A petition directed to the University of California, Los Angeles is calling for the school to make a statement against the recent Hamas attack on Israel and condemn rallies in support of Hamas.
The petition, which currently has 312 signatures and was written by faculty of the university, asks UCLA leadership to condemn “the barbaric Hamas attacks” that occurred on Oct. 7, adding that there is no room for “moral equivalence” or for “both-sideism.” The petition also asks for leadership to take actions to ensure that pro-Hamas events do not cross the line from protected speech to “unlawful incitement.”
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“We were horrified to see Pro-Palestinian rallies on campus in which the massacres by Hamas were celebrated, including explicit calls for violence (including chanting “Intifada” or event advertisements featuring images of weapons/violence),” the petition read. “Such celebrations create an atmosphere of fear; one cannot imagine that UCLA will allow for celebrations of the killing of George Floyd, or for celebrations of the Armenian genocide, or the celebrations of the 9/11 attacks.”
The petition states that the atmosphere created by pro-Palestinian rallies has made UCLA’s Jewish employees and students afraid to practice their faith in public or to show support for Israel.
Beyond condemning Hamas and taking caution to prevent escalating pro-Hamas events, the petition calls for UCLA to designate a special envoy to combat antisemitism on the school grounds, including “anti-Israelism.”
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In the wake of Hamas’s attack on Israel, pro-Palestinian rallies have been organized across the U.S., including on college campuses. As such, President Joe Biden has directed the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to work one-on-one with campus law enforcement to monitor and track hateful online rhetoric. They are also providing federal resources to the colleges and universities.
Additionally, the DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has tasked 125 protective security advisers and 100 cybersecurity advisers with school engagement.
