This piece was submitted anonymously from a Jewish student at UC San Diego.

It feels particularly dangerous to admit to you today, in a publication that will be distributed to the entire UC San Diego community, that I am Jewish.

I also know that after that first sentence, most of you will stop reading. As the Israel-Hamas war continues in full-force, it has become increasingly apparent to me that I am entirely unsupported by those who I once trusted to create a welcoming environment for all members of the UCSD “family.” On a social level, former friends will no longer look me in the eyes. Even more to my disbelief, UCSD administration, professors, and student body leadership — individuals who are supposed to reflect all students’ values — continuously disregard me and my peers’ concerns about the state of our campus. In the face of a political conflict, I am addressing you, the UCSD community as a whole, for the allowance of the public and persistent hatred of the Jewish people.

50 years ago, my parents and grandparents immigrated to the United States due to the same hateful rhetoric being propagated on the UCSD campus today. In their former country, Iran, they were tormented for their Jewish identities to the point of losing their occupations and near imprisonment. To be told by them now that I must conceal my Judaism, tuck away my Star-of-David necklace, and refrain from Jewish advocacy in the country that once gave them so much hope is disheartening to say the least. Where they believed they would find a refuge from antisemitism, they are noticing actions reminiscent of those that caused them to flee their homes, with only their valuables stuffed into rolled-up rugs. They immigrated so that I could express my Jewish identity in ways they were never able to. Yet, now I feel the need to light my Shabbat candles alone in my dorm room, thankful that I still can because my friends are no longer welcome to in their own.

Most students claim that the recent encampment established on UCSD’s Library Walk was peaceful prior to the interference of police forces; however, this is only if you define violence as purely physical. One day, as I was passing through the surrounding area, a group of students walking toward the encampment stared down my peer, a fellow Jewish student, and said, “Kill the Jews.” How can this hateful and threatening interaction possibly be described as peaceful? The chant “there is only one solution, intifada revolution,” is another blatant display of antisemitism. “Intifada” references a series of violent attacks, including suicide bombings, committed by terrorists against Israelis. Furthermore, the term “one solution” mirrors Adolf Hitler’s “final solution,” a plan to exterminate the Jewish people. These statements mark a turn of violence being swept away amidst megaphones, music, and flags. It is terrifying to know that some of my fellow students have participated in events that, indirectly or directly, wish violence upon my ancestors, my parents, my friends, and myself. If you claim a protest is peaceful, ensure that it is in its entirety.

This hateful sentiment does not end with students: under the guise of peaceful protest, professors have excused, and even endorsed, this violence in and out of class. The administration has taken far too long to condemn the actions of violent and hateful individuals who seized the opportunity of recent events on campus to fuel chaos. Ultimately, faculty response has been far from effective in addressing the issues at hand.

It is valid to critique Israel’s government, but to attack a minority group that is so small, an estimated 0.2% of the world population, is beyond horrifying. Most people will never meet a Jewish person in their lifetime; yet, your words perpetuate a false narrative that wrongly demonizes and penalizes Jewish people, and for those who really have never met a Jew, what is to say they will not believe it? The Jewish people have heard this story countless times before, and it is finally time that the ending is corrected.

Out of love for UCSD and all students on this campus, Jewish or not: reconsider the influence that you intend to have and the community that you intend to create, and reflect on the harm that you may be causing by participating in a movement that disregards me, my culture, and my people.