UCSC pro-Hamas occupiers demand school cut ties with Hillel
'If you want it gone - that means you want Jews gone.'
The University of California, Santa Cruz Students for Justice in Palestine chapter demanded that the school cut ties with Hillel International as part of their anti-Israel encampment.
SJP at UCSC launched the anti-Israel encampment on Friday, posting a list of demands to its Instagram page.
The SJP chapter demanded that cut ties with “all zionist institutions,” including Hillel International, which operates individual Hillel chapters at 850 colleges around the world.
An individual commented on the post, asking why they’re calling on the university to remove Hillel from campus.
[RELATED: PARTY’S OVER: Police arrest over 100 Hamas-endorsed UCLA campus occupiers]
The SJP chapter attempted to clarify, stating “We’re talking about the Hillel international partnership which explicitly states the school cannot support BDS. The partnership also promotes academic censorship and censorship of free speech.”
However, the user responded: “without affiliating with Hillel International, there would be no Hillel chapter at UCSC.”
Hillel responded to the demand in a post on Instagram, stating “we are deeply concerned that the protestors’ demands include a UC-wide boycott of organizations that support Jewish studies, Jewish life, and address campus climate and antisemitism.”
[RELATED: TRASH: Humboldt campus occupiers left 8,000 LBS of debris, university says]
A UC Santa Cruz spokesman pointed Campus Reform to a statement from the university in support of Hillel.
”UC Santa Cruz strives to be a community welcoming and supportive to students of all backgrounds, cultures and religions. Hillel has long been an important part of our campus’s interfaith council and we value and intend to continue this relationship,” UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Cynthia Larive wrote.
Journalist Yashar Ali wrote on social media that Hillel is a “cultural lifeline for Jewish students.”
Let me tell you something: if you’re demanding that Hillel be fully removed from UC Santa Cruz, you’re an antisemite.
Hillel is a cultural lifeline for Jewish students.
If you want it gone - that means you want Jews gone.
There’s no negotiating on the antisemitic nature of… pic.twitter.com/vFSt7q6Xsg— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) May 4, 2024
”If you want it gone - that means you want Jews gone. There’s no negotiating on the antisemitic nature of this demand,” he wrote.
Notably, JCRC Bay Area pointed out that one of the signs at the UC Santa Cruz encampment called for “Death to Israelis” and praised a Hamas militant.
A sign at the anti-Israel encampment at @UCSC calls for “death to Israelis” and praises a Hamas militant.
Abu Obaida is the war name of the spokesperson for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, and has become an “icon” in their online propaganda… pic.twitter.com/18DCgrwcE3— JCRC Bay Area (@SFJCRC) May 2, 2024
Campus Reform reached out to the SJP chapter.
