COLUMBUS, Ohio — Pro-Palestine demonstrations have popped up at colleges and universities across the country, including at the Ohio State University. The complexities and tensions of the Israel-Hamas war have come to central Ohio.
The Columbus metro area is home to a large Jewish population and thousands of Palestinians, so the tensions are very much felt among the communities.
10TV has talked with Jewish and Palestinian students at OSU in recent days, getting their response to the conflict overseas and how it’s affected life on campus.
Adam Kling is a Jewish student at the university. He said he feels he’s been a target several times.
“It’s really terrifying to walk out of my class, walk out of my house and see these death threats towards my group of people, my homeland. It’s disheartening,” Kling said. “I personally do feel safe, but I know among the wider Jewish community that’s not something that’s continuing to be said.”
Kling said he was standing outside the demonstrations on campus last week and several people used anti-Semitic slurs against him.
“Everyone has a right to free speech in this country. It’s our First amendment right and I firmly believe that. But I think the line between free speech and hate speech has really been pushed recently,” he said. “It’s really terrifying to be a Jewish person, let along a jewish student in America right now.”
Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October, there have been several instances of Islamophobic and anti-Semitism on campus.
Last week’s pro-Palestine demonstration ended when more than 30 protesters were arrested on campus. Several made their first court appearances Monday morning. Protesters then moved to the Columbus City Council meeting, demanding the charges be dropped against those arrested.
Heba Letif, an Ohio State student born to Palestinian-American parents, was among the people at last week’s demonstration and Monday night’s city council meeting.
“We want a ceasefire. We know the US is tied strongly with Israel right now in this. We as college students aren't staying silent and staying complicit in this anymore,” Letif said.
Letif said what is happening in Gaza is devastating.
“No one is seeing how disastrous this is for Gaza and the Palestinians with 40,000 murdered in just 200 days,” she said.
The first attack by Hamas on Israel killed 1,200 people; 250 more were kidnapped. In the seven months since then, Israel has responded to that initial attacks with airstrikes on Gaza. Latest numbers indicate more than 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed.
The tensions have spread outside of college campus and into city council meetings. Last Monday, the Hilliard City Council passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza on the first day of the Passover holiday.
The Jewish Community Relations Council pushed back on that resolution and the Cynthia Vermillion, Hilliard City Council President, has extended an apology for the insensitivity of passing the resolution on the Jewish holiday.
“We appreciate that the City Council President realized her insensitivity of bringing forth a resolution on one of the holiest nights of the Jewish year, and that this action was hurtful to the entire central Ohio population, not just the Jewish people she serves.
It is now time for the Hilliard community to heal and to facilitate that healing, we feel it is necessary that Hilliard choose a new leader to navigate that path,” read a statement from Jonathan Feibel, Co-chair of the Jewish Community Relations Council.