At Shabbat dinner near UWM encampment, Jewish students process complex feelings on protests, war

A quick glance to the left, and the Jewish students who gathered outside the Hillel Milwaukee building for Shabbat dinner would've seen the tents.

The sprawling encampment protesters set up earlier in the week at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee was on everyone's minds last Friday. The antiwar demonstration was less than a block from the Jewish student organization, which serves 11 local colleges.

They were determined to celebrate Shabbat, as they do each Friday, with an intentional kind of joy. It was a balmy spring evening, and for some it was the last day of classes. They filled their plates with food from a catered buffet and mingled with community members on Hillel's outdoor patio.

But some acknowledged feeling rattled, threatened or uneasy about the encampment. Internally, they were processing a complicated mix of emotions about the previous week on campus, and indeed the seven months since the Israel-Hamas war began. Their perspectives on the encampment varied widely. But many agreed they felt misunderstood and ostracized by the protesters, and frustrated about what they saw as an unwillingness to have a sincere discussion about Israel.

Before the war, their focus was actuarial science, English, psychology, their other studies. But for much of the last school year, they have found themselves in discussions with classmates and friends about the nitty-gritty of the world's most intractable 3,000-year conflict.

Friendships have been lost. Confidence in outwardly expressing their Jewishness has wavered. Exhausted and drained, they're looking forward to leaving campus for the summer.

More: At UW-Milwaukee, administration takes hands-off approach to pro-Palestinian encampment

More: Professors confront UW-Madison chancellor over police response to encampment

Jewish student grapples with mixed feelings

Like any group, Jewish students are not monolithic. Some want the tents removed; others are ambivalent. Some feel threatened by the protesters' rhetoric; some are grateful UWM's encampment has been peaceful. Some support Israel's aims in Gaza; others vehemently do not.

The anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace has had a prominent presence at UWM's encampment, and demonstrators held a Shabbat service of their own at the encampment hours after Hillel's event. Among Jewish protesters, a common slogan has been: "Not in our name." They argue it is not antisemitic to oppose the Israeli government's actions.

It's hard to know where each protester stands, said "Hurwitz," a woman who identified herself as a Jewish sophomore at UWM, and asked to use only her last name because of safety concerns.

"Do they want the total destruction of Israel, or do they just, as I do, hate what's happening in Israel and Palestine right now?" Hurwitz said.

Hurwitz has tried to avoid the encampment. She sees people walking around campus with the keffiyeh, the black and white checked scarf that has become a pro-Palestinian symbol. She tries to remind herself: "A lot of them only want the best, and they visit the encampment because they do want peace in Palestine, as we all do."

But Hurwitz wrestles with whether they would feel as charitable toward her. She's still shaken from an incident late last month when pro-Palestinian protesters surrounded a campus event she helped organize.

While Hillel Milwaukee is a separate entity from UWM, it maintains a school-affiliated Jewish student club. Hurwitz runs that club, and each year members set up an Israeli "shuk," or outdoor market, to celebrate Israeli culture and food.

Near the Golda Meir Library — its name the subject of some controversy because Meir was a prime minister of Israel — the club played music and handed out falafel. Protesters arrived with a banner and stood facing the Jewish students, then turned and faced away from them.

"It was terrifying and also sad, very sad. Morale was low," Hurwitz said.

The Jewish students lasted an hour and a half and left. Hurwitz said she tried to offer the protesters food and peace bracelets, but they refused.

Before this school year, Hurwitz said she didn't think much about Israel. Now, describing her complicated thoughts, she's reminded of the old saying: "Two Jews, three opinions."

She wants the protesters to remain safe, and hopes they aren't injured if police try to remove the encampment. But sometimes, a part of her hopes it rains on them. Any question about Israel's right to exist is a nonstarter, she said.

UW-Madison student: Can't discount feelings of intimidation

At UW-Madison, Jewish students also expressed a range of views. Some have joined the protesters, while others have called for the tents to come down. A group of Jewish students, saying they feel threatened by the protesters, met with Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin this week.

"When we say we feel intimidated and unsafe, you can't just discredit that. Those feelings are real, and they're very widespread," UW-Madison senior Lindsay Dubin said. "It's caused me a lot of anxiety and sadness and frustration, and that's not how I should be ending my college career."

Two of Dubin's friends are staying at the encampment. She sent them text messages, hoping to start a dialogue, and set a coffee date with one of them. But other protesters have not been willing to talk with her, she said.

"If we can have a conversation and you can recognize my pain instead of shutting me down and dismissing my feelings ... that's all I care about with friends," she said. "But if they're not willing to do that, I don't know how our friendship can survive."

Her other concern is what's being taught in classrooms. She filed a bias report with the university after her professor in a class on Jews and Muslims assigned only three readings about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, all slanted against the Israeli view, she said.

After months of tension, looking ahead to summer

At UW-Milwaukee, the crowd of at least 50 who gathered for Shabbat ranged in age from toddlers to retirees and ran the gamut from Orthodox to Reform. As a student led the group in prayer, security guards stood yards away, to protect against threats.

None came. During one prayer, someone in a passing car did shout, "Free Palestine!" but the group carried on without interruption.

Students said they find themselves backing away from the subject of the Middle East, at least for now.

Cecilia Parkes, a sophomore studying theater education, used to hang out with friends in a UWM theater "green room" between classes.

"Now, I say I'm Jewish and people look at me differently. Those who knew I was Jewish and have sided with the Palestinians don't talk to me anymore. Or when they do talk to me, they talk down to me," she said.

Gillian Hitchcock, a senior studying actuarial science at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, said a women in her sorority is now a leader of the encampment. They used to be friends, but one too many debates had Hitchcock stepping away.

"How can I break down 3,000 years of Jewish civilization with you in 10 minutes? I just can't do that," she said.

When people make "ill-willed" comments, "I just listen to less of it," she said. "I don't have to internalize that."

Dalilah Bernier, director of teen initiatives at the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, used to work with the Hillel students and has been checking on them periodically since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. She knows what a formative time college is for young adults — and how difficult the last seven months have been for them.

At the Shabbat dinner, she thought what summer break would bring the students: perhaps a stay at Jewish summer camp, maybe a birthright trip to Israel, and importantly, time to unwind and reflect.

"I'm hoping that summer is restorative for them," Bernier said. "I hope that they have an opportunity to release everything that's been pent up over the past school year, but also do so in safe space where they can also celebrate their Judaism."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Near UW-Milwaukee encampment, Jewish students reflect on protests, war