Letter to the Editor: “I cannot condone the protests against Israel”

To the editor,

My name is Daniel Evans, and I am not only a proud half-Israeli, fully-Jewish American student at the University, but I also attended the March for Israel rally in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 14 alongside hundreds of thousands of other Jewish people who support not only an end to the evil antisemitic terrorism of Hamas but also an end to the rampant antisemitism that has emerged in the U.S. in the wake of Hamas’ massacre of 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, a massive increase from the last month.

My opinions on the anti-Israel protests on campus are as follows: While I fully support freedom of speech, I cannot condone the protests against Israel. Aside from launching false accusations of genocide against Israel, the “pro-Palestinian” protestors against Israel have:

1. Refused to condemn Hamas’ rape and slaughter of Israelis or their kidnapping of roughly 240 innocent people, Israeli and otherwise, and refused to condemn Hamas for using Palestinians as human shields or not allowing democratic elections in Gaza for almost 20 years.
2. Used antisemitic rhetoric such as “from NYC to Gaza, globalize the intifada,” “resistance is justified,” glorifying Hamas murdering, raping, torturing, and kidnapping innocent Israelis, and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a saying used by Hamas that refers to the destruction of the Israeli state and subsequent massacre of Israelis, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

I went to the Washington rally in support of both Israel’s war on Hamas’ terror and in support of an end to antisemitism, and I truly believe that the “pro-Palestinian” protestors on the River Campus are shamelessly and remorselessly fostering antisemitism and intimidating the many Jewish students on campus. 

I am personally worried about if I would be at risk of violence were I to wear one of my shirts with Hebrew letters on it near these anti-Israel protestors.

I believe that these anti-Israel protests will remain a danger to Jewish students on campus unless the University decides to fulfill its promise to combat religious hatred and ban these protests from the University’s campuses.

Evans is a member of the Class of 2024. This Letter to the Editor was published as part of the Campus Times’ Nov. 21, 2023 Special Edition on Israel-Palestine.