UMD Students Organize Boycott of Israel Fest Amid Political Tensions

Students at the University of Maryland, College Park, participated in a boycott of Maryland Hillel’s annual Israelfest in support of Palestine on Tuesday.

The boycott, hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine, took place in the middle of Hornbake Plaza in response to “Israel Fest,” a celebration of the formation of Israel. The protest was a call to “stand against 77 years of ethnic cleansing and settler colonialism taking place in Palestine,” according to an SJP Instagram post.

A sign left on the ground Tuesday at  Hornbake Plaza in support of Palestine. (Koree Perry / The Black Explosion)

Protestors at the event gave speeches, displayed signs and wrote on the ground in chalk. Some in attendance wore keffiyehs, a traditional piece of clothing worn by people living in the Middle East. In recent months, the keffiyeh has become an indicator of support for Palestinians, according to CNN.

“Free Palestine” in chalk on the ground of Hornbake Plaza Tuesday. (Koree Perry / The Black Explosion)

A cardboard sign with demands from students for the University of Maryland to adhere to. (Koree Perry / The Black Explosion)

To garner more attendance and educate the campus community, students handed out flyers about the protest at the steps of Hornbake.

“What we’re basically doing is two-fold: number one, to protest Israel itself and also to raise awareness about Israel, what it actually is…what its intentions are,” said Matthew Foos, a junior philosophy major.

Protestors wearing keffiyehs talking to an onlooker of the boycott outside Hornbake Library at the University of Maryland. (Koree Perry / The Black Explosion)

Students not involved in the protest were detoured around the plaza due to the barricade surrounding the boycott. “It used to not be this way,” said Foos. He explained that the two events shared McKeldin Mall in previous years but the organizers of Israel Fest reserved the entirety of the mall for the event.

“We weren’t allowed to go over there [McKeldin Mall], so we were kind of relegated to coming over here with all these guard rails and things,” Foos said.

The Palestinian flag attached to a pole next to Hornbake Plaza for the Students for Justice in Palestine boycott of Israelfest. (Koree Perry / The Black Explosion)

Jewish students who participated in Israelfest treated guests to a mechanical bull, falafel and Dead Sea scrub making, an activity where participants make their own skincare using salt from the Dead Sea. While cleaning up at the end of the event, Aden Lerner, a Jewish student who volunteered to help with Israelfest, shared his thoughts on the SJP boycott.

“I think it’s good that UMD is a place where everyone can have the ability to speak however they feel and that we foster an environment that’s very pro-First Amendment,” the sophomore English and philosophy major said.

An Israeli flag blowing in the wind near tables that were set up for Israelfest on McKeldin Mall. (Koree Perry / The Black Explosion)

The boycott was one of many events held by SJP this year in response to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. In March, multiple members of the campus community campaigned for the university’s student government association to pass a referendum demanding that the university divest from companies facilitating violations of human rights.

Aden Lerner, a student at the University of Maryland, helping clean up at the end of Israel fest. (Koree Perry / The Black Explosion)