Though the conflict is over 7,500 miles away, University of Arizona community organizations and administrators are speaking out amid growing tensions and violence in Israel and the Gaza Palestinian territory.
University President Robert Robbins sent an email to the UA community Monday evening, condemning the “terrorist attacks in Israel.”
“During this painful time, I ask that everyone remember our core values of compassion and inclusion,” Robbins wrote. “The University of Arizona stands against all forms of racism and prejudice, and I urge every member of our community to stand together in upholding our values.”
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally declared war on the terrorist group Hamas on Oct. 8 after a surprise assault on Israel on Saturday. More than 2,000 people have died in the conflict since Saturday, including approximately 1,200 Israeli citizens and 1,050 Palestinians, the Associated Press reports.
Despite the distance, the violence in the region has impacted Jewish and Palestinian students at the UA. According to Jennifer Camano, interim executive director of UA Hillel, there has been a significant uptick in students saying they feel scared and unsafe as tensions grow.
University leaders at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Middle East and North African Studies, Judaic Studies, the School of Government and Public Policy, Human Rights Practice, and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences released a joint statement this week condemning the violence.
“We disagree, sometimes vehemently, regarding the Middle East — who is right and who is wrong — yet we work together with mutual respect, as scholars and responsible people, toward maintaining a campus community in which all students, staff, faculty, and visitors may exercise their freedom of speech, and are as safe as possible from bigotry, from incitement to hatred and violence, and of course, from physical violence itself,” the statement reads.
In his statement, Robbins wrote that students could find support through counseling services on campus, as well as utilizing the school’s Hillel foundation and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.
Camano, of UA Hillel, wrote to Robbins and Jennifer Hatcher, interim associate vice president for diversity and inclusion, over the weekend, urging them to release a statement and share resources for students.
“I am so far satisfied with their response,” Camano said. She also told administrators that a longer-term communication plan will need to be considered, as well.
Adam Gelman, a master’s student who is involved in Hillel, said the response from the university so far “has been good.”
“The statement that President Robbins released … was a little equivocating, but in a manner that I feel is unavoidable for a person in his position,” Gelman said. “The fact that he called Hamas terrorists and not something like freedom fighters, was accurate.”
Not everyone agrees. Maha Nassar, an associate professor of modern Middle East history and Islamic studies, was disappointed with the statement.
“I don’t think (Robbins) adequately gave attention to the very real suffering that Palestinians in particular are going through, not just in this current war, but in all the years that have led up to it,” said Nassar, who also serves as the faculty advisor to Students for Justice in Palestine at the UA. “As a historian, I’m a first believer in providing context, so I found that disappointing.”
Nassar often teaches classes about the conflict and said for the most part her students are respectful to one another, and everyone feels safe.
Gelman, who is Israeli American, said he feels safe on campus partially because after the attacks, his parents, both of whom served in the Israel Defense Forces, warned him to not wear a Star of David necklace or a yamaka. “I’m afraid on behalf of my friends who wear yamakas and tzitzits, who dress in a Jewish way,” he said.
When Hillel hosts services and larger events, it often hires private armed security guards for protection. Both the Hillel center and the Islamic Center of Tucson, which are located on campus, are under the jurisdiction of the Tucson Police Department.
“We have officers check the area, which can mean driving by them when they have time, doing paperwork there, or just stopped by from time to time,” Tucson police Sgt. Richard Gradillas wrote in a statement to the Arizona Daily Star. “With recent events, officers are encouraged to do this more frequently.”
Gelman said he was aware of an upcoming rally led by Students for Justice in Palestine planned for campus but for the most part he isn’t too worried and just hoped for “respect.”
The upcoming protest at UA is intended as an educational event, said Nassar. “The first goal is to raise awareness about the broader condition that got us to this point. They’re (also) showing how structures of oppression contribute to human suffering in ways that are unsustainable.”
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