted a joint statement saying that “almost every student organization” had quit the food festival because the event was “platforming Wildcats for Israel.”

The groups said they were “confused” that a multicultural food festival included an Israeli group.

“A ‘culture’ born from the active land theft and genocide of Palestinians should not be recognized,” said the statement from the university’s Asian Pacific American Coalition, the ‘inclusive’ Alianza Student Alliance, and the Middle Eastern North African Student Association.

The statement said that Spoon University had cut Wildcats for Israel from the event, but that the developments had “created a significant loss of trust that cannot be resolved.”

Spoon University acknowledges removing the Israel group and apologizes for the “oversight.”

“We condemn the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” the group says in a statement. “We are reviewing and updating our partnership guidelines to ensure our organization aligns strictly with our values.”

The campus newspaper, The Daily Northwestern, reports that the food festival is canceled due to the backlash.