As a Jewish Student, I Feel Unsafe on My Campus

I feel unsafe on my campus when there is an open forum about race, with a huge portion of the student body and faculty in attendance, and the sole comment made by a Jewish girl, which was submitted anonymously, expressing that Students for Justice in Palestine’s methods make her feel targeted on campus, is booed by nearly everyone present.

Discrimination.

I feel unsafe on my campus when one of the audience’s members gets up after said comment, interrupts the forum, and starts screaming for several minutes about how Israel is a terrorist country that murders people indiscriminately.

Blood libel.

I feel unsafe when this girl is cheered, loudly, for her hatred by the same student body and faculty that jeered at the comment made by a Jewish individual who feels threatened for simply existing on campus.

Anti-Semitism.

I feel unsafe that, in a supposedly safe space focused on oppression due to identity, I feel oppressed because of my identity.

Double standard.

To me, the term ‘safe space’ implies a space that is safe.

To me, the term ‘safe space’ implies that everyone should be able to sit in a room for their ethnic, religious, or racial identification.

To me, the term ‘safe space’ implies listening from the heart and speaking from the heart.

To me, the term ‘safe space’ implies empathy.

To me, the term ‘safe space’ implies that everyone has an opportunity to voice experiences with oppression, including African-Americans, including Jews, including Arabs, including Asians.

But that is not what this ‘safe space’ turned out to be.

As a Jewish student, I feel unsafe on my campus. {eoa}

Lilia Gaufberg is a Psychology student pursing a Master’s degree in Education at Clark University. She is a former StandWithUs Emerson Fellow, former Hasbara Fellow, former Committee for Accuracy in Middle-East Reporting in America (CAMERA) Intern, and is on the Executive Board of her University’s pro-Israel group. Lilia has attended many Jewish student leadership missions to Israel and Europe, and is heavily involved in such organizations as the Zionist Organization of America, CAMERA, the Coalition Against Anti-Semitism in Europe (CAASE), and the Russian Jewish Community Foundation. She considers herself to be a strong Zionist.

For the original article, visit israelforever.org.