USC Valedictorian Repeatedly Dodges Whether She Endorses ‘Complete Abolishment’ of Israel as She Shared It on Instagram

EXCERPT:

PHILLIP: “You just brought up a link that was posted through your social media page. I do want to ask you about that, since you did bring it up. One of the items in this post calls for the complete abolishment of Israel. Is that a position that you endorse?”
TABASSUM: “If you're asking me if I stand for human rights, if you're asking me if I stand for equality and unequivocal and unconditional right to life for all people, including Palestinians, then I'm not apologetic. I believe in what I believe. And it is because of the people around me that I've met at USC, the classes that I've taken, the professors that I have learned from that have led me to look at the world in this way. And, you know, it's unfortunate that, you know, human rights is controversial.”
PHILLIP: “The reason I'm asking is because that's what the link said. It called for the complete abolishment of Israel. Abolishment of Israel was in the actual language. Is that something that you endorse?”
TABASSUM: “So, the abolishment of the state of Israel, I'd like to clarify, is the abolishment of an apartheid system. It inherently is a system that subjugates Palestinians as dehumanized and it subjugates Palestinian life as not worth the same as other human life. So, when the link says --“
PHILLIP: “So, is that a yes then?”
TABASSUM: “I think a yes or a no would be an injustice to the issue. And I think that any sort of ideological debate or any sort of academic discourse is worth clarification and worth discussion.”