Students, leaders reflect on a year of the Israel-Hamas War

Monday marks one year since Hamas launched its attack on Israel and ignited Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, sparking international outrage and heightened tensions on college campuses across the United States.

Sprawling protest camps and student demonstrations popped up at Bay Area schools, including Stanford University and UC Berkeley, resulting in clashes with police and student arrests.

But a year later, even as the war rages on and activists on both sides of the conflict say there has been a marked rise in antisemitism and anti-Palestinian rhetoric, campus tensions are quieter. Whether the shift is because of controversial new policies in the wake of the unrest or a brief pause as students return from summer break is not entirely clear. Schools are also bracing for renewed protest activity to mark the anniversary.

Barely two weeks into the fall semester, Stanford was devoid of signs of the former encampment at White Plaza and students said the campus felt calmer than last spring when pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested after barricading themselves in the president’s office.

“I feel like I haven’t seen or heard much of anything so far this year,” said Sydney Fast, an 18-year-old freshman.

Sean Webby, spokesperson for the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, said no charges have been brought against the students arrested on suspicion of felony burglary earlier this spring.

School spokesperson Luisa Rapport said the university is offering programs for the community to “come together” to learn more about the conflict and its impact.

UC Berkeley, famous for giving rise to the Free Speech Movement, was calmer than the spring but protest activity remained. Remnants of posters reading “Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism” hung on campus fixtures. A tent adorned with hundreds of Palestinian names blared a call to action demanding UC divest from Israel and students get involved, lest they be “complicit.” No pro-Israel signage was visible on the plaza.

Ava Pourasgari, a 19-year-old sophomore, said the school environment has shifted since the spring when nearly 200 tents blocked off a stretch of Sproul Plaza. Pourasgari said the protesting didn’t bother her until protesters began to blare “scary noises” like bombs and crying children and she was stopped on her way to class by a student accusing her of funding the genocide.

“That was really extreme for me,” Pourasgari said. “Telling me I funded the genocide I feel like is a little bit harsh because I’m just a student.”

In August, UC President Michael Drake urged campus leaders to crack down on encampments and prohibit behavior that would block access to university spaces.

Last month, the UC Board of Regents approved the purchase of additional military equipment for UC campus police at five campuses — including Berkeley. They voted earlier this summer to ban employees from posting political statements on the homepages of university websites, which students and faculty have called a restriction on free speech.

Cal State University implemented a new policy outlining parameters for students’ freedom of expression to prevent disruptions on campus and prohibit discrimination.

Both systems also passed policies that prohibit students from wearing masks or otherwise concealing their identity.

While Bay Area campuses are quieter this school year, some pro-Palestinian activists have criticized the rules.

“The policies are the policies. They can change them as much as they want,” said Banan Abdelrahman, a graduate student at UC Berkeley. “As long as the genocide is happening, we will continue to protest.”

Students face more restrictions on their speech and activity this fall, said Zahra Billoo, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“It appeared as though university administration had spent the summer thinking, ‘How do we deal with future advocacy or ongoing advocacy by students?’ And so there are questions about … what it means for college environments to be quashing debate and protests rather than encouraging it,” she said.

But some Jewish advocates have called the new rules necessary and pointed to an “unprecedented” rise in antisemitism across college campuses.

“A year later, Jews everywhere feel unsafe and (there is) a level of threat that would have seemed unimaginable before the massacre that Hamas committed,” said Marc Levine, the Anti-Defamation League Central Pacific Regional Director.

The Bay Area has been a “flashpoint” for antisemitism, said Tyler Gregory, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council.

Earlier this spring, the U.S. House of Representative’s education committee launched an investigation into Cal’s handling of antisemitic incidents on campus.

“We’re concerned that as things escalate in the Middle East, so too will they deteriorate here in the Bay Area,” said Gregory, whose team is working with CSU and UC to create a safer environment for Jewish students.

Jewish groups praised four bills recently signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom — including one preventing the distribution of hateful material and another requiring CSU to beef up its student code of conduct to bar violence intended to interfere with free speech. But some pro-Palestinian and First Amendment groups have objected to some of the provisions over concerns about stifling free speech and chilling student protests.

Dan Mogulof, UC Berkeley’s assistant vice chancellor for executive communications, said the university is working to balance the “inherent tension” between free speech and creating a safe, supportive community.

“Activism is something that we don’t just permit on the Berkeley campus, we also encourage it,” he said. “But as Chancellor (Rich) Lyons has said, we need to work on changing the culture and on educating our students so that activism is not expressed in terms of attacks on individuals’ identities … and that it happens without violence, harassment or discrimination.”

At the one-year anniversary of the evolving war, the Anti-Defamation League said it is bracing for another surge in campus antisemitic and anti-Israel activity that could surpass what colleges experienced in the spring.

Pourasgari, the Berkeley sophomore, said she’s expecting an increase in tensions on campus in the coming months as the conflict expands to include Lebanon and Iran.

“I’m just kind of waiting,” she said, “expecting that to happen.”