Meet the Jewish college students chatting with US lawmakers about Columbia’s protests

Washington, DC – Jewish college students concerned in protests at Columbia College say their pro-Palestinian activism is pushed by their religion – not regardless of it.

On Tuesday, a gaggle of Jewish scholar activists met with members of america Congress in Washington, DC, to inform their tales, which they are saying have been unnoticed of mainstream narratives about anti-Semitism on school campuses.

As scholar protests in opposition to Israel’s battle in Gaza swept the nation final 12 months, Columbia College in New York turned a flashpoint.

The college noticed one of many first scholar encampments within the nation, erected to demand an finish to investments in corporations complicit in human rights abuses. Shortly after the tents began popping up, the campus additionally witnessed a few of the first mass arrests of scholar protesters within the Palestinian solidarity motion.

That visibility has made Columbia a focus for President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on what he known as “unlawful protests” and campus anti-Semitism.

Earlier this 12 months, Columbia scholar Mahmoud Khalil turned the primary scholar activist to be detained by the Trump administration and focused for deportation.

Tuesday’s delegation of Jewish college students got here to Congress to push the case that Khalil and others like him ought to by no means have been detained of their identify. They met with a minimum of 17 Democratic legislators from each the Home of Representatives and the Senate.

Al Jazeera spoke to a number of college students who participated within the lobbying day, which was organised by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Motion, an advocacy organisation. Listed here are a few of their tales:

Tali Beckwith-Cohen

Raised in upstate New York, historical past main Tali Beckwith-Cohen stated she grew up in a group the place Zionism was the norm. She remembers being instructed “myths” about Palestine as “a land with no folks for a folks with no land”: a slogan used to justify the institution of Israel.

However as she started to be taught Palestinian historical past and meet Palestinians, Beckwith-Cohen stated her beliefs have been challenged.

Finally, after the battle in Gaza started in October 2023, she turned concerned in Palestinian rights activism.

Human rights teams and United Nations consultants have discovered proof that Israel’s ways in Gaza are “per genocide”. Greater than 52,615 Palestinians have been killed within the battle to date.

“For a very long time, I had this type of feeling of discomfort, this sense of wrestling, this sense of possibly cognitive dissonance, and the way can I reckon these values I maintain expensive with Zionism?” Beckwith-Cohen instructed Al Jazeera.

“We’re seeing the bombing, the disregard for human life, for youngsters, for hospitals, for faculties. It compelled me to select.”

She careworn that the protests have been areas of solidarity, the place college students of all backgrounds have been dedicated to the concept that their security is intertwined.

“There’s a lot within the media narrative about what’s occurring on Columbia campus that’s simply disingenuous and simply so unfaithful to what we’ve skilled,”  Beckwith-Cohen stated.

“So we’re right here in the present day to inform our Congress those who what we’re seeing on campus is clearly an authoritarian, fascist crackdown on all dissent, not solely college students peacefully advocating for an finish to genocide.”

Carly Shaffer

When Carly Shaffer voiced concern concerning the Israeli escalation in Gaza on a college WhatsApp chat, a few of her fellow college students questioned her Judaism.

Out of the lots of of individuals on the chat, she remembers that Khalil – the activist arrested for deportation – was the one one who contacted her on to reject the feedback she was subjected to.

As she bought to know Khalil, she got here to view him because the “embodiment” of somebody who cared concerning the security of all college students on campus.

Shaffer instructed Al Jazeera that she felt “sick” and “horrified” when Khalil was arrested. Her discomfort was then compounded when she noticed that the Trump White Home celebrated his detention on social media with the phrase “Shalom, Mahmoud” – a Jewish greeting repurposed as a taunt.

Shaffer, who’s pursuing a grasp’s diploma in human rights and social coverage, grew up in California and was raised by a single mom in a low-income family.

She stated talking out in opposition to injustice – together with in Palestine – is a follow rooted in her Jewish religion.

“The Columbia protest motion, it’s a motion of affection. It’s a motion of solidarity,” Shaffer stated. “And Jewish college students are additionally integral and essential to this motion.”

She stated that, when Jewish scholar protesters held non secular occasions on campus, their friends from the encampment joined them and inquired about their traditions.

“These are the identical college students who’re being portrayed as anti-Semites, who’re going out of their solution to go and study Passover and have fun a Jewish vacation with their Jewish associates,” Shaffer instructed Al Jazeera.

She decried the “weaponisation of anti-Semitism”, saying that the problem is getting used to close down conversations about Israeli atrocities in Gaza.

“Jewish college students are getting used as pawns in Trump’s political agenda,” she stated. “And the weaponisation of anti-Semitism to dismantle this motion isn’t just a menace to Jewish college students; it’s a menace to all of us. That’s why it’s so vital for us as Jewish college students to instantly appropriate this false narrative.”

Sarah Borus

Barnard Faculty scholar Sarah Borus, who was arrested through the crackdown on the Columbia encampment, stated she grew up in an anti-Zionist household in a “very Zionist group”.

She felt it was vital for Jewish college students like herself to convey their experiences on to the folks in energy in Washington, DC.

“We’re speaking to members of Congress to inform them our tales which might be unnoticed of mainstream information,” Borus instructed Al Jazeera.

“Trump’s mission just isn’t about defending Jewish college students. It’s about utilizing fears of anti-Semitism – due to the best way that the Gaza solidarity encampment was portrayed final 12 months – with a purpose to goal non-citizen scholar activists, with a purpose to goal tutorial freedom, free speech, and actually put many, many individuals at risk.”

When requested how she feels concerning the potential backlash to her activism, Borus acknowledged that the present political local weather left her fearful.

“I’m scared, however within the grand scheme of issues, I’m pleased with the alternatives I’ve made,” she stated. “I might not make any completely different ones, and I’m prepared to tackle the dangers, if that’s what have to be executed.”

Shay Orentlicher

Shay Orentlicher has no regrets about taking part in Columbia College’s encampments, regardless of the executive and political crackdowns.

Orentlicher stated Christian nationalists try to erase the attitude of pro-Palestine Jewish college students and outline Judaism in a manner that matches their political functions.

However protesting in opposition to the killing of Palestinians, Orentlicher stated, is an expression of each Jewish and humanist values. And Orentlicher believes that Columbia’s demonstrations have helped increase consciousness nationwide.

“Regardless of the oppression now we have confronted, regardless of the struggling, and regardless of the despair of worrying that now we have not executed sufficient to cease the genocide, to face up for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Financial institution, I feel now we have shifted the general public discourse in a extremely vital manner,” Orentlicher stated.

“And we even have constructed a extremely stunning group. And I don’t remorse what I did in any respect. I wouldn’t change something.”

Raphie

Raphie, who selected to determine by his first identify solely, stated he grew up “very Zionist”. However as he realized extra concerning the battle between Israelis and Palestinians, he felt he had been deceived.

“The Jewish elementary college I went to, as an example, had a map of Israel, and it was like a diamond – no West Financial institution or Gaza on it,” he stated.

“Once I noticed the precise map with the occupied territories, I used to be like, ‘Wait, I used to be lied to.’ And that sort of made me go on this entire journey of exploring what Zionism is, what occupation is, what settler colonialism is.”

Raphie, who’s finding out maths, stated the battle on Gaza, the campus protests and the backlash the scholar protesters confronted all made him really feel a “private accountability to combat for what is true”.

In his expertise, the demonstrations have been welcoming, not anti-Semitic. What was anti-Semitic, he stated, was the truth that the college focused Jewish scholar protesters for his or her political opinions.

A number of college students, together with Raphie, stated Columbia refused to grant college students related to Jewish Voice for Peace the permission crucial to carry non secular celebrations in public areas. They described that rejection as a type of discrimination.

The college didn’t reply to Al Jazeera’s request for remark by the point of publication.

Raphie additionally drew a distinction between feeling uncomfortable about concepts that problem one’s worldview and really being unsafe.

“It’s regular in school to come across new viewpoints, new views. That’s how I turned extra pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist,” he stated. “I initially felt uncomfortable after I encountered anti-Zionist views, however then I grew to grasp them. That’s regular.”

Raphie careworn that the actual struggling is going on in Gaza.

“The scholars who are usually not protected proper now, after all, are the scholars in Gaza. Each college in Gaza has been destroyed. They haven’t had meals for 60 days.”