It is the duty of the constituent to rebuke their representatives when the latter abuses their power. Since the beginning of the school year, SGA has ignored its responsibility to the UMD student body and instead directed its attention to target Zionist and Jewish students. As the most active Zionist group on campus, we decided to call them out on this behavior.
This semester alone, SGA decided to taunt the Jewish community by hosting the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) vote on Rosh Hashanah, a high holiday in Judaism, and then, after backlash, moved the date to Yom Kippur, another high holiday. The current SGA proudly champions diversity. Yet, it openly discriminates against Jews, a behavior that received national outcry from Zionists and Jews across the country.
Additionally, SSI brought IDF soldiers who fought to retrieve the hostages and eliminate Hamas, the fanatic radicals that represent Gaza. Students came to listen and learn from these heroes, but SJP members attempted to disrupt the event and intimidate the students. Instead of condemning this behavior, SGA decided to target UMPD, who stood up for us. They additionally passed a resolution against the presence of IDF soldiers on campus. It seems that SGA does not believe in their student body engaging in open conversations that risk productive dialogue.
We decided to triple down on our position and bring a panel of Arab-Israelis to campus, many of whom served in the IDF or completed national service. This delegation, led by Israeli celebrity and IDF special forces veteran Yoseph Hadad, allowed students to ask in-depth questions about the identities, experiences, and perspectives of Arabs living in Israel.
Our group will continue to promote education, open dialogue, and unwavering support of Israel. SGA is abandoning its responsibilities, and it is our job to remind them that they should expect to be called out if they plan to target our group’s events. As one of Israel’s earlier prime ministers, Menachem Begin once said: “We are not Jews with trembling knees.” If SGA plans to use aggressive rhetoric, they should also prepare for our response and be publicly called out.
On November 11th, EndJewHatred made an Instagram post that read: “Meet the three students behind the IDF ban on campus.” They asked to collaborate with us, and we accepted. As stated earlier, it is our responsibility to call out SGA when we see Zionist students being targeted. To our surprise, Hasan Islam showed up at our table later that week with the special request to get tagged in the post he later decided to report, and then got offended when we didn’t comply.
The reports made by SGA members against SSI do not worry us. We acted within our rights: we did not share any information about the students, whether it could be easily found through a few simple Google searches, nor did we “dox” anybody. We will continue supporting Israel, promoting educational conversation, and representing the Zionist community in SGA’s stead, since they have been reluctant to fulfill that role.
