Pro-Palestinian protesters shout down UMD Students Supporting Israel speaker event
On Oct. 21, the Students Supporting Israel (SSI) chapter at the University of Maryland hosted an event featuring three Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers to speak about their experience fighting in Gaza after the devastating Oct. 7 attacks.
Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters chanted pro-Hamas slogans while shouting and holding anti-Israel signs.
On Oct. 21, the Students Supporting Israel (SSI) chapter at the University of Maryland hosted an event featuring three Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers to speak about their experience fighting in Gaza after the devastating Oct. 7 attacks.
The event was met with pro-Palestinian protests outside the building where the event took place. Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters chanted pro-Hamas slogans while shouting and holding anti-Israel signs.
Campus Reform was present at the incident and witnessed that during the detainment of the protesters, one university official provided the protesters with a meal and utensils. The protesters left the building after being told by police that they were free to go.
The event itself took place in a classroom. It was concluding without incident until several individuals approached the door of the classroom and proceeded to shout pro-Hamas slogans and phrases.
A video shared by SSI at UMD on Instagram captures the incident when the protesters attempt to shout down the speaking event.
Two protesters can be seen holding signs that read “IOF off our campus” and “Get IOF off our campus. Free Palestine” respectively. IOF is an abbreviation that stands for “Israeli Occupation Forces”, a term that has been increasingly used by pro-Palestinian activists.
The protesters can be heard shouting various phrases such as “IOF off our campus” and “baby killers.” The university police officer at the entrance to the event immediately blocked the protesters from entering the event.
“You are interrupting a sanctioned university event… You must take your protest back to the designated protest area out in the front of the building,” the officer on scene can be heard commanding in the video.
This incident comes after the UMD Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter launched a petition for the university to cancel the event and to adopt a “No platform for war criminals” policy. The petition garnered over 1,800 signatures.
The SSI chapter president, Uriel Appel, told Campus Reform that he was aware of this petition by the UMD SJP chapter and is “surprised that a student group is trying to silence our freedom of speech.”
Appel continued to explain in his statement to Campus Reform, how the situation “mirrors the national political climate that we are living in, where Zionist voices are being silenced for supporting the Jewish homeland. It will take more than a petition to silence the roar of a lion.”
Campus Reform has contacted the University of Maryland for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
