This week, demonstrations have been happening nationwide to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel. On Monday, pro-Palestinian demonstrators shut down streets at USC, while across town at UCLA, a pro-Palestinian protestor trampled an Israeli flag, and was pushed by a pro-Israel protestor. The two were separated by Student Affairs monitors. The 2024-2025 school year has ushered in new safety policies, such as bans on protest encampments, at many campuses, including those in the UC system.
Benjamin Kersten, an art history graduate student and UCLA chapter leader for Jewish Voice for Peace, says one of the first things visitors see when entering campus is a large security presence, with guards walking everywhere. That led to him feeling a lot of apprehension and anxiety when starting the new academic quarter.
Kersten says that he and other students are wondering if the new measures will effectively keep them safe.
“We were on campus when there were outside folks coming onto campus, attacking student protesters, while some of these same security forces effectively stood by. So I think that there's not a lot of trust right now; and certainly not when it feels like a lot of the policies, while they are couched in value-neutral language, there's the feeling that it's meant to really tamp down specifically on organizing that is being carried out in solidarity with Palestinians.”
Jewish Voice for Peace organizes protests in solidarity with Palestinians. The group describes itself as progressive, Jewish, and anti-Zionist. They also focus on community building and creating spaces for Jewish students whose beliefs might differ from other Jewish organizations, such as UCLA Hilel.
“Hillel, also, includes in its mission support for Israel. And also in the past, has made it pretty clear that if you're a student whose values and politics might incline you to get involved in an organization like Jewish Voice for Peace, that you're effectively unwelcome in those spaces.”
He continues, “In the past, we've looked to collaborate on educational events, on-campus film screenings, things that we find effective for maybe having dialogue and bridging divides, but that hasn't been welcome. And so one of the things we want to do is create more spaces for students to get to find Jewish connection, whatever that may mean to them.”
Kersten says the unwelcome feelings stem from holding an anti-Zionist position. However, he expresses empathy for those who find it difficult to interact with someone with that belief: “I grew up in what I would describe as a liberal Zionist environment. And I know that so many young Jews are really taught that support for Israel is a core piece of their Jewish identity. So I understand that when you encounter someone who may hold a different political position vis a vis the state of Israel, it can cut a lot deeper than that.”
So what does being anti-Zionist look like for Kersten? He points to his studies of Jewish history and how the country has approached the question of Jewish safety and communal life: “I don't think that the militarized nation-state that we have now ended up with — and that we've seen have really devastating material effects for Palestinians and for that land, and really for many in that region — I understand that essentially as kind of a failed answer to some of these very real questions. So for me, holding anti-Zionist politics, I hope, is about thinking about a world with equality and justice and dignity for everyone.”
In the last year, Kersten’s relationship with his Jewish family members and friends have shifted, and in some cases, became strained. However, he acknowledges seeing growth among community members who are questioning Zionism.
“I, frankly, have never felt as much community among Jews and allies who are committed to collective liberation. … For years, I've actually kind of found it to be freeing. I mean, there is a way that I think Zionism kind of actually constrains what many understand to be Jewishness and Jewish history and Jewish life. And for me, starting to look beyond that, it's what guides my doctoral research in Yiddish culture and diasporic politics, but it's really opened my eyes to a really vast plethora of Jewish experiences.”