'Zionists are not welcomed'– UC Santa Barbara Multicultural Center displays litany of deranged anti-Semitic posters

The University of California Santa Barbara’s MultiCultural Center (MCC) was recently photographed adorned with anti-Zionist signs, including targeted threats against a Jewish student leader. 

“In case we aren’t clear, let’s spell it out,” read an MCC Instagram caption from earlier this week alongside a photo of the center’s entrance doors, which featured a sign saying “Zionists not welcome,” as seen on a story related by We Are Tov and Community News on Instagram.  

Screenshot from X account of California State Senator Scott Wiener.

The Instagram update also shows additional posters in the MCC, such as “When people are occupied, Resistance is justified,” “Zionists get 0 bitches,” and “Zionists are not welcomed! Stay away from our kitchen too!”

[RELATED: Cornel West praises soldier who burned himself alive for Palestine: ‘Extraordinary Courage’]

UCSB Associated Students President Tessa Veksler, who describes herself as “unapologetically Jewish,” was personally targeted by some of the signs.

One placard labeled her a “racist Zionist,” another warned that “you can run but you can’t hide Tessa Veksler,” and at least two others accused her of “support[ing] genocide,” as seen in pictures she posted to her Instagram. 

In another picture shared on her Instagram, “Zionists not welcome” is seen written on a door right next to a mezuzah (a small scroll with certain Hebrew Bible verses affixed to the doorways of Jewish homes) in a dormitory.

Picture from X account of California State Senator Scott Wiener.

“How can Jewish students feel safe at UCSB when they see a Jewish leader being explicitly targeted? This is dehumanizing and rooted in anti-Semitism,” Veksler said on Instagram.

“The Jewish people are not going anywhere. I’m not going anywhere,” she continued. 

Since the incident, the MCC appears to have taken down all of its social media accounts, including its Facebook, X, and Instagram accounts. The MCC also canceled all of the upcoming events that were listed on its “featured events” page. 

UCSB Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) posted a photo of some of the signs to their Instagram with the caption: “Power to the People. We will reclaim our space! Zionists and admin are not welcome in the MCC!” as related in an X post by California State Senator Scott Wiener, though it appears the SJP chapter has since deleted the photo from their Instagram. It is unclear if the SJP chapter is responsible for contributing to hanging the posters in the MCC. 

Screenshot from X account of California State Senator Scott Wiener.

Shortly after the incident on its campus, UCSB responded with a press release stating: “The posting of such messages is a violation of our principles of community and inclusion.” The university also announced its hope “for an end to the violence in the Middle East.”

[RELATED: UN official says ‘real threat’ is Israeli ‘genocide’ during Harvard talk] 

Ephraim Shalunov, who also serves in student government, told Campus Reform that the UCSB statement was “lukewarm” and failed to “identify the culprits . . . as pro-Hamas antisemites.” 

“Both [Tessa Veksler] and myself were targeted with specific threats of bodily harm, simply for being visible Jews,” he said. “If an official campus account had posted declaring that their space was to be free of black, or gay, or Muslim people, arrests would be made and students expelled. Jews don’t get equal protection at UCSB. Jews get intimidation, violence, and harassment.” 

Campus Reform has reached out to UCSB, Tessa Veksler, the MCC, and UCSB’s chapter of SJP for comment. The article will be updated accordingly.