UCF Student Newspaper Whitewashes Hate March
Nicholson Student Media falsely characterized the protest as “peaceful;” omitted death threats PSA members made against Jews
Monday’s hate march, conducted by the antisemitic Palestinian Student Association, was many things: it was a response to the arrest of hate criminal Seif Asi; it was an intimidation attempt against Jewish students at UCF; and it was a demonstration of the support they receive from UCF’s administration, at the expense of UCF’s Jewish students.
UCF’s student newspaper, Nicholson Student Media, chose to report it as a “peaceful protest” in support of Palestine.
The article, which was removed from NSM’s featured section (but not completely removed from NSM’s website) following massive criticism from UCF’s Jewish community, mischaracterises the hate march and spreads misinformation about its handling in the United States. PSA’s record of antisemitism, including its calls for Jews to be exterminated and for the Jewish state to be “destroyed,” are not mentioned. Calls made during the march for Jewish eradication are not mentioned. Instead, the authors write that “[PSA] made it clear it did not want attendees to hate on other groups and that [the march] was solely about speaking out for the people of Palestine,” erasing documented evidence of PSA’s inciteful rhetoric throughout the rally.
NSM uncritcally reported that PSA stated they “did not condone” antisemitism or violence, despite their rhetoric being indisputably violent and antisemitic. NSM additionally repoted non-inciteful chants, such as “Free Palestine,” while omitting any mention of “from the River to the Sea,” or “in spirit and blood, we redeemed al-Aqsa.”
Two students are quoted in the article, one of who claimed that “federal laws passed are equating antisemitism with standing against the actions of Israel.” This false accusation is designed to delegitimize attempts by the American-Jewish community to equate modern forms of antisemitism, such as anti-Zionism, with traditional antisemitism. The widely-recognized IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism explicitly excludes criticism of Israel from being considered antisemitic, stating that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.” The IHRA definition only applies to “criticism” which is rooted in anti-Jewish biases. It is often paired with the 3-D test, which helps assess criticism of Israel for biases against Jewish people.
The same student additionally told NSM that he thought “one wrong thing said by one wrong person can lead to [PSA] being shut down or disbarred.” This claim negates evidence of the special protection afforded to PSA and other antisemitic campus organizations by UCF’s administration, falsely portraying these hate groups as underdogs on campus.
NSM’s false coverage of the hate march is in stark contrast to their earlier article covering Seif Asi’s arrest, which correctly described the hate crime and centered the voices of its victims. UCF Jewish Monitor will continue to document the complicity of media outlets in perpetuating a hostile campus environment against Jews.