When Persia Samghani started at Temple this fall, she was prepared for the possibility of on-campus protests surrounding the Israel-Hamas war because she led a pro-Palestine protest during her senior year of high school.
But after Temple’s chapter of Students for Justice for Palestine claimed a student’s hijab was ripped off during a protest at the College of Engineering career fair on Sept. 27, Samghani feels conflicted between her passion for activism and fear for her safety.
“If I was able to exercise my right to protest and have a walkout in high school, I think that students should be more than welcome to do that here,” said Samghani, a freshman political science major. “And to see and to hear what happened, and then what [those students] were met with, I think it’s absolutely terrible.”
Temple’s Department of Public Safety refuted the claim, but the university has experienced an abundance of student-led protests and disputes between students in support of Palestine or Israel since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023.
Many students feel conflicted about Temple’s reaction to on-campus protests, but some believe the career fair protest on Sept. 27 was detrimental to engineering students seeking employment.
Jeb McCormick understands the student perspective and appreciates the protestors standing up for a cause they believe in, but thinks Temple had an appropriate response in breaking up the protest.
“A lot of the students were going to [the career fair] to get jobs,” said McCormick, a junior advertising major. “So it’s split, I think the school responded neutrally.”
Four protesters, including at least one current Temple student, were detained and arrested at the Sept. 27 career fair. The Temple News first reported that Temple’s SJP branch was placed on interim suspension following the protest for violating the student code of conduct, leading to discontent among students.
Samghani understands McCormick’s position and agrees with many other students that neutrality is Temple’s best response. Samghani considers herself to be pro-Palestine but does not think it’s fair for Palestine supporters to condemn Temple for what she describes as “supporting a genocide” because they would then receive backlash from pro-Israel students.
“Temple should remain neutral, but still make sure that people who are pro-Palestinian are feeling safe and people who are Jewish are feeling safe because both sides are important,” Samghani said.
On the other hand, Emma Sealander believes SJP’s actions were justified and that protests need to be attention-grabbing in order to be impactful.
“[Temple] most definitely did not go about it in the right way,” said Ella Sealander, a sophomore undeclared major. “Obviously, schools have to set rules and guidelines that students have to follow, but in an issue like this that is affecting so many lives, I think it’s completely appropriate to get people’s attention more.”
In August, SJP led a march from Charles Library to the Hillel Center for Jewish Life, the university’s community center for Jewish students. That march, which included chants from outside the Hillel Center while Jewish students were inside, further instilled contention between the two groups.
Sonia Wiser, a freshman political science major, thinks recent protests were unproductive and not properly conducted. She recalls the protesters waving flags featuring “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine” in front of the Hillel Center. PFLP is a designated terrorist organization that has conducted dozens of attacks, primarily against Israeli interests in Europe and the Middle East.
“I’m for the peace of both sides, not for the destruction of one or another because I just don’t see any benefit,” Wiser said. “And even the protests, what is that really gaining for anyone? Because even making a protest, that is not affecting anything that’s going on during the war. Like you’re not helping, you’re not really hurting either.”
While numerous students have voiced frustrations with Temple’s response to recent protests, others say they feel privileged to attend a university where their freedom of speech is accepted and they can express their political beliefs primarily nonviolently.
Kellen Zecchinelli, a junior film and media arts major, acknowledges this but admonishes Temple’s treatment of the college fair protestors, specifically those arrested.
“We’re here in a college campus setting so we are kind of safe, but what goes on in the Middle East, it’s a completely different story,” Zecchinelli said. “So I just think that it’s good for students to preach their opinions, and it’s unfortunate that that led to arrests like that happened over there at the Student Center.”
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