Smith Hall at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Photo: AlexiusHoratius.

“The vast majority of Israelis are bad people,” claimed my pro-Palestinian classmate during a discussion a few weeks ago.

The discussion was about the legitimacy of Zionism — the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their ancestral homeland. According to my classmate’s repugnant belief, most Israelis are inherently bad people because they are both “settlers” and racists. Another one of my pro-Palestinian classmates subsequently chimed in, asserting that Jews don’t have the right to self-determination in the Land of Israel, and that Israel should never have been created.

While these are two fairly insignificant instances of hate perpetuated by pro-Palestinian activists, they are representative of the widespread bigotry and ignorance plaguing the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus.

Although I’m not Jewish (I was raised as a Greek Orthodox Christian), I have always identified as a liberal Zionist. I’ve always believed that the Jewish people have the right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland. I’ve always believed that Israel’s right to exist is incontestable. Since the Palestinians have lived in the Land of Israel (which they call Palestine) for generations, I have always believed that Palestinians also have a right to live on the land. In my ideal world, the two peoples would figure out how to both overcome the trauma that they have experienced, and live in peace with one another. I don’t think any rational person would argue that these beliefs are radical or unreasonable.

Certainly, every activist advocating on behalf of Israel that I’ve encountered has understood and welcomed my views. The same can’t be said for the pro-Palestinian demonstrators that I’ve conversed with at the University of Minnesota.

Every time that I mention my Zionist convictions, pro-Palestinian activists become outraged. When pro-Palestinian demonstrators hear the word “Zionism,” many of them wrongly assume that it inherently equates to the oppression of Palestinians. When I remind pro-Palestinian activists that Zionism is simply the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in the Land of Israel, many of them never cease to tell me that I’m wrong.

Whenever pro-Palestinian activists are confronted by the horrors that took place on October 7, 2023, I always hear them argue some variation of “history didn’t begin on October 7.” Yes, that’s definitely correct. However, whenever I talk about the atrocities committed by Palestinians on the Jewish people throughout history, it’s always dismissed as “misleading” or “irrelevant.” Apparently, it’s “misleading” or “irrelevant” when I mention the massacres of Jews that took place in Hebron and Safed in 1929, or the assassination of 127 Jews in Kfar Etzion one day before the State of Israel was declared, or the suicide bombings that took place during the Second Intifada. While pro-Palestinian activists rightly decry the killing of innocent Palestinians, many of them curiously turn a blind eye when confronted with the killing of innocent Israelis.

Moreover, elementary facts about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that I often mention are constantly ignored. For example, when I mention that so many families from the Palestinian elite sold land to the Jews before the establishment of Israel, it’s invariably labeled as “misleading” or “irrelevant” by the Palestinian propagandists that I come in contact with. It’s definitely understandable to be critical of certain Israeli policies (I am myself), but it’s wholly unproductive to ignore basic historical facts that illustrate that both peoples have possessed a role in creating and perpetuating the conflict. I’ve been talked down to and ridiculed many times for simply recounting history and defending the Jewish people’s right to self-determination.

Unfortunately, I’m not alone in my experiences. Radical pro-Palestinian activity and propaganda has a history of being pervasive at the University of Minnesota.

Last year, pro-Palestinian groups continuously denied or justified the massacre of 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023. For instance, “VICTORY TO THE AL-AQSA FLOOD” was previously written on the campus quad. During the fall of 2024, pro-Palestinian demonstrators belonging to UMN Students for a Democratic Society “barricaded doors and windows,” “spray-painted security cameras,” and occupied a university building. Earlier this year, “REST IN MARTYRDOM HASSAN NASRALLAH!! GLORY TO HEZBOLLAH! GLORY TO HAMAS!” was written inside of a tunnel on campus.

Earlier this month, pro-Palestinian demonstrators protested a private speech by Yinam Cohen, even going as far to label him a “war criminal” for simply being the Consul General of Israel to the Midwest. Free speech should never be suppressed, but wouldn’t it be more reasonable for pro-Palestinian activists to listen to Cohen and subsequently set up alternative forums to discuss the issue without hating and intimidating others? Recently, I spoke with Michael Oren (a former Israeli ambassador to the US), and I disagreed with him on certain issues. Nevertheless, I still learned a lot from his perspective. If pro-Palestinian activists truly cared about resolving the conflict, wouldn’t they listen to and attempt to understand the other side?

While pro-Palestinian demonstrators at the University of Minnesota incessantly object to actions taken by the United States and Israel, they are dramatically silent on the damage Hamas inflicts upon Gazan civilians. Never have I witnessed pro-Palestinian college demonstrators utter a single word about either the oppression Hamas perpetuates on Gazan civilians, or the recent protests in Gaza, some of which are explicitly against Hamas rule.

Instead, many pro-Palestinian demonstrators at the University of Minnesota are committed to utilizing the Gazan population as a statistic in order to delegitimize Israel. At the University of Minnesota, bigotry and ignorance about Zionism and the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remain prevalent. As someone who isn’t Jewish, I can’t imagine how my Jewish peers are feeling in reaction to the omnipresence of anti-Zionism (and antisemitism), but I will always be there to defend them.

Richard McDaniel is an undergraduate political science student at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.