Anti-Israel students interrupted a presentation at the University of Kansas by Oct. 7 massacre survivor Gal Cohen-Solal, and dozens more protested outside the venue. Protesters shouted at Cohen-Solal during his presentation, resulting in police officers escorting them out.
Others gathered outside of the room in the Kansas Student Union with signs, chanting anti-Israel slogans.
The event was jointly presented by KU Chabad, KU Hillel and Students Supporting Israel on Feb. 15. The co-sponsored event was part of the “Faces of Oct. 7” initiative to share firsthand accounts of those who were present during the Hamas terror attacks on Israel. The event featured Cohen-Solal, a father of three, sharing the story of how he and his family hid in a safe room for nearly 30 hours as terrorists attempted to enter his house and while shooting at him and his family.
On the day of the event, the University of Kansas Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which formed in January, shared a post on its Instagram page calling for the cancellation of the event, which it said “glorif[ies] an Israeli settler while ignoring the over 36,000 Palestinians killed since Oct. 7” and “endangers the safety and well-being of Palestinian students on campus.”
In anticipation of the protest, the event organizers engaged with university administration who “responded swiftly by deploying officers and implementing safety measures, including weapon screenings,” according to a message sent by KU Chabad to community members. The co-sponsoring organizations commended the work of the KU and Lawrence, Kansas, police officers and security.
Video clips sent by a Jewish KU student to The Chronicle show multiple instances of protesters standing in the audience of Cohen-Solal’s presentation and causing disruptions by shouting at him and attendees as police escorted them out. Videos also showed people standing outside the room where the event was taking place with signs, followed by them marching through the Kansas Student Union and shouting statements such as “Palestine will live forever.”
The videos show that many of the protesters were wearing masks and keffiyehs (headdresses often worn in solidarity with Palestinians), and some were holding signs with anti-Israel slogans and messages.
Ben Novorr, KU Hillel’s director of Jewish student engagement, was helping man the event as the protesters began their disruption. He witnessed protesters antagonize attendees and livestream their protest.
“It was heartbreaking to see our campus and students enduring such resistance and strife,” Novorr said. “...Quite a few students expressed concern and discomfort. Many were on the verge of tears.”
SJP shared Instagram reels of its protests outside of the Kansas Student Union chanting that evening. On Feb. 17, it posted that “brave individuals at this protest even disrupted the event from its inside, shouting down the illegal settler’s hateful speech until the cowardly Zionists had the protesters detained by the police and escorted away.” It also mentioned that some of its protesters were Jewish, accused Zionists of using Nazi rhetoric and concluded with, “Long live the Intifada!”
KU Jewish community responds in solidarity
KU Chabad shared an edited video on its Facebook and Instagram pages with video clips of the “horrific antisemitism and disruption at the event,” paired with messages about fighting hate with love and doing more mitzvot.
“After 18 years of serving our Jewish community at the University of Kansas, I witnessed raw hate as never before,” KU Chabad co-directors Rabbi Zalman and Nechama Tiechtel said in a message sent to community members. “...Our KU Jewish students demonstrated bravery by attending the event without giving in to intimidation.”
Rabbi Tiechtel shared that KU Chabad is available around the clock for support and to answer questions or concerns. He emphasized the importance of doing mitzvot and being proud of one’s Judaism.
“It may seem counterintuitive,” he said, “but if all this hate has you second-guessing the wisdom of putting up a mezuzah, or wearing your Star of David around your neck, or if you’re considering participating less in Jewish life…, remember this: Never once in history — I repeat — not a single time has hiding our Judaism worked in our favor and brought us safety. The opposite is true. Only by being proud Jews, by building our Jewish community, by engaging, participating and bringing others to do the same, can we hope to defeat the menace of terrorism and hatred.”
Bailey Nakelsky, interim executive director at KU Hillel, emphasized that the goal of the event was to provide a witness account of Oct. 7 and to give students the opportunity for “processing and sharing their feelings about the tragic and horrifying events.”
“We were shocked and dismayed to see a group not only protesting this opportunity, but shouting at [its] participants,” Nakelsky said. “We are deeply disappointed to see an organized effort to intimidate our participants as they entered the event and [to disrupt] the program by protesters who attended the speaker's presentation and shouted over his remarks.”
KU Hillel’s Ben Novorr said that he was inspired by the Jewish students’ resilience at the event in spite of the protests.
“It was not easy for them to walk through and face the protests in order to reach our event,” he said. “By doing just that, it showed a strength in the KU Jewish community that is serving us well.”
Nakelsky also mentioned that students affected by the protesters can access free therapy services through KU Hillel’s partnership with Jewish Family Services at kuhillel.org/therapy.
Representatives of the sponsoring organizations shared that they were proud to work with each other to hold this event.
“[We] recognize how important it is for our Jewish community to be united in support of each other and, most importantly, our students at KU,” Nakelsky said.
After the event at KU, Cohen-Solal spoke on Feb. 16 at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah and on Feb. 17 at Congregation Beth Shalom; Congregation Beth Israel Abraham and Voliner; and Chabad of Leawood without incident.
