JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Recent pro-Palestinian demonstrations have led to concerns about the safety of Jewish people, especially on college campuses where some Jewish students say they no longer feel safe.
At Tuesday’s city council meeting, many of them took to the podium to demand Jacksonville City Council members support the people of Gaza.
Back in October 2023, just days after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, killing more than a thousand Israelis, kidnapping more than 200, and holding them as hostages, city council approved a resolution to stand with Israel.
MORE: Pro-Palestinian protests sweep US college campuses following mass arrests at Columbia
Since that resolution, local pro-Palestinians have been coming to city council meetings to speak on behalf of thousands of Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli forces.
This is a stark contrast to what’s happening at college campuses across the United States, where pro-Palestinian demonstrations are reportedly disrupting campuses and making students of Jewish faith feel unsafe and reporting harassment.
A Jacksonville pro-Palestinian man who is also Jewish told News4JAX that the argument about safety is a way to silence free speech.
“I don’t believe that the loudest voice talking about safety is seriously in harm’s way. There have been Zionists who went into the middle of those protests trying to demonstrate that they were in danger, and they came out unscathed. The reality is the people in New York, even if it looks scary. Even if it’s loud, big, and intimidating; these are people who are fighting for an end to a genocide,” Ryan Delaney said.
News4JAX wasn’t able to speak with a local Jewish person on camera about this issue because of Passover.
However, we are hearing from a Jewish Columbia University student who spoke with CNN about the dangers of what is deemed free speech.
“Outside Columbia’s entrance over the past few days, We’ve seen chants of Jews go away or go back to Poland. They’ve called us colonizers. They’ve said we don’t have a culture. They’ve called us the next targets. They have chanted for Tel Aviv to be burned to the ground by Hamas. It’s rhetoric like that over the last few days right outside the entrance to my university that makes me feel no longer safe to attend classes, go to the library, cafeteria, and so right now, I’m completely off campus,” Nick Baum said.
Several days ago, more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested at his college. On Monday, 45 people were arrested during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Yale University.