While the Israel-Hamas war rages on, tensions are surging on college campuses, including at the University of Chicago.
"We have a multi-ethnic, multi-background participation in the organization here, and our goal mainly has been to take up space," said Sahar Kaleem with Students for Justice in Palestine.Chicago-area safety concerns arise after anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic threats amid Middle East conflict "Students on these campuses are taking up what governments and people in positions of authority are not doing themselves," said Sahar Punjwani with Students for Justice in Palestine."We see a rise in Islamophobic and antisemitic attacks across the United States, which makes it so that people are personally affected, and they can no longer ignore this as some kind of far-away issue. So that's why I think we see a greater mobilization," Hassan said.
"As a pro-Israel student on campus, it's really easy to feel alone with this going on," said Eliza Ross, who supports Israel."Enough to make anyone uncomfortable, at least, and feeling really on-edge and unsafe," Elkin said.