Clarification: This article has been updated to clarify that Emory Stop Cop City organized the rally and it was organized in part to protest the city of Atlanta’s planned public safety training center.
A crowd of about 200 people walked the campus of Emory University Wednesday to show solidarity with Jewish students who may have faced harassment or become fearful of expressing their faith and their support for Israel.
The scene at Emory played out similarly at campuses across the state as part of an effort organized by Hillels of Georgia in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. Hillels seek to enrich the lives of Jewish college students.
“Our campuses are no longer safe places for Jewish students,” Rabbi Larry Sernovitz, chief executive of Hillels of Georgia, said. “But times have changed. Campuses have changed since Oct. 7. What’s going on 3,000 miles away is now affecting our students.”
The crowd, which included students and faculty members, started at the Hillel building near campus and ended at the Quadrangle campus green. There, the group briefly sang “Am Yisrael Chai,” a song of Jewish solidarity.
“The goal today is to raise awareness that ... the state of Georgia must act now to defend our students,” Sernovitz said. “All campuses need plans to combat antisemitism.”
During the event, he spoke about a University of Georgia student who was recently assaulted and called an antisemitic slur, according to police. Other incidents that have raised concerns about the safety of Jewish students include an incident at Georgia Tech in which someone used shaving cream “to write a pro-Palestinian message” on an outside wall of a Jewish fraternity.
Leaders at Emory, which has one of Georgia’s largest Jewish student enrollments, have addressed concerns of antisemitism twice in recent weeks. Emory placed a Palestinian American assistant professor on leave in mid-October pending an investigation into “antisemitic comments” posted to a private social media account. A school spokeswoman said earlier this week there was no update on that case.
President Gregory Fenves wrote an online letter in which he chastised the use of “antisemitic phrases and slogans” by speakers at a rally and in crowd chants.
Emory Stop Cop City, a group that organized in the rally, said Fenves’ letter was largely related to chants of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Emory Stop Cop City said the phrase “is being purposefully misconstrued as a call for genocide against the Jewish people” and said it is instead “a call for solidarity, acknowledgment, and freedom from the chains of colonial oppression that bind all.”
The American Jewish Committee says the phrase is “a rallying cry for terrorist groups” and “calls for the establishment of a State of Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, erasing the State of Israel and its people.”
Some organizations have asked for more support from campus leaders in Georgia for Muslim and Palestinian students they say have been wrongly accused of antisemitism. Students for Justice in Palestine at UGA has called for an emergency protest in support of the Palestinian people and planned a rally in downtown Athens Wednesday evening.
Back at Emory, Sophie Kalmin, a sophomore and student leader in Emory Hillel, said the campus had previously felt welcoming and accepting and that her classes have had good, open discussions about the war and evolving conflict. But elsewhere on campus, Kalmin has felt hostility against Jewish students increase, echoing sentiments about the chants used at pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
“Israel doesn’t have a right to exist? I’m not going to listen to that,” she said.
Kalmin said she’s open to discussion and respects anyone’s right to criticize the Israeli government or politicians, but criticisms are often dismissive of the attacks by Hamas and suffering of Israeli victims. “To demonize the only Jewish nation in the world is antisemitic,” she said.
She said she was encouraged by the walk, but uncertain about if Jewish students would feel safe again.
“I still believe it’s going to be OK because of what happened today, but that belief now hangs in the balance,” Kalmin said.
BALANCED COVERAGE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is committed to ensuring that Georgians are fully informed about the developments roiling the Middle East, one of the most important news stories affecting people across the globe. Discussions about Israel and the Palestinians are divisive, and these stories receive special treatment. To do that, we rely on sources that represent multiple points of view. Over the course of the conflict, the AJC will continue to provide fair, unbiased coverage.
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
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