College students testify they’re already worried about more antisemitism on campus this fall

Several Jewish students testifying before the Pennsylvania Senate House Education committee Thursday said they worry about more pro-Palestinian encampments and unrest on college campuses this fall.

“I’m here today alarmed and afraid,” said Benjamin Messafi, a student at the University of Pennsylvania, where an encampment stood for more than two weeks before city and university police disbanded it in May. “I’m fearful that this upcoming academic year will bring more riots, encampments and harassment of Jewish students.”

If Penn does not enforce the new temporary guidelines it established in June that specifically ban encampments, “then I think it can very easily continue,” Messafi told the legislative body.

Alon Leshem, a student at the University of Pittsburgh, pointed out that there already was an encampment at Pitt this summer, following one from the spring.

And even at Pennsylvania State University, which perhaps did not experience as much tension last academic year as some other campuses, according to student Mackenzie Borine, who testified, there is concern about a possible escalation.

» READ MORE: Penn issues new temporary guidelines on campus protests: Encampments are banned

Their comments came during the two-hour hearing that was focused on concerns about antisemitism on college campuses and also included testimony from Hillel administrators and the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in Philadelphia. Pro-Palestinian groups were not represented at the hearing.

Supporters of the Penn encampment have contended that it was a peaceful form of free speech, necessary to call out the thousands of Palestinian lives lost during the war in Gaza. And they said that they were the ones being harassed and doxxed and that the university had not done enough to protect them. Some faculty also expressed concerns about the university’s decision to dismantle the encampment.

Tulia G. Falleti, former chair of Penn’s faculty senate, resigned her chair seat over it.

”I am … no longer confident of my ability to work collaboratively with our administration that has sent in the police to arrest its own students, staff, and faculty for participating in a nonviolent protest,” Falleti said in a three-page letter.

Many campuses nationally and throughout the region saw the encampments rise last spring; some colleges, including Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr, let them stand, while others called in police to remove them, waiting varying amounts of time to do so. Nationally, several thousand were arrested during the protests.

At Penn, 33 protesters were arrested, nine of them Penn students. Penn also earlier this month suspended four Penn students for their protest activity, two of them for a semester and two of them for a year. Penn said at that time the suspensions had not yet gone into effect and could still be appealed by the students. Also, several protesters, who had been placed on mandatory temporary leaves, were denied entrance into commencement ceremonies.

What develops this summer in Israel and Gaza could affect the students’ predictions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the United States this week and addressed Congress Wednesday, vowing to fight for “total victory” over Hamas, which killed 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7. He is scheduled to meet Thursday with President Biden, who is expected to push for a ceasefire, according to CNN.

But the conflict could very well still be playing out when the fall semester begins.

“We are working on the premise and we’re talking with universities, with law enforcement ...to prepare ourselves for an increase in encampments, an increase in protests and an increase in the security concerns and applications that we are making to our Hillel building because that’s the way we see the wind blowing and what will be happening next,” said Dan Marcus, director of the Hillel Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh.

Those who testified talked about incidents on their campuses last spring. Both Borine, the Penn State student, and Aaron Kaufman, executive director of Penn State Hillel, said protesters banged on the windows of the Hillel building holding up “Free Palestine” signs.

“Banging on the windows of the center for Jewish students at Penn State was not an attempt to engage in dialogue or change policy,” Kaufman said. “It was intended to isolate and frighten Jewish students.”

He also cited other protests that included the use of swastikas and antisemitic tropes, a few cases of faculty allegedly exhibiting prejudice in the classroom and acts targeting individual Jewish students.

Both Kaufman and Borine, however, praised Penn State leadership, including President Neeli Bendapudi, for the university’s response to the incidents. There were no encampments at Penn State.

“There have been quick responses to incidents of antisemitism, coordination with university police, regular check-ins from senior university administrators, proactive efforts in reaching out to Penn State Hillel well in advance of potentially concerning events, close monitoring of those situations and even de-escalation...,” Kaufman said. “Throughout the year, there has been excellent communication between Hillel and the university and that communication has flowed in both directions.”

While the Pitt student also credited his university with a good response, Messafi, a rising sophomore from West Chester, N.Y., was critical of Penn, noting that problems began when the university allowed the Palestine Writes literary festival to be held on campus in September and escalated after the Hamas attack on Israel. The university did not move quickly enough to take down the encampment, he said, and there were more than 150 reports of complaints from Jewish students.

Former Penn President Liz Magill resigned in December after a bipartisan backlash over her congressional testimony about the university’s handling of antisemitism on campus.

Messafi said he and other Jewish students wearing yarmulkes were called “Nazis” and “child killers” and that someone said, “Hamas should do it again.”

When Jewish students approached public safety officers about their concerns, they were advised to avoid the main library, which was near the encampment site, during finals week, he said.

“Instead of following their policies and protecting their students, Penn administrators stood by and allowed Jewish students to be harassed, intimidated and unsafe for 14 days,” the student asserted.

Penn declined to respond directly to Messafi’s allegations but referred to a statement it put out the day it dismantled the encampment, which said it had hoped that “reasonable conversations could address both the concerns of protestors and the needs of the University.”

Now, Messafi said, he combs the social media of his would-be professors for remarks about the conflict that concern him, such as if they have praised the encampment.

“I don’t want to be discriminated against in a class because of my political view and my religion,” he said.

Kaufman said the best way to combat antisemitism is to build bridges and support Hillel’s core purpose: “Building Jewish identity, creating engaged, articulate and confident Jewish college students.”