A sign for Temple University’s welcome center. Photo by Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via Getty Images
By Hannah Feuer
May 7, 2025
Temple University has suspended a second student involved in the “F— the Jews” sign at a Philadelphia bar owned by Dave Portnoy, according to a Wednesday statement from the university.
The second student’s name has not been released. In a post on X, Portnoy referenced two people involved in ordering the “F— the Jews” sign, including Temple student Mo Khan — who had posted a video of the sign to social media — and a friend.
On a call with the two, Portnoy said both “cried their eyes out” and “accepted responsibility for their hateful actions.” But Khan later said his statements to Portnoy were made “under duress” and that he was not responsible for the sign.
On Tuesday, Khan appeared on Holocaust denier Stew Peters’ podcast, where he said he “absolutely” agreed with Peters that people should “join forces” to fight “Jewish supremacy.”
“The content of this interview was both appalling and deeply offensive,” Temple president John Fry wrote in the statement. “Antisemitism is not tolerated at Temple. We condemn it in the strongest possible terms, and we will be relentless in efforts to combat it, especially when members of our community have been targeted because of their Jewish identity.”
Portnoy had offered both Khan and his friend a free educational visit to Auschwitz in Poland, which he later revoked.
In Wednesday’s statement, Fry also referenced an unrelated incident in which a Temple student made “alarming comments related to the United States” in a video circulating on social media.
Fry appeared to be referencing a video in which Temple student Rishi Arun says, “It is our job to destroy imperialism, destroy the United States, and destroy capitalism and the system of extraction that it relies on.”
Arun is labelled in the video as “Students for Justice in Palestine Temple University.” But Students for Justice in Palestine is not a recognized student organization at Temple, Fry wrote. The club was suspended in October 2024 after SJP protestors disrupted a job fair on campus, leading to four arrests.
Fry also noted that today was Temple’s commencement ceremony, and he urged Temple students and faculty to keep “focused on what matters most: celebrating our graduates and wishing them success.”
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