DENVER — Jewish organizations say Israel-Hamas war protests, like the one happening at the Auraria Campus, are fueling antisemitism at colleges and universities.
Hillel, a Jewish student life organization, said nearly 1,400 antisemitic incidents have been reported at college campuses across the U.S. since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
“They have a right to demonstrate for Palestinian rights,” said Daniel Bennett, executive director of Hillel of Colorado. “I have nothing against those who are protesting for the rights for Palestinians. It's when it crosses over and is harassment of Jewish students that we can't abide that."
He said antisemitism on college campuses has been trending upward for the past several years. But after Oct. 7, reports have skyrocketed, according to Bennett.
“We've seen hatred in graffiti. We've seen professors from the pulpit, from their lectern, saying anti-Israel and antisemitic things. We've seen students stopped by other students or bad actors on campus and being told that Hitler didn't finish the job,” said Bennett. “We've seen students come back to our house here at Hillel and ask whether they're safe wearing their yamakas or their Jewish stars because they're afraid on campus.”
Bennett outlined more of his concerns in his recent blog.
Protesters at the Auraria Campus see things a lot differently than Bennett.
“This is clearly a peaceful movement,” said Dara Ollman, who served as a spokesperson for protesters. “This is about the occupation. This is about the government. This is about the apartheid system that keeps the Palestinian people oppressed.”
Ollman said she is Jewish and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace.
“As a Jewish person, I've never once felt unsafe in this movement,” said Ollman. “I wouldn't be involved if this was a hateful movement towards Jewish people or if this was antisemitic.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) describes Jewish Voice for Peace as “a radical anti-Israel activist group that advocates for a complete economic, cultural and academic boycott of the state of Israel.”
Protesters at the Auraria Campus encampment are calling for the schools — Metropolitan State University of Denver, University of Colorado Denver and Community College of Denver — to divest from Israel. They said they have no plans of ending their protests anytime soon.
In a statement Monday, University of Colorado Denver Chancellor Michelle Marks said that while she supported "the rights of our students and community members to free speech and to assemble peacefully," the encampments set up by pro-Palestinian protesters at Tivoli Quad were "a different matter," as they violated Auraria campus policy and could cause public health and safety concerns.
Approximately 40 protesters were arrested on Friday for trespassing after they refused to remove their tents and leave. Now that protesters have returned, Marks said she is “in close communication with other Auraria Campus leaders and officials from the city and state, and we are actively observing and assessing the quad activity.”
For their part, many colleges, including in Colorado, have released statements denouncing antisemitism as well as Islamophobia.
