Can they face the music?
A frustrated fundraiser is looking to hire a mariachi band to incessantly serenade the anti-Israel encampment at the University of Pennsylvania — and supporters are donating to the idea in droves.
The protesters occupying the Philadelphia campus’ College Green are reluctant to converse with outsiders, according to CNN — but have no problem shouting their ideals for all to hear, according to fundraiser Rob Martinez.
“I believe these protestors (sic) should be serenaded for their efforts, just as they have constantly serenaded my efforts to study for finals with a megaphone and drum set,” Martinez wrote on his GoFundMe, which plans to hire a mariachi band to play alongside the tent setup until the coffers run out.
“Donate to have a mariachi band play next to the encampment continuously until we run out of money to pay them for their efforts,” Martinez wrote.
The fundraiser also asked donors to chip in “a few dollars for nose plugs” for the band, because the “merry batch of campers” on the green “are not the biggest fans of bathing.”
Martinez — who did not respond to The Post’s request for comment — launched the GoFundMe on Thursday; by Saturday morning, it had nearly doubled its initial $14,000 goal.
“Best money I spent all week. Play it loud,” one contributor commented along with their $100 donation.
One donor suggested that Martinez also arrange for an Ashkenazi Jewish Klezmer band to play near the protesters, which a third person quickly seconded.
“An expression of Jewish joy and resilience would be a welcome shift. Instead of yelling we can show that we are a strong, loving people and we’re not going anywhere,” they noted.
The encampment at UPenn is part of a spate of anti-Israel protests occupying college campuses across the US over the past couple weeks.
Most of the protest emerged in response to the initial tent movement at Columbia University, where hundreds of students and other demonstrators have since been arrested for trespassing and other violations.
The encampments demand that the universities divest their connections with Israel in light of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip — though their rhetoric has come under fire as antisemitic and hateful.
When a group of rogue demonstrators broke into a Columbia academic building earlier this week, they hung a large banner that read “intifada” out one of the central windows.
“Hamas make us proud, kill another soldier now,” was also one of the chants heard at the Morningside Heights encampment — referring to the terror group behind the deadly Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 people in southern Israel.
Philadelphia police had a significant presence on UPenn’s campus Friday, but no arrests were made, WPVI reported.
One day earlier, the Philadelphia chapter of the Israeli-American Council presented the university’s interim president with a petition urging the administration to disband the encampment, the outlet ordered.
UPenn has been embroiled in accusations of antisemitism and controversy over campus free speech since the Oct. 7 attack last year opened the floodgates of anti-Israel rhetoric.
In early December, President Liz Magill resigned following a disastrous appearance before the House Education Committee on the issue of Jewish hate at the Ivy League school.
Despite the ongoing scandal, one Jewish student told The Post last month that the UPenn administration seemed “powerless” to remove the protesters who flouted the rules.
