AMHERST, N.Y. — Over the last week, tensions are rising nationwide on college campuses with students protesting over the Israel-Hamas War.
Downstate, it led to the arrest of over 100 students at Columbia University in New York City — and the conflict is now making its way to the University at Buffalo.
While the conflict isn’t as prevalent at UB as other major universities, pro-Palestine students held a protest Wednesday on the second night of Passover, and the landmark Buffalo on campus has been painted with messages pertaining to the war.
UB Students for Justice in Palestine, like many other student groups across the nation, is demanding the university divest all investments from companies tied to Israel and be transparent on its financial relationship with organizations involved in the war.
While, for the most part, the on-campus movements have been peaceful, Jewish students told 2 On Your Side it’s the actions students are taking outside of these protests that have them concerned.
“I think that there's been no point where I felt more unsafe than I do now,” said Hudson Hort, president of the UB Jewish Student Union. “It's definitely a different situation than when any of us entered college. I know many friends who won't talk about how they're Jewish anymore.”
Hort said himself and other students have been cursed at and followed on campus.
2 On Your Side did ask the university if it was in any way financially involved with Israel, but it did not respond to that question.
However, it did provide a statement about the protest saying it “recognizes and respects students’ right to peacefully protest” but at the same time saying it “stands firmly against “antisemitism, Islamophobia and discrimination of any form.”
2 On Your Side did also reach out to UB Students for Justice in Palestine, the organization organizing these protests, but it did not get back to us.
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