Image courtesy of Natalia Y via Unsplash

This article was edited on Jan. 31, 2024, to fulfill a source’s request for anonymity.

Students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst woke up and discovered that someone had vandalized the outside of the school’s Hillel building with a spray-painted tag that said “Palestine” in Arabic on Tuesday, April 21.

Hillel is a non-profit Jewish campus organization whose mission is “[to] enrich the lives of Jewish students so that they may enrich the Jewish people and the world,” according to Hillel International.

“The scariest thing about this incident is the response some people have had,” said Samantha Jaffe, a freshman psychology major at UMass Amherst.

“I’ve seen many people argue that this was not an act of anti-Semitism [and] some simply believing that it was merely a show of resistance in support of the pro-Palestine movement. While this movement … itself is not inherently antisemitic, this act of vandalism indisputably was.”

Many Jewish students at Hofstra are concerned that the incident at UMass Amherst may be indicative of a larger anti-Semitism problem on college campuses.

“I am troubled by the thought of senseless hatred against innocent students in a faith-based college organization during a time of nationwide fear and uncertainty,” said Sasha Pezenik, president of Hofstra Hillel.

Other members of Hofstra Hillel voiced similar concerns about the incident.

“Hillel is a Jewish organization, not an Israeli one. Associating all Jews with the actions of Israel is anti-Semitic,” said junior political science major Leilah Abelman. “Even just expecting Jews to have an opinion on Israel is anti-Semitic.”

“You can be pro-Palestine without being anti-Semitic,” said a freshman biology major. He said the incident at UMass Amherst reminds him of countless Holocaust jokes people on campus have said to him.

“Jokes and incidents like this could foster an environment that leads to something unsafe,” said the freshman biology major.

The vandalism at UMass Amherst occurred on Yom HaShoah, also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day. For some students, this emphasized the anti-Semitic nature of the vandalism.

“To see graffiti of any kind on a Hillel building, and on Yom HaShoah of all days, is terrifying,” said freshman drama major Hannah Lovitt.

“Anti-Semitism is on the rise everywhere, including college campuses,” Lovitt added. “My family did not escape the Nazis for us to be targets of discrimination once again.”

The day after the incident, a banner covered the graffiti on the outside of the UMass Amherst Hillel building. The banner displayed the Hebrew word “Tikun,” and included a translation in English: “Repairing & Restoration.”