Eastern facade of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Jeffrey M. Vinocur

A new pro-Palestinian student group at University of Pennsylvania’s Carey Law School has launched an effort to discourage students from visiting Israel in an annual school-sponsored trip.

Posted on July 2 by the newly-launched Penn Law Students for Justice in Palestine (PLSJP), the petition aimed at cancelling the upcoming Penn Law itrek program, a weeklong tour of the country that PLSJP cast as a “savvy” way to promote “Israeli government-linked propaganda.”

Said the petition, “While it may be presented as ‘neutral,’ ‘balanced,’ or ‘nonpolitical,’ itrek is part of a well-organized and well-funded campaign designed to improve Israel’s image among Americans and deflect attention from its ongoing human rights abuses.”

PLSJP also accused Israel of denying Palestinians healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic, and alleged that the trip risked spreading the virus among Palestinians.

“Even if you are vaccinated, you can still carry and transmit COVID-19,” said the petition, which on Monday counted 54 signatories from the law school and community. “Your presence in Israel can further endanger Palestinian lives, lives which are already suffering at the hands of Israel and do not have access to the vaccine or the medical care that you and most Israelis do/have had.”

The itrek program describes itself as bringing “future leaders” in law, business, policy and STEM to Israel for peer-led trips, and has hosted over 19,000 graduate students from around the world since 2012.