SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) temporarily closed its multi-cultural center and the center’s Instagram account after unauthorized antisemitic signs and social media posts were discovered this week.
Some signs posted by pro-Palestine student advocates said, “Zionists are not welcome,” reports KEYT. Another said, “You can run, but you can’t hide Tessa Veksler,” which referred to UCSB Associated Student President Tessa Veksler, who is Jewish. Still another said, “Tessa Veksler supports genocide.”
UCSB Dean of Student Life Katya Armistead was also mentioned in a sign: “Dean of Student Life, stop letting people die. Katya’s emergency exit.”
All of these signs and many others — with sayings such as “Stand With Palestine,” “Divest Divest Divest,” “We will see a liberated Palestine in our lifetime,” and “Jews Against Genocide” — were posted in the multi-cultural center during a gathering on Monday involving pro-Palestine students and pro-Israel students that got very heated but dispersed without violence.
USCB school newspaper the Daily Nexus reports that after the gathering ended, it received negative reviews, and some X users doxxed the center’s staff, misattributing them to the gathering.
Other Jewish students on campus have also come forward, saying they’ve received verbal threats or heard chants at an on-campus march that was affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine that appeared to support Islamic terrorism. One Jewish student had his room vandalized, and a Jewish group was harassed, reports ABC7.
In response to the unauthorized signs and posts, UCSB Chancellor Henry T. Yang and other university administration members condemned the antisemitic signs in a university-wide email, reports the Daily Nexus: “We were distressed to learn of incidents over the weekend that included offensive social media messages and signage at the MultiCultural Center entrance. Campus offices are reviewing these unauthorized and unofficial messages.”
The email said the signs and social media posts have been removed and the campus is conducting a bias incident review.
