By Jamie O’mahony, JNS
The administration, which has stood by and watched anti-Jewish hate and bigotry grow, seemed to reject the right of Students Supporting Israel to exist as a voice on campus.
Universities were once places of open thought, but what has unfolded at Dublin City University in the past two years has left me questioning the integrity of my institution and mirrors a wider problem across Western universities. Ideas of “justice” and “diversity” are preached, but only for those who agree with a narrow political line. There is systemic anti-Zionist bigotry at DCU, and it’s time to speak honestly about it.
After 18 months of one-sided pro-Hamas discourse, I founded a branch of Students Supporting Israel (SSI) in an attempt to inject our school’s public discourse with some much-needed diversity of opinion. We followed every rule—waiting eight weeks for approval, no less—and finally set up a small table with an Israeli flag. That single act triggered more than 2,000 abusive comments online, including “All five should be shot,” “Bring back public humiliation rituals,” Holocaust jokes and even death threats.
The university said nothing. No condemnation. No investigation. Crickets.
Soon after, I was removed as chair of the debate society for supposedly “bringing the society into disrepute.” The real reason was obvious; I’d shown support for Israel. Meanwhile, groups that openly glorify violence face no consequences at all.
More than 50 student societies signed a letter urging DCU to “call for this group to disband.” They lied, claiming that we had not followed university regulations. This was after more than two months of the university refusing to deal with our application, which was diligently submitted.
Following this, the Students’ Union reaffirmed its “support for Palestine,” the so-called “impartial” Politics Society hosted a “Bake Sale for Palestine,” and the local anti-Israel BDS group held a poster-making session—all without issue from the university.
This was the result of an extreme anti-Israel environment being fostered on campus from the start of Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, prompted by the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which left 1,200 people dead and 251 others kidnapped into the Strip.
Two weeks after that Black Shabbat, the Students’ Union posted a statement titled “What’s going on in Palestine” that ignored the atrocities entirely, accusing the State of Israel of “oppression” and “apartheid.” It was a one-sided declaration that absolved Hamas of responsibility and cast Israel as the villain. These actions violate the student union’s mandate as the collective representation of the school’s student body on matters relevant to campus life. And still, no response from the administration.
Are Jewish students supposed to interpret its inaction as an endorsement or profound ambivalence? Neither is justifiable.
The entire power structure seemed to reject SSI’s right to exist as a voice on campus. What a perfect metaphor for the condition of pro-Israel Jews in the Diaspora and Israel in the global diplomatic arena. These hostile sentiments hardened quickly and spread throughout other campus groups eager to show their moral credentials and protect themselves from the angry mob.
This wasn’t a random chapter in DCU’s history; rather, it was the result of a concerted effort by a bigoted movement to bully a vulnerable minority into silence.
The DCU branch of BDS led this charge. Speakers at a February 2024 event endorsed the “Death to Israel, a curse upon the Jews” terror group in Yemen and openly praised the “Palestinian resistance” without differentiating between peaceful protesters or mass murdering terrorists. They distorted the historical record to falsely claim that early Zionist leaders intended to harm Arab civilians.
This type of demonization and praising of violence against Jews has gone unchallenged on campus for a long time.
In March 2024, the Debate Society planned a discussion on the Arab-Israeli conflict. More than 20 academics demanded its cancellation, and the university complied. The letter was organized by lecturer Paola Rivetti, who displays a Hamas banner in her office. In October, a BDS event featured Zak Hania, an unrepentant terror supporter and self-professed relative to a major deceased Hamas leader, who claimed that “every Palestinian is a freedom fighter.”
Radical leftist and anti-Israel groups have built an ideological monopoly on campus that thrives on posturing, selective outrage and silencing dissent. DCU’s apparent refusal to uphold basic standards of free expression for some while giving others carte blanche can no longer be ignored.
If the university cares at all about its Jewish community and values as an institution of higher learning, then it must uphold its own standards equally. If BDS and their allies are free to speak, then so should we. Administrators must condemn antisemitic harassment as clearly as they condemn racism or homophobia.
Leaders in the SU should be reminded that their job is to represent all members of the student body, not just support the pro-Palestine crowd’s attempts to bully their chosen enemies.
Universities exist to challenge ideas, not to enforce ideological purity. No one is asking these people to agree with Zionism—only to allow us the same freedom of expression that every other group enjoys.
