Students Supporting Israel at the University of Maryland hosted a special event on Tuesday.

The group brought in multiple current and former soldiers in the Israeli Defense Forces to speak to students about their experiences serving during the Israel-Hamas war.

Concerns for speaker and attendee safety limited the total audience to RSVP-only invitations. The event’s location remained private to non-registered people.

University police provided event security throughout Jiménez Hall. Before the event started, two individuals who identified themselves only as student journalists requested entry to take pictures and interview attendees, but were denied access by the SSI president because they had not properly registered. 

As the event began, officers responded to protesters in the hallway outside of the event, who shouted “baby killers” and “IOF (Israeli “Occupation” Forces) off our campus.” Outside of Jiménez Hall, more protesters joined in chants condemning Israel’s military actions. 

Senior Lily Katz told Mitzpeh that she saw protesters outside the building holding signs reading “Murderers are in this building” and “Get IOF off our campus.”

“I heard chants that compared the IDF to the Klu Klux Klan and the New York Police Department. The narratives and perceptions are so easily polarizable and all I wanted to do was make eye contact with them, speak calmly, hear them out, and explain to them mine and the soldiers’ perspectives too,” Katz said.

The university’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter posted a preliminary statement on Instagram calling for university administrators to “adopt clear policies barring war criminals and entities under investigation for genocide from campus spaces” and called for SSI to cancel the event.

Following the event, SJP released another statement condemning the IDF soldiers’ visit. “We firmly reject the presence of these individuals. They are in no way welcome on our campus.” The organization went on to accuse the three soldiers of having “direct ties to Palestinian suffering and documented war crimes.” 

In response, SSI President Uriel Appel told Mitzpeh that the event intended to provide answers for those who disagree with humanizing IDF soldiers.

“My intentions were for students who advocated for the release of the hostages, and for the state of Israel, [to] finally get a chance to talk and hear from the soldiers that helped bring them back.” Appel said.

 He asserted that the group wanted to create dialogue, but the protests that attempted to interrupt the speakers wanted to cause more division.

“[The protesters] said they feared for their safety when we desired to have conversation, and so they decided the correct route was to shout and intimidate,” Appel said.

The Diamondback reported on Wednesday night that two unaffiliated student journalists and two protesters were detained in the hallway of Jiménez Hall during the event, though no one entered the room where the event was held. 

UMPD confirmed in a statement to Mitzpeh that officers attempted to explain to the group that they were in violation of university policy and encouraged them to protest in a designated space on McKeldin Mall.

The protesters seen in videos obtained by Mitzpeh showed attempts to get past police and screaming in the direction of the event.

More officers arrived to assist when the group refused to leave multiple times. Officers then detained these four individuals for an hour before releasing them.

UMPD referred one student protester to the student conduct office and denied entry to another protester who was not affiliated with UMD. Two remaining individuals were released after continuing to provide identification.

UMPD invoked the Maryland Education Article §26-101 in a statement to Mitzpeh, stating that a person may not “willfully disturb or otherwise willfully prevent the orderly conduct of the activities, administration, or classes of any institution of elementary, secondary, or higher education.”

UMPD asserted that the individuals claiming to be student journalists refused to provide identification or credentials for their student journalist status.

University police will continue their investigation to identify the anonymous student journalists at the scene.