Despite opposition from Jewish students and organizations, the University of Kansas Student Senate passed a resolution in April 9 denouncing Israel and its actions in the ongoing war against Hamas, titled “A Resolution to Recognize the Ongoing Genocide in Palestine.”
Jewish campus organizations KU Hillel and KU Chabad, as well as the KU branch of Students Supporting Israel (SSI), all shared messages denouncing the resolution and lauding the Jewish students who opposed it.
In a joint statement shared on social media, KU Hillel and KU Chabad said that this resolution is “an act of selective, performative activism singling out the State of Israel and villainizing Jewish students who believe in the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland.”
The resolution was authored by Jewish Students for People’s Liberation; KU Young Democratic Socialists of America; and KU Students for Justice in Palestine. The eight-page document was created to “recognize that the ongoing violence being perpetrated by the country of Israel against the people of Palestine constitutes a genocide based on extensive analysis and reporting…,” and accuses Israel of genocide, apartheid and perpetrating a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and violence in the West Bank.
The resolution does not mention the terror organization Hamas, which instigated the ongoing war with its terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
“We ask how this resolution helps KU students, and worry about all of the ways in which it will harm them,” the KU Hillel-KU Chabad message continued.
SSI shared on Instagram that the resolution “is a deeply biased, one-sided political stunt that ignores terrorism, disregards Israeli civilian suffering and whitewashes the actions of Hamas. It is an insult to every student who values truth, justice and peace.”
Following presentations by authors and supporters of the resolution (some of whom were self-proclaimed anti-Zionist Jews) at the student senate meeting, representatives of the pro-Israel KU Jewish community gave their counterarguments, refuting the claim of genocide and stating that the resolution is harmful and antisemitic.
“[The resolution] fails to acknowledge the context of the current conflict between Israel and Hamas, is riddled with misinformation, and because it tokenizes a fringe minority of Jewish voices — [Jewish Voices for Peace] — to support its claims,” KU senior Rachel Kricsfeld said in her presentation. “...This resolution doesn’t make Palestinians, Israelis or Jews safer. It just makes Jewish students feel more alone, more targeted and more afraid to display their Judaism.”
KU Hillel, KU Chabad and SSI’s social media statements said the legislative process of the student senate was not conducted as they expected.
“Prior to us attending the senate meeting, we tried to get information on the procedures… we didn’t know what we were walking into," said Dori Jezmir, KU senior and founder of the current iteration of KU SSI. “We were trying to learn how it worked from past meetings, but every single senate meeting went differently, and… no one explained the procedure when we were there.”
“The legislative procedure — if one existed at all — was not in accordance with the expectations and values of this university we all love,” the KU Hillel-KU Chabad message read.
Jezmir also said that attendees at the meeting were rude, shaking their heads throughout the Jewish students’ presentations.
“The lack of professionalism and order at this meeting was embarrassing and reflects poorly on student leaders on our campus,” an SSI Instagram post read.
The senate meeting was livestreamed on YouTube, but the stream cut out right as the Jewish students began to present and resumed as they were being asked questions.
“It was a bombardment on us, but it only makes us more passionate about Israel and our Judaism and to stand up for what’s right,” Jezmir said.
“The KU Hillel and KU Chabad staff thank the brave students who showed up yesterday to speak in opposition to this resolution, and apologize that you were subjected to a barrage of interrogation that you could not have been prepared for and did not deserve,” the joint message said.
Upon exiting the senate chambers after the resolution passed, KU Chabad co-director Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel led the Jewish students in singing “Am Yisrael Chai.”