I recently read Safa Razvi’s recent Daily Cardinal op-ed, “Pro Palestine is not Anti-Israel. It is Pro-Human,” with genuine empathy for her compassion toward human suffering. But compassion alone cannot substitute for truth. Razvi’s column, and much of the rhetoric echoing across campus, ignores a basic reality: the pro-Israel community is, at its core, a pro-peace community. The same cannot be said of the activists leading the “pro-Palestine” movement at UW-Madison.
A Movement That Calls Itself “Pro-Human” Must Start with Honesty.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel and massacred more than 1,200 people, including families, children, and even peace activists. Most were not soldiers, but ordinary people who had spent their lives building bridges: volunteers who brought sick Gazans to Israeli hospitals, organizers of cross-cultural programs, and concertgoers who believed peace was still possible.
If those in the pro-Palestinian movement truly value human life, their first act should be to condemn the terrorists who slaughtered the very people who fought for peace. Instead, we heard silence, or worse, celebration of so-called “martyrs.”
When ‘Activism’ Becomes Antisemitism.
In the months that followed, that silence on campus took a darker turn. During the spring 2024 illegal encampment of Library Mall, antisemitic chants rang out across the crowd. Protestors shouted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a slogan that calls openly for the elimination of Israel.
On the first anniversary of October 7th, the UW chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) held a rally where demonstrators chanted, “We don’t want two states, we want ‘48’,” referencing the period before Israel’s founding. I witnessed this firsthand. This was not a vigil for victims or a call for peace. It was a celebration of terror, disguised as activism.
The Pro-Israel Community, by Definition, is Pro-Peace.
Our vigils are not calls for vengeance. Our chants are not for annihilation. We pray for the safe return of all hostages, including the dead still in Gaza, for innocent Palestinians caught in the crossfire, and for the day when both peoples can live without fear. We hold our own leaders accountable when they fail to pursue peace, because true patriotism demands it.
I saw this firsthand last summer in Israel. On several nights, I stood shoulder to shoulder with tens of thousands of Israelis protesting in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, demanding a hostage release deal and an end to the war. The streets were filled with Israeli flags and signs reading “Bring them home,” “Ceasefire now,” and “Enough suffering for both sides.” These were not “anti-Israel” rallies. They were both pro-Israel and pro-Peace, led by a public that wants security and coexistence, not endless war.
That is the real Israel. That is the real pro-Israel community.
Where are the Voices for Peace on the Other Side — and on Our Campus?
If we, as pro-Israel students, can hold our leaders accountable and still defend our nation’s right to exist, why can’t Pro-Palestinian activists do the same? Where are the student voices condemning Hamas for using civilians as shields, for building terror tunnels beneath schools and hospitals, for stealing aid meant for families, for killing 1,200 people on October 7?
The answer, unfortunately, is silence. On this campus, moral courage has been replaced with moral confusion. SJP and their allies call themselves “pro-human,” yet they refuse to denounce the group responsible for the suffering of both Palestinians and Israelis. When a movement cannot condemn terror, its humanity is absent.
I hold deep respect for Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Palestinian writer and activist from Gaza who lost family members during this war yet continues to speak the truth. He has said openly that “For this disaster, I hold Hamas primarily responsible.” He calls out their corruption and disregard for civilian life. He represents what I wish existed on our campus: someone who believes in Palestinian freedom without erasing Israel, and who understands that peace requires accountability on both sides.
If Alkhatib can find moral clarity after losing family and friends, surely students in Madison can find the courage to do the same from the safety of our campus.
A Double Standard
Something is deeply wrong when condemning terror is controversial, yet chanting for a country’s destruction is applauded. This is what it feels like to be a Jewish or pro-Israel student today. Empathy has become one sided. Mourning Jewish lives requires justification, while justifying terror requires none.
We’re told that Israel must “do better,” but rarely that Hamas must stop murdering civilians, We’re urged to “engage in dialogue,” yet pro-Palestinian students are warned that “normalizing conversations” with pro-Israel peers is unacceptable. Wanting peace shouldn’t make you an outlier, but lately it does.
This is what frustrates me most. I, and nearly every pro-Israel student I know, want peace for both sides. We long for the day when Palestinians can live free from fear and Israelis free from rockets; when we can debate policy, not existence. But that future feels further away when one side refuses to acknowledge the other’s right to exist.
One side cannot carry the burden of peace alone. Coexistence requires more than words or slogans. It requires both sides to show up.
If You Believe in Peace, Prove It.
If true humanity is the goal, it must apply to everyone. You cannot claim to stand for justice while excusing terror. You cannot call for freedom while denying another people’s right to exist. And you cannot demand peace while silencing those who seek it.
Being pro-Israel does not mean ignoring Palestinian suffering. It means believing that both peoples deserve safety. It means understanding that peace is built on accountability. Those who care about Israel’s future are willing to confront hard truths and demand better. That is what real love for a nation looks like.
I hope to see the same courage from those who call themselves pro-Palestine: condemn Hamas, reject the glorification of violence, and stop treating coexistence as betrayal.
Everyone claims to be “pro-peace.” But if peace requires two sides and only one shows up, maybe it’s time to ask which side truly means it.
Jaxon Zemachson is a junior studying marketing & entrepreneurship, and the Co-Founder of the Wisconsin Sports Business Conference.
