Rally against antisemitism at UNLV draws hundreds

• Published date: 07 May 2024
• Author: BRETT CLARKSON/TNS
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Because of this, Levaton has been called names when he's at school, he said during a Monday rally at UNLV against antisemitism. The 18-year-old biology student said it's been "much worse" this semester than last

"This semester, I've been called a genocide supporter, white supremacist, Nazi," said Levaton, who was born in Israel and grew up in Las Vegas. "When I'm wearing my Star of David or wearing anything that shows I'm Jewish or from Israel … I've been called those things."

Levaton was joined by several hundred other people on UNLV's campus on Monday for a rally against antisemitism that was organized by local Jewish and Israel advocacy groups including the Israeli American Council, Hillel Las Vegas, Jewish Nevada and others.

"Especially with the rise of antisemitism right now in campuses around the US the last two weeks, it was important for us to stand up and show support for Jewish students," said Ofra Etzion, regional director of the council's Las Vegas office.

'University has not done enough'

Speakers at Monday's rally included several UNLV students who spoke of their experiences on the school's campus in recent months, some of whom criticized UNLV's administration for not doing enough, they said, to combat antisemitism and for not taking the safety concerns of Jewish students seriously enough.

"Open discrimination against Jews is part of our history here in America, and the university has not done enough to show that Jews (are) also a minority that needs to be recognized and embraced," said UNLV medical student Miriam Borvick, 31.

"They don't directly try to attack students. However, if someone comes and tries to confront them, they will just yell in their faces," said Brooke Wingate, 21, of pro-Palestinian protesters. "And unfortunately, (UNLV) administration has not been great about listening to Jewish students and listening to us that we feel unsafe."

"The language that's being used right here on the quad during these protests is disgusting, and we should not be tolerating this, and the university should be saying that these are not the values that we hold dear," said Jolie Brislin, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League's Desert Region, who said that incidents of antisemitism in Nevada were up 170 percent in 2023 over 2022.

Borvick referred to what she said were protesters chanting their support for the Palestinian Intifada, which was two uprisings against Israel that are known as the First and Second Intifadas. The first, in the...