Student Union Office (Alan Zhou | Student Life)

Washington University’s Student Union (SU) released a statement about the latest war between Israel and Hamas, encouraging impacted students to seek the mental-health resources on campus if needed, leading to backlash from students online, Oct. 12. 

The statement was released an hour before an on-campus vigil organized by Jewish student groups. By the following morning, the statement gained over a hundred comments. Later that night, Student Union removed a slide from its post that discussed the violence taking place in Israel and Gaza, and issued an apology via its Instagram Story. The apology did not acknowledge that any parts of the original statement were altered or deleted. The following morning, the comment section of the post was disabled.

A statement from the SU signatories to Student Life said that the post was redacted because of “the harm it had caused our fellow students.”

It also explained that comments on the post were disabled since they shifted from being “a critique of Student Union to verbal attacks on other students.”

The original statement was signed by every member of the Executive Board and each head of the legislative bodies except Speaker of Treasury Sadie Karp. The members of the Executive Board and heads of legislative bodies who signed include President Emily Chen, Executive Vice President Hussein Amuri, Vice President of Engagement Andrew de las Alas, Vice President of Finance Mishka Narasimhan, Vice President of Programming Abby Sode, and Speaker of the Senate Erin Ritter.

Student Life reached out to Karp, who declined to provide a comment on why she did not sign. 

Before being deleted, the second slide of the post read: 

“We know that the past few days have been emotional and stressful for you and your families. We grieve the loss of life as a result of violence and condemn the human rights violations by Hamas and the Israeli government. To all the students who have been personally affected, we want you to know that we, as your elected student representatives, are here for you and actively working to secure the resources needed to help you heal, advocate, and grow.”

The other parts of the statement, which were not deleted, state that Student Union is in contact with Washington University departments and academic schools to share student concerns, as well as offer mental health resources for students.

Through their comments students in support of Israel as well as students in support of Palestine expressed an angered tone towards SU’s statement. 

Chabad Director Rabbi Hershey Novack said that the statement showed “a failure of education and lack of empathy,” from SU. He also expects that students will “hold their elected officials accountable,” and take the lead on issuing a response. 

Before comments were disabled, students expressed a range of emotions mostly centered around frustration over the statement. 

“Equating the Israeli government to a terrorist group is one of the most tone-deaf statements I’ve ever heard,” read one comment that received 22 likes. 

“This is incredibly disappointing,” read another, which received 29 likes. 

WashU Alumni and former SU member Daniel Fishman posted, “Your statement is the equivalent of writing All Lives Matter after the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. A damn shame.”

Pro-Palestinian Instagram accounts weighed in on the debate, calling for factual accuracy and urging other commenters to “make sure you have your facts straight.”

The SU statement ended with an apology for “exacerbat[ing] tension” and doubled down on SU’s “commitment to advocating for academic leniency and providing resources for students, which remain available on our post and website.”

Editor’s Note: Hussein Amuri is a managing editor for Student Life but had no influence on the reporting, writing, or editing of this article.