As I bike past Mudd Field, I hear chanting. It’s the Palestinian community protest, so I think, “I’ll stop by.” If I can go to an Israel rally and feel comfort from my community, then why shouldn’t students with a connection to Palestine do the same?

I consider myself pro-Palestine, just as I am pro-Israel, so I stand in the rally with my fellow students. And then I hear a rallyer start on a loudspeaker passionately. As she’s rolling, I start to feel uncomfortable. “You guys changed the Torah, you changed the Bible,” she says sternly. I start looking around, wondering, “Is anybody else hearing this?” I feel something that’s more than discomfort. I’m scared. I am being accused of rewriting the Bible and Torah to put Israel in it. Right in front of me, on the field I play intramural soccer, I’m witnessing Jews being accused of rewriting the Bible — a statement filled with conspiracy and antisemitism. All of a sudden, I feel like I’m living in history. My bubble of safety is popped, and I look around, desperately hoping someone will say something.

I will say this: the rally was open to the whole St. Louis community. I’m doubtful the person spewing out antisemitic conspiracies was a Washington University student. But I do expect WashU students to say something — to condemn when dangerous rhetoric is spread, regardless of who it’s from.

I am a Jew. I am not the Israeli government. The logic that Jews, or civilians in Israel, are responsible for the Israeli government, is bigoted and a double standard rarely given to any other nation. I protested against the Chinese government for putting Uyghurs in camps; I did not protest against all of China; furthermore, I did not protest against Chinese people around the world. Because that would be racist. This is the same logic that speaks against Jews and Israeli civilians at protests. It’s the logic of unchecked, overflowing hate. Not a Palestinian thing. Not an Israeli thing. Just an unfortunate human thing.  

At the WashU protest I referred to, a speaker got up and said, “Condemning Israel’s actions is not antisemitic!” I wholeheartedly agree. But pure condemnation of Israel’s government is often not what we’re seeing around the globe. At Tulane: Jewish student beaten after trying to stop the burning of an Israeli flag. At Cooper Union College: Jewish students are locked in a library for their safety as anti-Israel protestors pound on the doors. To people who don’t believe antisemitism can come out of what is happening: wake up. And just as Jews and Israelis are targeted, people are somehow blaming Muslims and Palestinians for Hamas’s horrific actions. We must not forget the six-year-old Muslim, Palestinian-American boy murdered by a right-wing extremist in Illinois. 

When emotions are high, we must check ourselves — now more than ever. It is so easy to cast people into wide nets —- to point at anyone who doesn’t seem to be on our “side,” and associate them with the root of what we’re protesting against. But it’s not that simple. We are all fighting for innocent lives. We cannot rescue our innocents at the expense of blaming innocents on the other side. If we are going to make real change, and rescue all innocents, we must all actively agree to not fall into this trap. Outside this trap is where dialogue flows and progress is made.