Anti-war protests on UNM campus stir a variety of emotional responses

May 9—Protests at the University of New Mexico have resulted in contrasting atmospheres on campus as spring semester winds to an end with commencement on Saturday morning.

For students, faculty and others protesting the Israeli-Hamas war; the devastation it has wrought, especially on the Palestinian people; and UNM's perceived role in the conflict, there's a feeling of solidarity, of making an impact in support of a cause they believe in.

But for some Jewish students, faculty and staff, the feeling is one of unease, even fear.

No one wants suffering"Some students are scared," said Sara Koplik, director of the Aaron David Bram Hillel House, a center on the UNM campus for Jewish undergraduate and graduate students and young Jewish professionals. "Mostly, students are annoyed. But some are scared."

She said slogans such as "Cleanse Zionism from the Earth," "Zionism is a Disease," chalked on campus sidewalks and walls are threatening to Jewish people.

"No one wants this suffering (in Gaza)," Koplik said. "We want this war to end. But no other group has to deal with (what Jews are dealing with) in a university setting. There are lots of countries that do bad things. There are lots of countries that make mistakes. There are no protests about the genocide in the Congo. That's why we know (what we see here) is anti-Semitism."

Cinnamon Blair, UNM communications officer, said that in recent weeks the university has seen an increase in reports made to the EthicsPoint hotline that include complaints of both anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic experiences.

"Some administrators have also heard from Jewish students that they are uncomfortable on campus and in classrooms," Blair wrote in an email sent to the Journal.

But pro-Palestinian protesters at an encampment near UNM's Duck Pond adamantly deny participating in or condoning anti-Semitic activity.

"If anyone is engaged in anti-Semitism, we totally shut them down and ask them to leave," said Jonathan Juarez, 21, who described himself as a criminology student on a leave of absence from the university. "We support a safe environment. I encourage (Jewish students) to come to the encampment to see what we are about."

In fact, there are Jews in their ranks, the protesters said.

With the exception of Juarez, protesters the Journal spoke with Wednesday at the Duck Pond encampment declined to give their full names, citing fears for their personal safety or concerns about UNM penalties as they are about to graduate.

But two male protesters, one of them wearing a Star of David pendant, identified as Jewish. And the protesters said the organization Jewish Voices for Peace, which advocates for a cease-fire in the war and the release of both Jewish and Palestinian hostages, is among the campus demonstrators' staunchest allies, providing the encampment with food, water, supplies and organizational skills.

And, the protesters said, two of the 16 persons arrested when pro-Palestinian activists occupied UNM's Student Union Building (SUB) on April 29-30 are Jewish.

"We are not anti-Semitic in any way, shape or form," a protester said.

Bold and brightThe Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,000 Israelis and foreign nationals and taking more than 250 Israelis and foreigners captive.

Israel responded with heavy aerial bombardment and a ground invasion that started Oct. 27.

To date, more than 36,000 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed, many more injured, tens of thousands displaced and 2 million are facing food insecurity.

Protester Juarez said he became engaged in anti-war, pro-Palestinians demonstrations after watching seven months of mothers and fathers pulling their children from the debris of war.

The protesters at UNM are demonstrating against the war, against America's support of the war with funding and weapons, and what they see as UNM's role in the conflict as investors in the military-industrial complex.

"I think the university is actively engaged in the war in the way its endowment is invested," Juarez said.

The demonstrators established their campus encampment on April 22.

Sandra Akkad, a veteran protester for the rights of the Palestinian people, is ardent in her support of the campus protesters.

"We owe it to the students to allow them to communicate," said Akkad, 57, an educator and a member of Albuquerque's Muslim community. "What is the point of students going to the university, if we teach them their opinion does not matter?"

A Michigan native of Palestinian descent, Akkad has resided in Albuquerque for more than 35 years and is the founder and director of a learning center here.

"As an educator, I am all about empowering students, creating leaders, creating creative thinkers," she said. "I am very proud of these students. They are bold, bright and standing on the right side of the situation. The notion that they need to be suppressed goes against everything about freedom of expression."

The world's conscienceAkkad said she has taken part in numerous pro-Palestinian protests over the years and as many as she could since the Israel-Hamas war started. She considers protest an essential tool in making change.

"Protest is bringing awareness to an injustice that needs to be heard," she said. "It's freedom of expression that needs to be honored. Protest is a way to shed light on a voiceless population that has been done wrong."

She said the right to protest should never be diminished, but there are rules.

"You don't want there to be destruction of property, but you don't want protesters to be mishandled by authorities," she said. "Protests have a right to be heard, as long as they do not promote hate or viciousness."

She said slogans some Jewish people consider anti-Semitic are actually anti-Zionist. Zionism is the movement that supports the development and protection of a Jewish nation in Israel. So, some Jews would consider anti-Zionist statements a form of anti-Semitism, which is hostility or prejudice against the Jewish people.

"There are anti-Semitic people, but they are not leading these protests," Akkad said. "The students leading these protests are the conscience of the world."

Akkad was not present during the protesters' occupation of the SUB, but she does not consider it an act that bends the rules of respectful protest.

"If the school administration had listened to the protesters, negotiated with them, that would not have happened," she said. "They need a platform to express their opinion. More than 35,000 people have been killed, 15,000 children have been mutilated. The main narrative has always been in the hands of the Israelis. Now, the narrative is in the hands of the Palestinians."

One-sidedAmit Sadan, 36, originally from Israel, has a doctorate in Middle Eastern history from the University of Michigan. He is a post-doctoral fellow at UNM, teaching classes about Middle Eastern issues, Arab-Israeli conflict and Israeli society.

He said the Palestinian narrative is the only one promoted in the ongoing protests.

"The agenda you hear in protests is very one-sided and not beholden to historical accuracy in the events I have attended," he said. "The rhetoric is inconsistent, and at least half of it is definitely not calling for achieving their goals with peaceful means."

He said that in early November, not long after the war started, he was invited to participate in a teach-in about the war at the UNM law school.

"It was less than one month after the massacre (of Israelis and others by Hamas), and no one talked about the massacre, even acknowledged that it happened, except me."

Sadan said he has not been asked to be part of similar programs since then.

"I am not here to represent the Israeli side," he said. "I am advocating for understanding the complexity, rather than being on the Israeli or the Palestinian side."

Arthur W. Flicker, rabbi emeritus of Albuquerque's Congregation B'nai Israel, said the freedom to protest the Israel-Hamas war or anything else is one of the blessings of American life.

"The majority of the (Albuquerque) protests have been peaceful protests for bringing peace," Flicker, 75, said. "It is challenging because many of the Muslims here in Albuquerque are descended from Palestinian and Arab communities. Much of the Jewish community in Albuquerque have connections to Israel. It is emotional and complex on both sides."

He said he thinks it is vital to remember that everyone wants peace.

"Tens of thousands of Israelis have been displaced, hostages continue to be held by Hamas, rockets continue to fly, 30,000 Palestinians have been killed and many displaced," he said. "But it is important to note that peace is more complex than Israel not fighting."

Staying safeJewish activism in reaction to the war has been in the form of rallies intended to provide support both to the Albuquerque Jewish community and to the families of hostages held by Hamas.

Lea Koshkin, 42, a native of Israel, a wife and mother, a nurse practitioner and a resident of Albuquerque for five years, felt compelled to do something in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

"After being shocked and depressed, I felt there was a need for us to be together as a Jewish community," she said. "It started as a grassroots solidarity gathering, about 100 people at Domingo Baca Park the Sunday after Thanksgiving. We had posters with the pictures of the hostages. We had American flags and Israeli flags. We had Israeli music. We said prayers for the hostages.

"Just mainly people getting together and talking. People were feeling alone. We were starting to see anti-Israel demonstrations, and it was scary for us."

The assemblies moved for a time to Johnson Field on the UNM campus and now take place at the Jewish Community Center. Koshkin said participants walk or run for 15 minutes or so, say prayers, read a bio of a hostage. She said a few people would like to be more public with their rallies, but for now they are opting to stay safe.

"What I see (of protests) is not pro-Palestinian, it is anti-Israel," Koshkin said. "They are intimidating Jewish students."

Jewish student Katie Beasley-Sriro, 32, is finishing her first year of law school at UNM.

When she was an undergraduate at Indiana University, she belonged to J Street, a nonprofit advocacy group based in the United States whose goal is to prompt American leadership to end Arab-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatically.

"I personally don't support the war," she said. "In 2014, I visited the West Bank and talked to Palestinians there."

She attends her classes at the law school, so she has not been exposed to chalk graffiti or protesters on the main campus. But she said there are law students and law school faculty supporting the protests.

"I stopped wearing my Star of David necklace and identifying as Jewish," she said. "The Albuquerque legal community is small. The people in your law class are likely to be your peers (in law practice). I didn't want to set myself apart as different because people will make assumptions about me that are not true."

She said that as someone who has been an activist, she finds it troubling that some people use their passion and activism to create hostility.

"The campus should be a place where we have open discourse," she said.

Beasley-Sriro no longer avoids her Jewish identity, hence her willingness to speak with the Journal.

"But I still don't wear my Star of David."