How student journalistic ignorance fuels extremism

It would be unthinkable for college students to celebrate 9/11; such an event would be denounced across mainstream news. However, when students at the University of California, Davis celebrated the 10/7 terrorist attack in Israel, the California Aggie student newspaper decided to glorify the spectacle. 

The article in question reported on the demonstration by radical groups including Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on October 7th. The Aggie described the pro-Hamas groups as merely part of a “diverse set of movements,” without mentioning any of their hateful rhetoric.

This is surprising, considering that pro-Hamas students engaged in a plethora of antisemitic and genocidal chants:

• “By soul, by blood, we’ll defend you oh (Masjid) al-Aqsa”

• “There is only one solution intifada revolution”
• “We don’t want no two state, we want all of 48”

These slogans, found often among other anti-Israel college groups, are explicit calls for terrorism and genocide. 

Appeals about the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem have been used by Palestinian terror groups as conspiratorial evidence to justify mass violence against Israeli civilians since the twentieth century.

Naming the Intifada references two major violent Palestinian uprisings against Israel, during which Hamas gained notoriety for targeting innocent civilians with suicide bombers, while urging indiscriminate violence against Israelis. 

To “want all of 48” rejects the notion of a peaceful two state solution between Israelis and Palestinians and advocates for the destruction of Israel’s Jewish population. Originally the land was to be partitioned for both peoples, but was rejected by Palestinians in 1947. In 1948, Israel was established as a nation and its neighboring Arab states rejected the Jewish state’s establishment, immediately invading with the intent of destroying Israel. The chant advocates for Palestinians to forcefully obtain all land from 1948 through the destruction of the Jewish population.

If that wasn’t enough, the speakers engaged in antisemitic dog whistles about Jewish greed and power. At one point, while speaking about American aid to Israel, one speaker proclaimed, “Their [our politician’s] pockets are in line with defense contractors and Zionist lobby money.”

Nobody refers to non-Jewish Zionists in these kinds of contexts. As MLK Jr. famously said, “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews.” Further, the accusation that Jews use an inordinate amount of money to secretly influence power to the detriment of the rest of the world is a dangerous libel that first gained popularity over a hundred years ago in the notoriously debunked antisemitic creed called the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It is another despicable lie that has often been used in its history to justify the persecution and mass murder of Jews.

It is unsurprising that a student group who openly supports Hamas also promotes such slanderous bigotry. 

Unfortunately, UC Davis is no stranger to this kind of rampant antisemitism. In one recent egregious case, university administration failed to fire a professor under investigation for inciting violence against journalists and their children online. Three days after the 2023 Hamas massacre, Professor Jemma Decristo posted: “Zionist journalists have houses with addresses, kids in school … They can fear their bosses but they should fear us more.” The message noted that “we have easy access” to [Zionists] “in the US,” followed by blood-tinged knife and axe emojis.

The Aggie had every opportunity to call out the clear antisemitic rhetoric, but for some reason,  ignored it completely.

The Aggie reported that the pro-Israel groups chanted, “hate is not resistance,” an obviously incorrect report which should have been caught by the Aggie editors. While the student reporters may have misheard the chant, it is troubling that they both refused to conduct a basic check with students who were present and opted to not publish the many antisemitic chants during the rally. Additionally, Aggie staff incorrectly reported on the chants used by Jewish counter protestors. The pro-Israel groups chanted, “rape is not resistance,” refering to the mass usage of sexual violence during the October 7th massacre and refuting the pro-Hamas characterization of the massacre as “resistence.”

The Aggie’s decision to both omit the voices of Jewish students from their article and basic context for the October 7 massacre speaks volumes for which communities the California Aggie prefers.

Professors also attended the rally in support of Hamas who all seemingly did not have any concerns about attending a protest that celebrated the anniversary of the massacre. One of them was identified as Stacy Fahrenthold, an associate professor of history. I contacted Fahrenthold for a comment but received no response.

As a student at UC Davis, I would not expect every student journalist to be knowledgeable on any geopolitical conflict,but there is a difference between attempting to give a balanced assessment and choosing to provide a platform for extremist hate groups like SJP while wholly ignoring the voices of Jewish students who do not feel safe on campus.

The Jewish and Israeli communities I love at UC Davis do not deserve the attacks leveled against us by these activists and it is frustrating that the Aggie blindly offers legitimacy to such behavior.

Student reporters could benefit by implementing mandatory antisemitism training when first hired at the Aggie. To the reporters of the California Aggie I say this: the Jewish and Israeli students here do not trust you, please prove us wrong.