USF is a safe haven for antisemitism - opinion

The University of South Florida (USF) must unequivocally denounce antisemitism. It must acknowledge its role in permitting it to run rampant, and hold accountable those students, student groups, and staff who have created, and have now established, an unsafe environment for Jewish students on campus.

There have been more than 20 antisemitic demonstrations and/or incidents orchestrated by students and student groups that were allowed to occur by the USF administration since the Hamas mass rape and massacre on October 7. 

All of these antisemitic events interfere with Jewish students’ abilities to learn, and prevent them from having equal access to the education they deserve. 

These student groups have willfully and maliciously harassed, threatened, and intimidated Jewish students based on their religion or ethnic heritage. The abuse perpetrated on Jewish students is illegal, unethical, and violates the school’s code of conduct. They are also immoral and dangerous.

Jewish students interviewed by NBC 8 in mid-October stated: “We are scared, we shouldn’t have to be scared. We had students who had to find somewhere else to sleep last night because they were worried about their dorms, their rooms, and their apartments. They were worried people would find them, hurt them.” 

The USF administration and USF police know this; it is no secret. Students, parents, alumni, and advisers have alerted USF police, Dean of Students McDonald, President Law, and other administrators – who are often present at the antisemitic events – and asked them to take action. The universal response is to do almost nothing, and instead, become complicit bystanders to the school-supported student groups’ intimidating and hate-filled blood libel. 

Rampant pro-Palestinian campus protests

On campus, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine shall be Free,” is often chanted and written on signs at many antisemitic gatherings. This calls for the annihilation of the Jewish people and Israel, according to section 20 of Hamas’s charter. Nevertheless, USF refuses to acknowledge the terrorizing impact this has on Jewish students. Calling for the annihilation of Jews should not be protected by USF administration and police. Those calling for the death of Jews should be held accountable. 

It has been 17 years since USF Prof. Sami Al-Arian was convicted of conspiring with a terrorist group, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but clearly, the seeds of hate have remained rooted at USF. The Students for Socialism, Students for Justice for Palestine (SJP), and the Muslim Student Association all openly express support for terrorist organizations, as well as promote terrorist entity propaganda without being held accountable by USF. One need look no further than their social media pages to understand the depths of their hate toward Jews. 

For example, USF’s Students for Socialism holds events on campus and utilizes USF funding that promote the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which was designated a terrorist group in 1997 by the US. The UK, Australia, Canada, and the EU have also designated this group as a terrorist organization.

Additionally, the group is designated under Executive Order 13224. Individuals or organizations that provide support, assistance, or associate with terrorist entities can be designated and have their assets blocked in order to disrupt the support network for terrorists. Students for Socialism’s Instagram page has numerous posts promoting the PFLP. The next event, celebrating PFLP leader Ghassan Kanafani, is scheduled for December 16. 

Who at USF approved this, and why?

Last month, these student groups erected a massive structure on the sidewalk of the Marshall Center as a supposed replica of the Gaza security wall dedicated to their “martyrs” (terrorists who die while committing attacks).

The display of eight large pieces of plywood, which violated USF rules regarding poster display size, was filled with blood libel and antisemitic vitriol once again using the call to murder Jews, “From the River to the Sea.”

Instead of stopping the threatening and intimidating actions of the student groups, USF permitted the terrifying display. USF once again demonstrated that it is morally bankrupt, further raising concern that the pro-terrorist and antisemitic messaging has support within the administration and police department itself.  

On December 1, Students for Socialism, along with other student groups, held a six-hour demonstration in the Starbucks owned by USF inside the USF Library, terrorizing and taunting Jewish students attempting to study for final exams. 

USF police and administrators were present and, once again, did nothing. It continues to do nothing to discipline the students or student groups who held signs spewing antisemitic tropes and threats that violate USF Student Code of Conduct (Regulation 6.002).

The University of South Florida must no longer be a safe haven for antisemites who cross the line of protected speech. Enough!

Adar Rubin is the director of mobilization at #EndJewHatred, a non-partisan, international, grassroots civil rights movement devoted to ending Jew-hatred.

Dawn LaRochelle and Freddi Kadden are members of Mothers Against College Antisemitism (MACA), a movement that fights antisemitism on college campuses in the United States and Canada.