TV host Kim Atienza has broken his silence about the controversy surrounding his daughter Eliana Atienza and her recent participation in pro-Palestine protests at the University of Pennsylvania.
The father of the 19-year-old sophomore student said he and the rest of his family support his daughter and her advocacies.
He clarified that she is not pro-Hamas.
“Eliana has always been vocal about what she believes in. In this instance she’s part of the organization that is anti-genocide and anti-war,” Atienza said.
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The New York Post reported that Eliana and five other students were suspended from campus two weeks ago for participating in a protest encampment against Israel’s war against Hamas, a retaliation for its deadly terror attack.
The UPenn protest encampment was one of many across the US in the last two months.
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In recent days, Eliana was criticized by US conservative media outlets like Fox News and the NY Post for her involvement in the campus protest. Reports noted her affluent background after she supposedly said she was left “homeless” when administrators kicked her off campus for participating in the anti-Israel encampment.
Atienza said his daughter’s remark was taken out of context.
“She was technically homeless because she was removed from her dorm. Unfortunately, that message was taken out of context. She never said she was poor,” he said.
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He added that his daughter was “not expelled.”
“She had some academic sanctions, but she will be back in the next semester as they are on summer break right now,” Atienza said.