When Zachary Pastor, 18, returned to his dorm room after class on March 30, there was a flyer on his door. Looking down the hall, he saw it on other entrances, too, an official-looking notice with the word “EVICTION” stamped across it in big, bold letters. The Florida Atlantic University freshman, who attends its Boca Raton campus, received one of the reportedly 200 fake notices distributed by Students for Justice in Palestine, which reportedly has more than 75 chapters nationwide.
As the school in Boca Raton continues its transition from primarily a commuter operation to having a more prevalent college campus feel, especially with the addition of new dorm space, there’s more student group activity than ever, said Rivka Rochel Liberow, co-director of the local Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Student Center. She’s spent six years in the area and pegs recent developments, including rallies and demonstrations, as a new phenomenon.
The targeting of students as part of an apparent anti-Israel campaign, however, has come as a shock. According to news reports, several students who received the fake notices are Jewish, but Charles L. Brown, the university’s senior vice president for student affairs, stated on Thursday that his investigation “found no evidence that the postings were intended to target or intimidate individuals of any particular religion, national origin or faith.”
“On the whole, it’s a peaceful kind of place,” said Liberow. “But a mother called us from out of town to find out what happened. She didn’t want to call her daughter, because she didn’t want her daughter to think she was scared.”
Leaders from the Chabad House and the local Hillel met with students and community members to discuss the incident, which was flagged by the Anti-Defamation League as having “left several FAU students feeling threatened and intimidated.” The ADL on its website notes that Yale University and the University of Chicago saw similar SJP activity last year.
As for advice, Liberow tells students to go about their daily business like nothing happened.
“We don’t let these things bother us,” she said in the midst of preparations for the final days of Passover this week. “We can’t. We just have to keep on doing and doing even more and show that we’re proud and not afraid.”
Chabad House co-director Rabbi Boruch Shmuel Liberow encouraged students to stay informed and alert, adding that the university was looking into what happened.
In his statement, Brown acknowledged that the university has “received disturbing reports of threats, hostility, and intolerance from and against fellow members of our community in connection with these postings.”
“These postings did not comply with University policy governing the distribution of printed materials, and were subsequently removed,” Brown pointed it. “Just as the University does not, and will not, tolerate censorship of free expression, so will we not tolerate tactics that are intended to threaten, intimidate, harass or demean members of our community.”
Freshman Pastor, who called home straightaway when he saw the flyer on his door, said he’s concerned about having the SJP on campus, and also for the sentiments of safety he and other Jewish students have come to appreciate.
“We want a type of campus where everyone can act and feel the way they like, as long as it’s civil and doesn’t promote confrontation or make others feel bad,” he said, explaining that he doesn’t want to see student groups creating friction and nervousness. “I would like for student groups to be organizations that do good on campus.”
With Israel Day festivities just around the corner, he said he wants to make sure there aren’t any problems.
“I’m concerned we’ll need security for that event,” he said.
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