University of California, Santa Barbara Library. Photo: UCSB Library/Wikimedia Commons.

During Simchat Torah, I was completely unplugged, celebrating the most joyous day on the Jewish calendar and looking forward to the year ahead.

But then, after the holiday ended, I went online. I read the headlines in horror: Israel had been attacked. More than 1,300 dead. The deadliest massacre of Jewish people — my people — since the Holocaust. And it was graphic, so graphic.

I am many things. I’m Tessa Veksler, a fourth year communication and political science double major at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). I am a daughter and sister of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants. I am the student body president of one of the best public universities in the nation.

But to some, I am just a Jew. They can strip away everything, like my work, my character, my activism, and my humanity to reveal what’s left: the fact that I am irrevocably, unapologetically Jewish.

Because that’s all it takes, right? To dehumanize me or to celebrate me, to raise me up or to beat me down, to decide whether or not I deserve a fighting chance in this world to be successful or make change.

And on top of being Jewish, I am a daughter of Ukrainian immigrants, remember? So both of my identities are being attacked. What a time.

There are many activists on social media discussing the ongoing terrorism occurring in Israel. Yet, very few understand what it’s like navigating the role of student body president of a university at a time when Jewish students are suffering from antisemitism on college campuses at unprecedented levels. Allow me to shed some light.

First, let’s get one thing straight. Standing up for Jewish human rights, or human rights of any kind, has not and will never be political. And yet, when I am speaking to students and administration, it somehow always is. In my years of Jewish and Israel activism, I have never seen what has occurred in the aftermath of the massacre in Israel.

There have been countless attempts to justify the murdering of civilians, capturing of the elderly, raping of women, and kidnapping of children all in the name of “liberation” — or even the idea that these Israelis simply just “deserve it.”

Advocating for the people of Israel after an attack like this is somehow inherently political. For some reason, openly supporting the Jewish community is a political statement. And many in the Jewish community at UCSB are looking at me. What will I do? What will I say?

Being an Israeli should not be a death sentence. Being a Jewish student on a college campus should not be dangerous. And yet, it is. Even as my community mourns on campus with Israeli flags and cries with one another, I am standing there, eyes darting left and right, worried about our protection, which is a fundamental right that each student on a college campus deserves.

Jewish students, and the Jewish community at large, often feel that their only allies are themselves. We can only count on one another for support, because our non-Jewish allies are few and far between. We can’t possibly rely on our university administration to support us, because when have they ever given us a fighting chance?

It seems that every day, there is news of another antisemitic incident on a college campus across the US — unaddressed, unnoticed, and unprovoked.

And now the literal massacre of 1,400 people (the equivalent of 45,000 Americans) is still not enough to change things.

So what can I do? As I mentioned before, I can be Tessa Veksler — an unapologetically Jewish student body president of UC Santa Barbara. I can work tirelessly to educate those around me about how to support the Jewish people, although we may all want or need something different.

I can be the unique voice among many, the voice that steps outside of the comforts of my community to share what it means to be an ally to the Jewish world, not just when our people are being murdered.

True allyship and true peace won’t come from me telling people about the injustices in Israel. It will only come when each person, one at a time, makes a commitment to support their Jewish friends and neighbors, no strings attached.

Not, “Oh, you support the existence of a Jewish State so you deserve the antisemitism that comes to you.” Not, “I only support Jewish people when their other beliefs and identities fit for me.” Because you don’t do that for any other religion, race, or ethnicity. If you do, I’m not really speaking to you, or maybe I am — it’s never too late to start examining your biases and the ways in which antisemitism has become so ingrained in your bones that the murder of Jewish people doesn’t send chills down your spine.

If you’re a Jewish student on a college campus, stand up for your community. Do it loudly or do it quietly, but do it in a way that makes your community feel that you are with them, regardless of what form your activism takes.

Do not be silent. Educate yourself. Have knowledge at your disposal, so you can fight back with facts.

If you are fighting for Palestinian human rights, fight for the Jewish community. These ideas are not and have never been mutually exclusive. If you are in student government, I understand that leadership can be lonely and isolating, but you have a responsibility to protect your Jewish students right now and always. Your Jewish students should be thriving, not surviving. If you are fighting for our generation to be better, fight for the Jewish world and against antisemitism. End up on the right side of history.

Being on the right side of history has not always been easy. There was a time when being a German hiding Jews during the Holocaust was on the right side of history. Now, being a non-Jewish college student who advocates for their Jewish friends and classmates is acting on the right side of history.

Don’t shy away from being the true voice among many that stands up for what is right. The generations to come will thank you.

Tessa Veksler is a fourth year at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), studying Political Science and Communication. She served as an Israel on Campus (ICC) fellow for two years and the ICC representative on the National Council of Fellows, and also received a Geller International Fellowship. Tessa was recently elected as the Student Body President of UCSB.