Demonstrators, attendees called on UC Davis to reinstate the Law Student Association, rejecting the ‘weaponization of antisemitism’
By KHADEEJAH KHAN — campus@theaggie.org
In a public Passover Seder on April 14, Jewish Voice Peace (JVP) called on UC Davis to reinstate the Law Student Association (LSA) and demonstrate Jewish student support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS).
The event started at 3 p.m. with roughly 10 students in attendance. Organizers held signs that read “Jewish Students for Palestinian Liberation” and “Stop Funding Genocide.”
“We’re here today because the University of California made the decision to suspend the Law Student Association after a Democratic vote to pass Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions,” JVP organizer Jillian March said. “This [decision] was predicated on the notion that anti-Zionism is antisemitism, so we’re here to show the university that we absolutely reject that idea and we as Jewish students stand with Palestine and we stand with the LSA.”
Passover is a Jewish celebration of Jews’ exodus from ancient Egypt and is observed through Seder, or a symbolic meal accompanied by prayer, storytelling and songs. JVP noted that their celebration does not conflate modern day Egypt with the Pharaoh who appears in the Passover story and expressed concern over anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia that “saturate our media and culture,” as March described.
For JVP members, Passover is a celebration of freedom, while also being a commitment to justice amidst Israel’s genocide in Palestine.
“We recognize that oppression everywhere is related and we cannot celebrate Jewish freedom without acknowledging that Palestinian freedom is still being suppressed in the name of Jewish safety,” March said. “We’re here honoring Jewish tradition of opposing fascism and standing up for human rights.”
Part of the Seder includes drinking four glasses of wine, each carrying its own significance. JVP served students in attendance grape juice, with their first glass symbolizing solidarity with the student movement. Students raised their glasses and said “L’Chaim,” the Hebrew phrase for “to life.”
Seder typically includes participants washing their hands to symbolize the mutual dependence that water creates, but March expressed solidarity with Gazans amid the Israeli government using “starvation and thirst as a weapon of war.”
“As we symbolically wash our hands, we reaffirm the right to water as a human right,” March said.
The next practice observed in the Seder was the breaking of the middle Matzvah, a metaphor for systems of oppression that shatter the world. Students rejected complicity in systems of oppression described amidst Israeli occupation and genocide in Palestine.
Organizers then spoke on the significance of the olive in Palestine as a symbol of peace, hope and livelihood for Palestinian farmers. By reflecting on the significance of the olive, organizers chose to add it to their Seder plate.
“As we eat now, we ask one another, how will we as Jews bear witness to the unjust actions committed in our name?” March said. “Will these olives inspire us to be the bearers of peace and hope for Palestinians, and for all who are oppressed?”
Organizers then poured a second cup of grape juice to symbolize a commitment to ending arms with Israel and building solidarity with Palestine. Organizers raised glasses and said, “L’Chaim” and “free Palestine.”
For their third glass of grape juice, students raised their glasses in solidarity with the BDS movement and LSA. Students rejected the university’s “weaponization of antisemitism and Jewish students.”
Their last glass was dedicated to community and a vision of the world in which people and communities have the right to self determination, as well as personal, physical and emotional space.
Following a recitation of a prayer, organizers read a written statement addressed to UC Davis on the suspension of LSA following their BDS vote. They rejected the university’s claims that the BDS movement is antisemitic and wanted to demonstrate Jewish students’ support for both LSA and the BDS movement.
“We recognize the hypocrisy and injustice in weaponizing one marginalized group to silence another,” JVP organizers’ letter reads. “As Jews of conscience, we reject this weaponization of Jewish students and antisemitism to block the political action and free speech of a student org. We disagree with the university speaking on behalf of Jewish students and the Jewish people without consultation.”
Students called for the university to reinstate the LSA and return the $40,000 in student fees now controlled by administrators back to the students, describing the “dangers” of the university’s conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemtism.
Students then marched to Mrak Hall, office of many of the university’s top leadership to post their letter at its door. Members of the Oct. 7 coalition ripped the letter from the door.
Written by: Khadeejah Khan — campus@theaggie.org
