Hillel International CEO Eric Fingerhut called to end the harassment and intimidation of Jewish and pro-Israel students on college campuses.
Jewish and pro-Israel students across college campuses cannot be allowed “to be intimidated or harassed when they exercise their rights to assemble for student programming,” the head of the world’s largest Jewish student organization told The Algemeiner today.
Mr. Fingerhut made his comments in response to a violent anti-Israel protest at U.C. Irvine on Wednesday evening against a UCI Hillel co-sponsored screening of “Beneath the Helmet,” a film that follows the lives of soldiers serving in the Israel Defense Forces.
The pro-Israel event, by UCI’s chapter of Students Supporting Israel, was aggressively protested by the local chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and the Muslim Student Union. The event was part of Israel Peace Week at UCI, following this month’s earlier “anti-Zionism week.”
In a video capturing the protest, anti-Israel students can be heard shouting “long live the intifada,” “f*** the police” and “displacing people since ‘48/ there’s nothing here to celebrate!”
According to statements by UCI’s Students Supporting Israel on Facebook, protesters also shouted, “All white people need to die.” They chased a female student into an adjacent building. They “were aggressive, blocking exits and not allowing people to leave, as well as forcing people to run and hide in their rooms, fearing for their lives.”
Mr. Fingerhut condemned the “actions of the nearly 40 individuals who aggressively confronted and threatened a group of 10 UCI students who were attending a pro-Israel event on campus.”
He told The Algemeiner that protesters “physically intimidated at least one Jewish student who was attempting to enter the building where the program was held.”
According to Mr. Fingerhut, Hillel officials were forced to call university police after it was “no longer possible to maintain a safe environment for the Jewish students in attendance.” In some instances, police had to escort students safely away from the event.
“While the protest was allowed to continue, the university took steps to protect the Jewish students,” he said. “Hillel is working with the university administration to ensure the safety of Jewish students and the entire campus community.”
In response to the protest, UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman wrote in a campus-wide email:
“While this university will protect freedom of speech, that right is not absolute…threats, harassment, incitement and defamatory speech are not protected. We must shelter everyone’s right to speak freely – without fear or intimidation – and allow events to proceed without disruption and potential danger.”
Mr. Gillman said the protest “crossed the line of civility” and that the UCI administration will be “investigating whether disciplinary or legal actions are appropriate.”
This story originally appeared today at algemeiner.com
