LAWRENCE, Kan. — After University of Kansas' Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) established what it calls a "multi-day encampment" in front of Fraser Hall in Lawrence on Wednesday, some members of the KU Jewish community feel as though the protest was antisemitic.
At least one hundred pro-Palestinian protesters gathered, and some Jewish students were present in opposition.
“Today I am just showing, like, that I’m proud to be Jewish, and with my other fellow Jewish classmates and that, you know, we’re not going to be afraid with all the antisemitism going around campuses all around the United States," Alyson Weinberg, a KU student, said at the encampment.
Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel, who has worked with Jewish KU students for 18 years through Chabad of KU, believed the encampment was using antisemitic rhetoric.
“It’s very important to stress that we don’t see this as a political statement over land or territory, this is a statement of support for Hamas, which is a recognized terrorist entity with a goal of annihilating the Jewish people," he said.
Tiechtel said some Jewish students who went to the encampment planned on "just being around, being in the area, maybe saying prayers."
Several people showed up to the encampment and displayed Israeli flags.
“I’ve been here for 18 years and this is the first time in a very long time that Jewish students feel stressed, intimidated, uncomfortable, hated," Tiechtel said.
Both Weinberg and Tiechtel disagreed with at least one statement at the encampment on Wednesday.
Some signs at the encampment displayed the pro-Palestinian phrase, 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.'
“‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ means there will be no Jewish people left," Weinberg said.
In a statement released Wednesday morning by KU's SJP, organizers said antisemitism would not be tolerated at the protest.
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