Amid the pro-Palestine encampments at many universities, Jewish students at UC San Diego demonstrated Wednesday to highlight the atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7 against women and girls in Israel.
The demonstration, organized by the Jewish student group Hillel of San Diego, was part of Peace in Israel Week at UCSD, which runs from May 13 to May 17.
As several dozen students and supporters marched along the campus’s Library Walk to the Geisel Library, one sign read, “Imagine people calling your rapist a freedom fighter.”
The march included a dozen women with their faces covered and bound together by a rope with red paint on the genital area of their clothing to symbolize the sexual atrocities committed by Hamas.
As they came through Library Walk and passed by a number of fraternity and sorority tables, where the spirited cacophony was unrelated to Peace in Israel Week, the raucous groups grew silent.
The marchers stood silently in front of Geisel Library, holding signs indicating the identities of the women who were killed, mutilated or captured.
As they stood in silence while other students observed, a person, who said he was a UCSD student, began circling the group repeatedly with his cell phone, apparently recording.
He was restricted from approaching the demonstrators by a Hillel security guard.
He continued circling for several dozen times. Before he left, I asked him why he was circling and recording.
“Zionists have came here [sic] and made many Muslims feel uncomfortable,” he told me, indicating his intent was to make them feel the same by recording them on his phone.
He would not identify himself by name but said he was exercising his constitutional right to record the demonstration.
A significant campus police presence was visible but no altercations occurred.
Karen Parry, executive director of Hillel San Diego, said she was proud of the school’s Jewish students, some of whom were in the front row of the demonstrators, and said how courageous they were to come on campus every day and face backlash.
“All students, including Jewish students, have the right to experience a campus free from intimidation and harassment,” she said in a statement.
“Addressing the Atrocities against Israeli Women on Oct. 7” was the headline for the demonstration. The purpose, according to Hillel, was “to shine a light on the grave injustices faced by Israeli women on October 7” and to focus “on those who were abused, raped, and kidnapped, and the plight of those still held hostage.
“We come together to bring these acts committed by Hamas, documented in horrifying videos, into the public eye, demanding actions and support for the victims.
“Together, we advocate for justice, support, and the dignity of all women.”