MILWAUKEE – After a pro-Palestinian social media account issued an apparent threat to local Jewish organizations, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee released a statement denouncing the “intimidating language.”
An Instagram account attributed to UWM Popular University for Palestine, named uwm4palicoalition, displayed the threatening statement on Friday, July 19. The post is no longer visible.
The post declared that any organization that supports Israel is “not welcome” at UWM. “This includes the local extremist groups such as Hillel, Jewish Federation, etc.,” read the post. It continued: “We refuse to normalize extremists and extremist groups walking around our campus.”
A July 21 mass email regarding the post from Milwaukee Jewish Federation expressed concern about “the final line that threatened, ‘Any organization that has not separated themselves from Israel will be treated accordingly as extremist criminals. Stay tuned.’” The Federation reports it has communicated extensively with university and security officials.
“UWM takes this post seriously and recognizes that the language in it, if acted upon, would undermine the safety of the UWM community, especially Jewish individuals and organizations,” reads a UWM statement, regarding the Instagram post. “Where speech is not protected by the First Amendment, UWM will address it through appropriate processes, which could include student and student organization disciplinary processes. While hateful or intimidating speech is often legally protected, it conflicts with the respect and conduct we ask of each member of our community.”
The UWM statement noted that campus police are available for assistance and that the Instagram post “included intimidating language aimed at Jewish community members and organizations on campus that support Israel. UWM strongly denounces these statements and denounces any form of antisemitism, and we will be actively monitoring campus as a result. Every student, employee and community member must be safe on our campus.”
Hillel Milwaukee issued a statement expressing gratitude for UWM and Federation support.
The Instagram post from uwm4palicoalition is no longer visible on the social media site. The uwm4palicoalition account was created in April and quickly started posting in support of the controversial encampment at UWM last semester. In May, uwm4palicoalition inaccurately referred to the ADL, Hillel Milwaukee and Milwaukee Jewish Federation as “pro-genocide groups.”
The Federation statement added: “We want to remind members of the Jewish community that while everyone has the right to express themselves through demonstrations and rallies, far too often, we see these events turn into opportunities for harassment and violence by counter-protesters. Out of an abundance of caution, we encourage members of the Jewish community to avoid attending — even just to observe — demonstrations or counter-demonstrations.”
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