UCF’s Palestinian Student Association, an organization which has endorsed the killing of Jews and actively supports the efforts of Hamas to erase Jews from their homeland, has published a new statement that further details their hatred for Jews both in Israel and around the world, including at UCF.
The statement, published to PSA’s Instagram story, includes the phrase “Free Palestine till its [sic] backwards,” a dog-whistle which calls for the Jews in Israel to be subjected to the same treatment which extremists believe Israel subjects them to. Given that the PSA did not retract their blood libel regarding the Gaza hospital bombing, and later in this statement libels Israel and Jews by accusing them of perpetuating genocide, it can be assumed that PSA’s official position is that Israel and Jews should be subjected to the mass killing of innocents (which already took place) and be subjected to genocide.
The statement also reads: “Israel wants you to believe that you can’t do anything about what’s happening… As a Palestinian who grew up in Palestine and is witnessing genocide being committed against my people… I want to tell you that you have so much power.” The claim that Jews are committing genocide is popular among white supremacist organizations. Given that pro-Hamas organizations similar to UCF PSA have been caught displaying and chanting Nazi symbols, it is not surprising or even unexpected that PSA endorses an antisemitic and white supremacist conspiracy theory. It was not clear as of writing if the statement’s author is aware that most Palestinians are not white supremacists and do not share PSA’s views.
UCF Jews should be especially concerned that UCF PSA is telling its followers that they “have so much power.” This sentence is a thinly veiled request for those looking at UCF PSA’s Instagram story to attack Jews at UCF. As we have noted before, being obviously or non-obviously Jewish does not influence your physical safety on campus or elsewhere in the United States. The recent murder of Samantha Woll outside of her own home exemplifies this. (To clarify, while the police have said that no evidence of a hate crime exists in Samantha’s case, the extremely targeted and specific nature of the attack should lead a reasonable person to assume the crime was motivated in this way. Unfortunately for police, the murderer did not leave a note saying “I killed her for being a Jew”).
PSA attempted to cover the genocidal implications of their statement by explicitly calling only for “stories on social media” and “boycotts.” The implicit call for Jews to be killed, however, remains, and represents a direct threat against the lives of Jews at UCF.
If you are confronted by a pro-Hamas individual or group, you should attempt to quickly move to a populated area and de-escalate the situation by refusing to discuss it. Place as much physical distance between yourself and the individual/group as possible. Do not, under any circumstances, engage with or confront pro-Hamas individuals or groups. The best case scenario is that you will be filmed and your words used as agitprop, increasing the risk of violence against Jews at UCF and potentially around the world. The worst case scenario is too grim to discuss. Call 9-1-1 immediately if you believe the situation is escalating dangerously, or if you believe your life is in danger.
PSA’s full statement is transcribed below:
Free Palestine till its backwards
Israel wants you to believe that you cannot do anything about what’s happening. Israel wants you to believe that you’re useless. As a Palestinian who grew up in Palestine and is witnessing genocide being committed against my people, as an independent journalist I want to tell you that you have so much power. You can stop this GENOCIDE. Your posts matter, your stories on social media matter, your boycott matters. All of these things can make a difference. For every free human in this world, we need you more than ever now! Keep talking, keep posting, keep protesting, keep challenging western media lies. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!!
