by Joel Lev-Tov
CLAIM: Protesters at a pro-Palestine protest on Nov. 9 shouted antisemitic slogans and chalked messages calling for a second Holocaust.
SBS ASSESSMENT: Partially true. Two eyewitnesses confirmed that students shouted slogans calling for revolution and event organizers confirmed that someone chalked a message reading “Holocaust 2.0,” but emphasized that the author meant to compare the war in the Gaza Strip with the Holocaust — not call for a second Holocaust.
THE FACTS: While Jewish students mourned the Israeli civilians kidnaped during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,400 Israelis on the University of Maryland’s McKeldin Mall, the university’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter held a walkout and protest on Hornbake Plaza to demand a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. The war there has killed over 11,000 Palestinians according to the Gaza Health Ministry run by Hamas. Both events occurred on the 85th anniversary of Reichskristallnacht, the night of broken glass, when Nazis massacred 30,000 Jews and looted Jewish shops, buildings and synagogues.
Everything seemed to be going well until 3 p.m., when staffers in university Vice President of Student Affairs Patty Perillo’s office started talking in hushed tones. Perillo canceled her weekly office hours slated for 3 p.m. to jump on a Zoom call with other administrators and Maryland Hillel Executive Director Ari Israel. Mourners at the vigil congregated among each other, refusing to talk to the press.
News of the chalked message reading “Holocaust 2.0” at the Students for Justice in Palestine protest spread like wildfire. Maryland Hillel Director Ari Israel told the crowd to keep pushing the administration to act. He and many Jewish students interpreted the message as calling for another Holocaust and virulently antisemitic.
A member of Students for Justice in Palestine who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Stories Beneath the Shell in an interview Thursday night that the message’s author wanted to “point out parallels between the Gaza war and the Holocaust,” not call for a second Holocaust.
“SJP members crossed it out once it was recognized because the parallel was not accurate,” the person said.
The clarification came much too late though — people spread pictures of the chalked message across social media without context.
Ari Israel acknowledged that the statement may have compared the Gaza war to the Holocaust — instead of calling for another Holocaust — in an interview an hour after the news broke but called the statement “antisemitic” nonetheless.
The Palestinian protest’s timing on the anniversary of Reichskristallnacht, too, raised eyebrows. This university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine told Stories Beneath the Shell that the event happened “in accordance with a national shutdown.” A person who attended the event speaking on condition of anonymity acknowledged the timing was a mistake.
“I think the majority of us, if not all, were unaware of this date and that’s an oversight that’s actually inconsiderate to the Jewish community,” they told Stories Beneath the Shell.
Later, the social media accounts claimed that attendees at the Students for Justice in Palestine protest shouted, “There is only one solution, intifada, revolution.” Intifada refers to the two major Palestinian uprisings against Israel in the 1990s and 2000s.
Two protest attendees that Stories Beneath the Shell contacted confirmed protesters shouted that slogan and noted that one attendee waved a Taliban flag on the sidelines before being asked to put it away. Stories Beneath the Shell has also verified video of the chants.
The spokesperson for this university’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter defended the chants, writing in an Instagram direct message that it was a single chant that “refers to the right of Palestinians to resist their occupiers.”
The student said they were “not sure” about the Taliban flag but emphasized that it does not reflect the organization’s views.
Featured image: Pro-Palestine protesters chant at a rally demanding a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. Photo by Sanya Wason.
Sanya Wason contributed to this report.
Correction: A previous version of this report incorrectly stated that Bea Ybanez is part of Students for Justice in Palestine. This story has been updated.
Update: The number of Palestinians killed in the conflict has been added to the article. After this article was published, Israel updated the count of civilians killed on Oct. 7 to 1,200, down from 1,400. Stories Beneath the Shell has also since verified video of protesters chanting “there is only one solution, revolution, intifada” and therefore removed Ybanez’ statement denying the chanting.
Stories Beneath the Shell 