In the wake of protests and outrage from regional and national Jewish groups, the University of Maryland, College Park, announced Sunday, Sept. 1, that it has reversed its decision to allow an anti-Israel protest to be held on campus on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in southern Israel.
The rally was set to be held at McKeldin Mall, the main quad on campus, by the Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace chapters.
“Reserving October 7 gives us a chance to … mark this solemn anniversary in a way that gives students — all students — the time and space to share and to be heard.,” the University System of Maryland said in a statement.
USM said its objective was not to deny free speech but to be sensitive to the needs of all students and faculty members since Oct. 7 was a “day of enormous suffering and grief for many in our campus communities.”
University President Darryll J. Pines wrote that he consulted with the USM about the importance of “prioritizing safety and reflection on this one-year anniversary. Jointly, out of an abundance of caution, we concluded to host only university-sponsored events that promote reflection on this day. All other expressive events will be held prior to October 7, and then resume on October 8 in accordance with time, place, and manner considerations of the First Amendment.”
College Park’s Hillel chapter, Jewish Student Union, Terps for Israel and Israeli American Council Mishelanu praised the decision, which was announced a day after the bodies of six Israeli hostages were discovered by IDF troops in Gaza.
“October 7, the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, is a day of mourning for the Jewish and Israeli community,” the JSU stated. “We are relieved that SJP will no longer be able to appropriate the suffering of our family and friends to fit their false and dangerous narrative.”
The campus SJP and JVP condemned the decision to cancel the event and described it as “the continuation of inherently racist, Islamophobic, and dehumanizing rhetoric surrounding Palestinians. … To claim that Palestinians cannot hold a day of remembrance in mourning one year of genocide, or lay claim to that date is an insult to every life lost in the Zionist entity’s genocidal campaign. The disproportionate scale of suffering experienced by the Palestinians over the past year necessitates their remembrance and our solidarity on this day. The suffering of all innocents killed must not be monopolized and necessitates a fair and just representation.”
College Park’s Jewish groups said they will hold their own vigil at the Maryland Hillel to memorialize the victims of the Oct. 7 tragedy.
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