To a rally cry of "We do not negotiate antisemitism," over 400 Jewish students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign - from fraternities, sororities, Hillel, Chabad and elsewhere -- walked out of a Wednesday night student government meeting debating a resolution that declares anti-Zionism is not antisemitism.
The proposal, which later passed 29-2 with two abstentions, was drafted by supporters of Students for Justice in Palestine, with zero input from any mainstream Jews or Jewish groups.
As the Jewish students at the meeting stood among signs proclaiming "Free Palestine F*** Zionists," student Lauren Nesher, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, declared "we do not negotiate antisemitism, we do not negotiate our safety, we do not negotiate our fear, we do not negotiate our homeland, we do not negotiate antisemitism."
She then called for the students to walk out. Outside on the Quad, waving Israeli flags, they joined in a somber remembrance as leaders from Hillel and Chabad recited the names of the most recent victims of antisemitism in Pittsburgh, Paris, Poway, Israel and Halle. Then they danced to "Am Yisrael Chai."
"We are using our position as student leaders to define what the Jewish community goes through," Student Body Vice President Jack Langen said. "I believe this is wrong, and we would be speaking for a community that has publicly disagreed with how we would be representing them."
"Tonight was one of the most inspiring displays of Jewish solidarity we've ever seen from a university community," said Emily Briskman, associate vice president of campus affairs at the Jewish United Fund and executive director of JUF's Israel Education Center.
