It is with the greatest sorrow and agony that the Jewish Student Alliance must write this letter. On October 7th, during the holiday of Simchat Torah, residents of Israel were awoken by the sounds of sirens and explosions as the Hamas terrorist group launched an invasion of the State of Israel. At the time of writing, over 800 Israelis have been killed and 2,500 more wounded by this vulgar coordinated terrorist attack. Over 150 more have been kidnapped and are being held hostage in Gaza.

Last week our president, Kian Williams, wrote a Letter calling on the University community to condemn antisemitism and support our Jewish students. Imagine our horror when we saw the response of members of our University to the attacks around Gaza. We found numerous student leaders and former friends openly supporting the terrorist organization Hamas and celebrating the rape, torture, and deaths of innocent Jews and Israeli citizens. The JSA has friends in Israel. Friends who did not choose to be born there. Seeing members of our community call for their deaths is what drove us to pen this narrative.

Let us be clear from the start. The Jewish Student Alliance unequivocally supports the notion of a recognized and independent State of Palestine. We also believe that Israel has the right to defend itself from ostentatious terrorist attacks that have been characterized by war crimes. If you support Palestine, you are not also required to support literal terrorism.

Even if you disagree with the decisions of the Israeli government or believe them to be settler-colonialists, what moral justification does that provide you to support the murder of hundreds of innocent civilians not making those decisions? Even though less than 25% of the population voted for this government all men, women, and children should be subjected to death? What sort of sick and twisted justice is that? How is this anything but disingenuous? How does this make you and your “side” any better than the “occupiers” you so vehemently attack?

The Jewish Student Alliance strongly disagrees with recent laws and decisions made by the Israeli government, but under no circumstances do we believe this should condemn the entire Israeli population to torture and death. We would also like to be clear that Israel must ensure to defend itself from war from Hamas and terrorist groups, not from Palestine. All Palestinians are not Hamas. Even though our detractors like to equate all Jews and Israelis to murdering colonizers, we refuse to do the same to Palestinians. No Palestinian should be harmed solely because of their proximity to the war.

Hamas and Iran’s goal is clear. A breakdown of growing peace between Israel and Arab states. They are calling for Israel’s destruction. They call for genocide. Not since the holocaust has this many Jews been killed in one day. We must resist these calls. We must support peace. We must choose love.

There is no easy solution to this grave conflict, but no person or organization is doing anything positive by actively condoning terrorism and the execution of innocent civilians merely attempting to live, work, and love. Please join us in mourning the loss of innocent lives in this conflict. May their memories be a blessing. 

Am Yisrael Chai. The People of Israel Live.