Adapted from an article originally published in the Times of Israel blog, December 6, 2023. https://blogs. timesofisrael.com/lets-not-demonize-college-students/.
In the weeks after October 7th, the text messages came in droves, from friends and family alike: “Oh my goodness! Are you okay? There is so much antisemitism on college campuses!” I responded that I was fine, and that they were spending way too much time fretting about what is going on on college campuses.
As a senior at Rutgers University, I did not anticipate spending my final year of college being immersed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on my campus in New Jersey. I enrolled in 2020 to earn a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in international and global studies because I knew that Rutgers was a diverse place with a vibrant Jewish community.
I chose to attend a university with a diverse student body so that I could engage with students outside of my own community, knowing that I would encounter beliefs different from mine. SJP is vocal and outspoken. SJP has chalked words calling for Palestinian liberation in highly trafficked campus areas, and at times I passed words calling for a global intifada and students wearing keffiyehs and holding Palestinian flags on my way to class.
Many of my Jewish friends found this particularly distressing, and I do not blame them. However, I want to urge people who see this happening at universities to accept this discomfort. Groups should not be removed from campus for having opposing views, and a safe place to express all views is vital. Hearing a different perspective on campus does not constitute a bias incident and does not warrant doxing. I chose to go to a public university because I wanted to be exposed to perspectives different from mine, and this is no different. I was grateful to be a student in a university that protects freedom of speech.
This is not to say that the months after October 7th have not been distressing for everyone involved. On October 25th, 2023, Jewish students were barricaded at the Cooper Union Library as Palestinian protesters pounded on the doors. On November 3rd, an Arab Muslim student was struck in a hit-and-run incident that authorities called a hate crime. Over Thanksgiving break, three Palestinian college students were shot in Vermont, leaving one paralyzed from the chest down.
There is no shortage of people scared and distressed due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Students at Rutgers have family who were taken hostage by Hamas, family who were killed on October 7th, and family who are serving in the Israel Defense Forces. Students at Rutgers also have family members who were killed in Gaza by bombs dropped by Israel and family members who were attacked in the West Bank. There was a shroud of fear and mourning surrounding both Jewish and Palestinian students at Rutgers who felt powerless to help their family and friends, and isolated because so many on our campus lacked this personal connection that we had. Our situations were not so different, yet we continued to antagonize each other and we were left with more fear. In response, I have tried to find space for conversation, understanding, and dialogue.
During the past year there was no space for nuance on campus. As I walked past the SJP rally on the way to the library (quite inconvenient that Hamas attacked Israel right around midterm season), I encountered Chabad, one of many Jewish organizations at Rutgers, tabling on the other side of the street. They recognized me, and one of the people tabling quipped: “Stay safe.” I kept walking, but I wanted to reply that, quite frankly, I did not feel unsafe. I knew that students protesting for SJP and for Palestinian liberation were not my enemy.
These students did not attack Israel, and I did not contribute to Israel’s violent response in Gaza after the attacks on October 7th. I, just like them, was grappling with the repercussions. I do not have to agree with their understanding of a twisted narrative to sympathize with their pain and to believe that there is a space for them to exist and to have a voice.
I know that this can be a difficult perspective to grapple with. It is hard to hear another perspective and to allow and encourage people to speak this perspective when it is so different from our own and we are still mourning our losses. I still shudder when I hear the word intifada and the phrase, “From the river to the sea.” In response, I have reconsidered the language used to refer to Palestinian liberation to understand what it could mean to Palestinians as opposed to my initial reaction when hearing it.
It is here that the distinction between free speech and antisemitic language needs to be made clear. SJP should not be permitted to call Jewish people Nazis or to call for the death of Jewish people, but they should be allowed to rally for their liberation. I choose to allow for my discomfort because dialogue is important to me, and I believe that peace will always begin with a commitment towards understanding. I hope that my fellow students attempt the same because when we demonize each other and ignore one another’s perspectives, we are hurting ourselves more. It was when I entered spaces looking for a resolution that I felt the safest on campus and that I felt that I could contribute the most to helping my friends and family in Israel. I want other students to experience this as well.
On November 10th, Columbia suspended SJP from its campus, and many of my friends rejoiced and hoped that the same would happen at Rutgers. I did not, and do not, hope for this. SJP at Rutgers has been protesting within university guidelines and, as I have explained time and time again to my friends, their inflammatory language is not inherently hate speech. On a United States campus, we are in a unique position to have conversations that our family and friends in the Middle East are unable to have.
We are not fearing for our lives, and it is my hope that we stop seeing each other as a threat. The students protesting across the street are our classmates and peers. It is when we think otherwise that leads to the terrifying events that occurred at Cooper Union Library and in Vermont. I hope that as college students, and as parents, family, and friends of college students, we look for spaces to mourn together and to have dialogue. If we cannot yet achieve peace in the Middle East, at the very least we can strive towards peace and understanding on campus.