The crisp fall air bristles with tension as two large groups begin to form on Columbia University’s main campus Thursday evening for competing rallies — one organized by Students for Justice in Palestine, the other for Students Supporting Israel and the wider Jewish community at Columbia.

It is often thought that college campuses are microcosms of society. If that statement is true, then what follows in Columbia’s quad does not bode well. All entrances to the campus have been closed except for one, ensuring that only Columbia University students and affiliates are allowed in.  

At least two dozen or so police officers are stationed around the two forming rallies. The physical staging, with both sides set in opposite grassy sections of the hedged in lawns in front of Butler Library, seem like a literal representation of the two sides of a conflict that has raged on for many years.

This time, though many rallies have transpired on this campus, it felt different. The rally supporting Hamas and its “freedom fighters” occurs only five days after the world began to discover the barbarity of the massacre that Hamas perpetrated in Israel. Hamas slew more than 1,200, kidnapped children and Holocaust survivors, beheaded babies, raped women, and burned people alive.

This time, the rally is one day after a Jewish Israeli student had been attacked by another student who had offered help to the group that was putting up fliers of the hostages taken by Hamas. Later they found the student ripping the fliers down outside Butler Library. When confronted, the student started beating the Jewish Israeli student with a stick, breaking his finger. 

This time, the rally is one day before Hamas’ Day of Rage. Hamas has called for violence and attacks on Jewish people around the world, all in the name of Palestine. This time, as the death cry for Jews — “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” — is chanted by the far larger pro-Hamas crowd, it lands differently. 

The scene is a study of contrasts. On the right side the Jewish students and their non Jewish supporters stand in silence. They hold signs with pictures of victims of the massacre and those kidnapped by Hamas. It’s a tearful, silent vigil. On the left side stand what appear to be three times more people.

On the left side protesters are angrily screaming in response as their leader condemns what he calls “emails from the university sympathizing with Israeli losses.” He says that the failings this week are on Israel’s  government and that the public outrage is on their watch.  “Baby killers” one of them screams out.

After 25 minutes of silence, the pro-Israel rally begins to sing — songs of hope, peace, unity, and survival through dark times. They hold and hug one another. “We do not feel safe here,” is the sentiment that many Jewish and Israeli students express.

Students are afraid to wear identifiers, kippahs, or Star of David necklaces that reveal their Jewish identity for fear that they will be embarrassed, intimidated, or physically hurt. “My fellow classmates are promoting violence,” says a Barnard senior, Abigail Brash. “It’s literally terrifying.” 

Screenshots from Columbia WhatsApp groups she was a part of depict Holocaust-like cartoons, antisemitic rhetoric, and an insensitivity to the murder of innocent civilians. The General Studies Chat includes a post from a man named Sakib with a photo of a parasite and referring to Jews, with the text reading “I’ve done some research and concluded that almost every problem society faces can be linked to the prevalence of these disgusting parasites.”

To a video of the hostages that an Israeli named Idan posts, another student responds “Say goodbye to your friend, like we had to.”  This one received a heart. The chat was later shut down.

“Antisemitism has always existed on campus.  But now, students think it’s okay,” Abigail’s sister Lily, a disability activist and also a student at Columbia, says, explaining the shift  that has occurred in the wake of Saturday’s massacre by Hamas. “You just don’t know what they’ll do to you in the name of resistance,” she said. 

Many students express fear of even showing up at the rally due to the University’s tepid response to Saturday’s massacre. They speak of the lack of protection in light of the rise in hate speech and the day prior’s attack on campus. One student, Neta Elyahu, says that she feels a lack of empathy for what they are experiencing. 

Half of her Israeli friends and classmates at Columbia have left to report for service in Israel. Her family lives just ten minutes from Sderot, where residents have spent the week in bomb shelters due to the rockets and terror that additional Hamas gunmen might be in their midst.

“Everyone is equating Hamas with Palestinians but they’re not the same,” she says. 

A few students speak only anonymously, for fear of a backlash from peers for speaking out against the terror in Israel or even simply for not aligning themselves more forcefully with #FreePalestine. One non-Jewish student says she was the only one who denounced a student statement that put all the blame of the attack on Israel.

Now she is scared to go on the record for fear of being perceived as a traitor by this student organization and then targeted. “It’s not about free speech, it’s about hate,” she says. “It’s shocking that nobody extends any compassion to the Jewish and Israeli students.” 

As a woman of color she is upset not to see in her circles other persons of color. She believes that their lack of support has to do with the platform equating Black oppression with oppression of Palestinian Arabs. 

“This is antisemitism,” she said, “You can’t colonize a country in which your ancestors lived for thousands of years, with direct refugees from Arab and African countries. You can’t call them colonizers.” Asked about the mood on campus this week she responds, “It has been light… like nobody cares, while people I know are grieving.”  

“It makes me sick,” she says.

Students are confused by how in one breath their fellow classmates can advocate for women’s rights and LGBTQIA rights and then the next moment support a group, like Hamas, that would do unspeakable things to those same women and LGBTQIA individuals. 

Another issue with which these students are contending lies inside Columbia’s classrooms.  They express distress that many professors are actively engaging their classes this week in conversation allowing students to justify to their peers the massacre Saturday.

Set aside how that must feel to grieving students who have lost loved ones. Students must also think how their grades might be affected. “I feel like I need to hide my Israeli and Jewish identity because I don’t know what the professor will say or how it might be used against me,” says a senior at Columbia, Lee Tzanani, who has a relative who survived the Supernova festival. 

After about an hour of singing the pro-Israel rally disperses.  The pro-Palestine rally is still going strong.  Now on the move, they march through campus, screaming, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” over and over and over again.