The Israel-Hamas war has upended activity on U.S. college campuses, pitting student groups against their own university leaders as long-simmering tensions between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian organizations boil over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some student groups have long denounced what they call Israel\u2019s occupation of Palestinian territories and brutal treatment of its residents, and while politicians from across the political spectrum were swift to condemn Hamas\u2019s attack over the weekend, there were those at U.S. schools who laid the blame at Israel\u2019s feet, leading to fears of potential antisemitic violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 30 student groups at Harvard released a statement after the attack saying that Israel was \u201centirely responsible for all unfolding violence,\u201d and the University of Virginia\u2019s (UVA) Students for Justice in Palestine said Hamas\u2019s actions, while left hundreds of Israeli civilians dead, represent \u201ca step towards a free Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe stand in solidarity with Palestinian resistance fighters and all oppressed people around the world seeking freedom and a better world,\u201d the UVA group said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Harvard letter received so much backlash, including from the university\u2019s president<\/u><\/a>, that the names of all the original signing organizations have been taken off. Harvard Hillel responded by saying it is \u201cdeeply pained that instead of finding solace and support among our Harvard community in the days following the bloodiest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, we encountered further hatred and anti-Semitism here in Cambridge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Micah Gritz, COO of Jewish on Campus and a senior at Tufts University, says the \u201ccampus environment\u201d has been \u201chorrifying.\u201d He said Jewish and Israeli students are \u201cincredibly scared,\u201d and that he had friends who died in Israel over the weekend, while others have been hiding in bomb shelters or getting redrafted into the Israeli army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOn campus, we\u2019re seeing students either turn a blind eye to the conflict, or we\u2019re seeing those who are openly celebrating our pain, you know, glorifying it, justifying it,\u201d Gritz told The Hill. \u201cThey\u2019re casting the murder of Jews and Israelis as progressive, as liberation. It\u2019s just honestly very, very scary as a Jewish student on campus who has friends and family in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The distinction between the actions of Hamas and support for the Palestinian people more broadly has been a key one, with lawmakers seeking to draw a sharp line between the two. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt should not be hard to shut down hatred and antisemitism where we see it. That is a core tenet of solidarity,\u201d Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez\u2002<\/u><\/a>(D-N.Y.) said in a statement after a rally in New York City in support of Hamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe bigotry and callousness expressed in Times Square on Sunday were unacceptable and harmful in this devastating moment. It also did not speak for the thousands of New Yorkers who are capable of rejecting both Hamas\u2019s horrifying attacks against innocent civilians as well as the grave injustices and violence Palestinians face under occupation,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n College campuses in the U.S. have been a hotbed on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for years, with each flare-up of violence in the Middle East sparking renewed frustrations on both sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students for Justice in Palestine at Arizona State University held a rally in support of Palestine on Sunday, saying in a post that the event was used to \u201clearn about the Palestinian liberation struggle against the U.S. and Israeli war machine.\u201d Since then, the student organization has been reposting on X, formerly known as Twitter, posts tracking the number of dead Palestinians from Israeli counterattacks, and informational videos on the surprise attack from \u201cPalestinian resistance in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the actions by some student-led groups have been seen as dismissive of the loss of life in Israel over the weekend, others worry schools and lawmakers are vilifying all Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe level of anti-Arab hate and rhetoric hasn\u2019t been this high since the aftermath of 9\/11. It is far worse than the Trump years,\u201d Abed Ayoub, the national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said on X. \u201cWe\u2019ve received many calls for assistance in dealing with threats and intimidation. Schools across the country are vilifying Palestinians, and elected officials are setting up the stage for hate crimes against Arabs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n