Tiffany Haddish Clarifies Stand-Up Slam of Campus Gaza Protests: Lobbying Congress ‘Would Be Way More Effective’

Tiffany Haddish Clarifies Stand-Up Slam of Campus Gaza Protests: Lobbying Congress ‘Would Be Way More Effective’
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Tiffany Haddish clarified incendiary comments she made about pro-Palestine demonstrations on college campuses at a recent Netflix Is a Joke stand-up show, emphasizing that demonstrators should “do it, but do it better” by taking the issue up to Congress. She said such a move “would be way more effective.”

“If you want to protest, protest. But if you really want to be effective and make change, go up to the legislation office, go up to your Senator, call your council,” Haddish told TMZ in a street interview on Monday in New York City. “Go to Congress [the people] who make change. It would be way more effective. Go become a lobbyist and go talk to them.”

The comedian went on to say that the demonstrations, which have resulted in universities like Columbia and USC canceling their main commencement ceremonies and have seen the cumulative arrests of hundreds of students, are impeding on other students’ education.

“You at college and you blocking other people who work their whole lives to go to school,” Haddish said. “They spent all this, thousands of thousands of dollars to get educated, and you blocking them from going to class? They not going to be able to graduate? Most of them missed their [high school] graduation because of the pandemic. Now they are going to miss it because you out here protesting?”

Haddish concluded by saying she’s not against the protests but feels they could be facilitated in a more constructive way.

“Do it, but do it better. Be effective. Running around with a trash can shield, looking like you playin’ Dungeons and Dragons is not going to change nothing. But what will change is if you get your education, you get yourself in office,” Haddish concluded, while urging Americans to be more aware of other crises taking place around the world.

“I think if they are going to protest for one place they should protest for all the places that are having genocide happening. How many Black people got to die before we can get a protest? Hello? Hello? Who built that damn college you protesting at?” Haddish said, nodding to the fact that Ivy League schools like Harvard, Columbia, Princeton and Yale were built by Black slaves.

Haddish’s Monday comments followed remarks made during her Netflix Is a Joke stand-up comedy show, a clip of which was uploaded online.

“I don’t give a fk about that st,” Haddish said. Why should I give a fk about the college? There’s not genocide at the college. I give a f–k about what’s going on on the other side of the world. But why would I give a f–k about the college?”

“Do you remember 9/11, bitch?” Haddish continued. “We were under attack; 11 terrorists blew our s–t up. Three-thousand people dead. What the fk did we do, America? Do y’all remember what we did? If you from the 1900s you remember. We went the fk over there and we f–ked they ass up, didn’t we? I went over there. I flew on a plane, I went over there and did comedy for the troops. I did do that. I did comedy for our American troops.”

Haddish, who’s late father was Jewish and who converted to Judaism later in life, visited Israel in February to learn more about the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israeli citizens.

More than 2,000 people participating in pro-Palestine demonstrations have been arrested across the U.S., according to NBC News, with colleges nationwide being thrust in the spotlight as students and regular citizens push for a cease-fire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

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