Washington, DC – Jewish college students concerned in protests at Columbia University say their pro-Palestinian activism is pushed by their religion – not regardless of it.
On Tuesday, a bunch of Jewish pupil activists met with members of the USA Congress in Washington, DC, to inform their tales, which they are saying have been unnoticed of mainstream narratives about anti-Semitism on school campuses.
As pupil protests in opposition to Israel’s conflict in Gaza swept the nation final yr, Columbia College in New York grew to become a flashpoint.
The college noticed one of many first student encampments within the nation, erected to demand an finish to investments in firms complicit in human rights abuses. Shortly after the tents began popping up, the campus additionally witnessed a few of the first mass arrests of pupil protesters within the Palestinian solidarity motion.
That visibility has made Columbia a focus for President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on what he referred to as “unlawful protests” and campus anti-Semitism.
Earlier this yr, Columbia pupil Mahmoud Khalil grew to become the primary pupil activist to be detained by the Trump administration and focused for deportation.
Tuesday’s delegation of Jewish college students got here to Congress to push the case that Khalil and others like him ought to by no means have been detained of their identify. They met with no less than 17 Democratic legislators from each the Home of Representatives and the Senate.
Al Jazeera spoke to a number of college students who participated within the lobbying day, which was organised by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Motion, an advocacy organisation. Listed below are a few of their tales:
Tali Beckwith-Cohen
Raised in upstate New York, historical past main Tali Beckwith-Cohen mentioned she grew up in a neighborhood the place Zionism was the norm. She remembers being instructed “myths” about Palestine as “a land with out a individuals for a individuals with out a land”: a slogan used to justify the institution of Israel.
However as she started to be taught Palestinian historical past and meet Palestinians, Beckwith-Cohen mentioned her beliefs had been challenged.
Ultimately, after the conflict in Gaza started in October 2023, she grew to become concerned in Palestinian rights activism.
Human rights teams and United Nations consultants have discovered proof that Israel’s techniques in Gaza are “in keeping with genocide”. Greater than 52,615 Palestinians have been killed within the battle to date.
“For a very long time, I had this type of feeling of discomfort, this sense of wrestling, this sense of possibly cognitive dissonance, and the way can I reckon these values I maintain expensive with Zionism?” Beckwith-Cohen instructed Al Jazeera.
“We’re seeing the bombing, the disregard for human life, for kids, for hospitals, for faculties. It pressured me to select.”
She harassed that the protests had been areas of solidarity, the place college students of all backgrounds had been dedicated to the concept that their security is intertwined.
“There’s a lot within the media narrative about what’s occurring on Columbia campus that’s simply disingenuous and simply so unfaithful to what we’ve skilled,” Beckwith-Cohen mentioned.
“So we’re right here as we speak to inform our Congress people who what we’re seeing on campus is clearly an authoritarian, fascist crackdown on all dissent, not solely college students peacefully advocating for an finish to genocide.”
Carly Shaffer
When Carly Shaffer voiced concern in regards to the Israeli escalation in Gaza on a college WhatsApp chat, a few of her fellow college students questioned her Judaism.
Out of the tons of of individuals on the chat, she remembers that Khalil – the activist arrested for deportation – was the one one who contacted her on to reject the feedback she was subjected to.
As she bought to know Khalil, she got here to view him because the “embodiment” of somebody who cared in regards to the security of all college students on campus.
Shaffer instructed Al Jazeera that she felt “sick” and “horrified” when Khalil was arrested. Her discomfort was then compounded when she noticed that the Trump White Home celebrated his detention on social media with the phrase “Shalom, Mahmoud” – a Jewish greeting repurposed as a taunt.
Shaffer, who’s pursuing a grasp’s diploma in human rights and social coverage, grew up in California and was raised by a single mom in a low-income family.
She mentioned talking out in opposition to injustice – together with in Palestine – is a follow rooted in her Jewish religion.
“The Columbia protest motion, it’s a motion of affection. It’s a motion of solidarity,” Shaffer mentioned. “And Jewish college students are additionally integral and essential to this motion.”
She mentioned that, when Jewish pupil protesters held non secular occasions on campus, their friends from the encampment joined them and inquired about their traditions.
“These are the identical college students who’re being portrayed as anti-Semites, who’re going out of their method to go and find out about Passover and have fun a Jewish vacation with their Jewish associates,” Shaffer instructed Al Jazeera.
She decried the “weaponisation of anti-Semitism”, saying that the problem is getting used to close down conversations about Israeli atrocities in Gaza.
“Jewish college students are getting used as pawns in Trump’s political agenda,” she mentioned. “And the weaponisation of anti-Semitism to dismantle this motion is not only a risk to Jewish college students; it’s a risk to all of us. That’s why it’s so vital for us as Jewish college students to instantly appropriate this false narrative.”
Sarah Borus
Barnard School pupil Sarah Borus, who was arrested in the course of the crackdown on the Columbia encampment, mentioned she grew up in an anti-Zionist household in a “very Zionist neighborhood”.
She felt it was vital for Jewish college students like herself to convey their experiences on to the individuals in energy in Washington, DC.
“We’re speaking to members of Congress to inform them our tales which can be unnoticed of mainstream information,” Borus instructed Al Jazeera.
“Trump’s mission is just not about defending Jewish college students. It’s about utilizing fears of anti-Semitism – due to the way in which that the Gaza solidarity encampment was portrayed final yr – with the intention to goal non-citizen pupil activists, with the intention to goal tutorial freedom, free speech, and actually put many, many individuals at risk.”
When requested how she feels in regards to the potential backlash to her activism, Borus acknowledged that the present political local weather left her fearful.
“I’m scared, however within the grand scheme of issues, I’m pleased with the alternatives I’ve made,” she mentioned. “I might not make any completely different ones, and I’m prepared to tackle the dangers, if that’s what have to be completed.”
Shay Orentlicher
Shay Orentlicher has no regrets about taking part in Columbia College’s encampments, regardless of the executive and political crackdowns.
Orentlicher mentioned Christian nationalists are attempting to erase the angle of pro-Palestine Jewish college students and outline Judaism in a means that matches their political functions.
However protesting in opposition to the killing of Palestinians, Orentlicher mentioned, is an expression of each Jewish and humanist values. And Orentlicher believes that Columbia’s demonstrations have helped elevate consciousness nationwide.
“Regardless of the oppression we now have confronted, regardless of the struggling, and regardless of the despair of worrying that we now have not completed sufficient to cease the genocide, to face up for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Financial institution, I believe we now have shifted the general public discourse in a very vital means,” Orentlicher mentioned.
“And we even have constructed a very stunning neighborhood. And I don’t remorse what I did in any respect. I wouldn’t change something.”
Raphie
Raphie, who selected to determine by his first identify solely, mentioned he grew up “very Zionist”. However as he realized extra in regards to the battle between Israelis and Palestinians, he felt he had been deceived.
“The Jewish elementary faculty I went to, as an example, had a map of Israel, and it was like a diamond – no West Financial institution or Gaza on it,” he mentioned.
“After I noticed the precise map with the occupied territories, I used to be like, ‘Wait, I used to be lied to.’ And that type of made me go on this complete journey of exploring what Zionism is, what occupation is, what settler colonialism is.”
Raphie, who’s finding out maths, mentioned the conflict on Gaza, the campus protests and the backlash the scholar protesters confronted all made him really feel a “private accountability to struggle for what is correct”.
In his expertise, the demonstrations had been welcoming, not anti-Semitic. What was anti-Semitic, he mentioned, was the truth that the college focused Jewish pupil protesters for his or her political opinions.
A number of college students, together with Raphie, mentioned Columbia refused to grant college students related to Jewish Voice for Peace the permission vital to carry non secular celebrations in public areas. They described that rejection as a type of discrimination.
The college didn’t reply to Al Jazeera’s request for remark by the point of publication.
Raphie additionally drew a distinction between feeling uncomfortable about concepts that problem one’s worldview and really being unsafe.
“It’s regular in school to come across new viewpoints, new views. That’s how I grew to become extra pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist,” he mentioned. “I initially felt uncomfortable once I encountered anti-Zionist views, however then I grew to grasp them. That’s regular.”
Raphie harassed that the true struggling is going on in Gaza.
“The scholars who should not secure proper now, after all, are the students in Gaza. Each college in Gaza has been destroyed. They haven’t had meals for 60 days.”
