Zionist Vigilantes Racially Harass Palestinian Penn State Students and Community Members
Since Oct. 7, Palestinian Penn State students, community members, and allies have mobilized en masse in Centre County to demand an end to Israel’s genocidal siege on Gaza. At the time of writing, 9,227 Palestinian martyrs, including 3,826 children, 2,405 women, and 2,996 men, have been ruthlessly murdered by Israeli forces in never-ending waves of bombardment. The local Palestinian community, including families and Penn State students, has mounted rallies, demonstrations, and teach-ins to raise awareness about this unfolding genocide in Gaza. They have also held vigils to commemorate their martyrs and mourn the loss of precious lives. Workers, tenants, and students of Centre County have come out in the hundreds to these events, demonstrating solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle against a colonial war of extermination.
However, these same events attracted several racist zionist vigilantes who harassed and threatened Palestinian students. Filled with anti-Palestinian hate and Islamophobic rage, local zionists have screamed racist slurs, threatened people, and even gone so far as to assault protesters. These anti-Palestinian tirades echo the wrath of U.S. imperialists and their Israeli lackeys as they seek to repress righteous resistance. The following report examines these recent attempts by local zionists to silence support for Palestinian rights through force and intimidation.
Faces of Racist Anti-Palestinian Harassment in Happy Valley
Oct. 12 Protest for Palestine
On Oct. 12, Palestinian students hosted a rally in support of Palestine at the Allen Street Gates of downtown State College. Two zionist vigilantes arrived. One vigilante wore a “Make America Great Again” hat, while donning a tactical belt that made attendees feel like he had come prepared to attack people. The second wore a “Trump: 2024” hat and was dressed in a sweater splattered in fake blood with a message mocking the genocide of Palestinians. The two vigilantes both attempted to disrupt the rally by screaming, playing loud music from a portable speaker, and, at times, charging into the crowd of attendees. One began to throw plastic skeleton decorations at the gathering while yelling incoherently about dead children. Many attendees had just recently lost family members to Israeli bombardment.
Within eye-sight of these actions were posted State College Police Dept leaders Lt. Foster and Cpt. Brauser. Neither of them took action to remove the zionist provocateurs who were clearly not only disrupting the right to assemble of Palestinian students, but also engaging in criminal harassment. Witnesses have reported that it appeared Foster and Brauser were more focused on surveilling Palestinian students. Photos published by the Centre Daily Times capture Lt. Foster using his personal phone to record attendees in support of Palestine, while ignoring the threatening behavior of the two zionist vigilantes.
Oct. 22 Vigil for Palestine
Several days later on Oct. 22, Palestinian Penn State students held a vigil on campus to mourn the Palestinians murdered by the Israeli occupation in its relentless siege on Gaza and the Occupied West Bank. The same zionist provocateur who had harassed attendees at the Oct. 12 rally arrived at the vigil visibly inebriated, wearing his “Trump: 2024” red hat. He charged at the mourners multiple times, shouting slurs. Witnesses said it was clear his intention was to shut down the vigil. When a few attendees asked him to please calm down and respect the vigil, he began shoving and spitting on them. At one point, the zionist provocateur was seen committing assault by spitting in his hand and slapping an attendee, who had asked him to please calm down and respect the vigil.
When Penn State police arrived they did not detain or arrest the zionist provocateur. Instead, police watched silently as he began to “counter-protest” mourners who had lost dozens of family members, citing “free speech”. The man stood on a wall holding a sign that suggested vigil attendees were “terrorists” in their grief for their people. As the imam of a local mosque began to speak about the horrors inflicted on Palestinians in the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital massacre, the provocateur interjected with shouts of “Liar, liar, terrorist!” and “You’re lying, you did it!” When mourners entered into prayer with the imam, he could not conceal his disgust and intensified his outbursts. Despite this racist anti-Muslim hostility, evident inebriation, and threatening behavior, Penn State police chose not to escort the provocateur off campus. Instead, Penn State police let the inebriated and belligerent zionist wander off, allowing him to freely roam and continue his harassment of students and campus workers. The inaction of Penn State police to protect the rights of those assembled for the vigil from this threatening person was incredibly alarming.
Oct. 25, Protest for Gaza
On Oct. 25, Palestinian Penn State students held a march to demand an end to Israel’s U.S.-backed siege on Gaza. As the march began, a pair of zionist vigilantes emerged, screaming in the faces of Palestinian demonstrators and their allies. The pair bellowed the word “terrorists” over and over at attendees, in addition to other derogatory insults. One vigilante wore a Kappa Delta hat, possibly appearing to represent this fraternity. The same vigilante openly defended Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. He claimed that zionist forces had “given time” to Palestinians to evacuate before bombarding Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, massacring over 400 patients and medical staff. The two Zionist vigilantes trailed the march for several blocks to terrorize attendees, including young Palestinian children accompanying their parents.
A second posse of Zionist vigilantes approached the march waving an Israeli flag. As demonstrators rounded a corner, they attempted to block the march route, led by a man wearing a MAGA hat. Continuing the harassment of the earlier vigilantes, they screamed at marchers, calling the peaceful demonstrators “terrorists”. Like on Oct. 12, such criminal behavior all took place within view of State College Police. Instead of removing these dangerous individuals harassing attendees, the State College Police tried to disrupt the march by demanding attendees move off the streets. Unfazed by these cowardly and unconstitutional directives from police, marchers continued to exercise their 1st amendment rights to assemble in the streets. Palestinian students, community members, and allies remained steadfast in their commitment to stand with the people of Gaza against genocide.
Penn State administrators and State College Borough leaders have enabled and emboldened these zionists in their racist intimidation of the Palestinian community. When President Bendapudi and Provost Justin Schwartz weaponize language, as they have done in public statements, to declare that support for the Palestinian people is support for “terrorism”, they tacitly give the green light to right-wing vigilantes to attack Palestinian students and their allies. When State College Police and Penn State police witness racist harassment of Palestinian students and do nothing to stop it, racist provocateurs interpret this to mean police support their acts of hate. What do Penn State administrators and State College Borough leaders say to the question of Palestinian rights? Since the beginning of Israel’s extermination campaign on Oct. 7, they have offered nothing but silence and hidden threats. Such is an unspoken endorsement of the settler colonial war of genocide against the Palestinian people.
National Repression of Palestinian Activism
Zionist harassment is not just connected to the incitement of violence against Palestinians, Muslims, and anti-occupation Jews (the likes of which has led to the murder of 6-year old Wadea Al-Fayoume). It is part and parcel of a national campaign to kill dissent and silence anti-occupation activists, just as an Israeli ground invasion is now underway. Despite Penn State’s purported commitment to free and open discussion, support for Palestine in the area of education, service, social services, and political discourse has been actively discouraged by university administrators in the past. Such repression is only fed by zionist vigilantes and their supporters, who set up snitching and doxxing networks to terrorize Palestinians into self-censorship. Fearing a loss of jobs or funding, there is a chilling of speech and action around Palestinian solidarity wherever these reactionary groups rear their head.
Such groups that are funded by the far-right in Israel and the United States are Campus Watch and Canary Mission, among others. Under the guise of “combating anti-semitism”, they frequent protests and even seek to infiltrate student activist groups in order to collect information and produce what is in effect a blacklist — reminiscent of McCarthyism and the Red Scare. A cursory look through the Canary Mission website reveals their deliberate predation on Palestinian and Muslim students. Agents produce “profiles” on suspected pro-Palestinian activists — with false accusations and inflammatory misinformation under each — along with pictures of the activists involved. Such malicious reporting has not only led to activists being questioned by their employers and graduate schools, but is weaponized by Israeli border police to deny Palestinian students entry into their very homeland.
At this same time, several states are moving towards the outright criminalization of Palestinian activism, as seen in Florida. Already in Pennsylvania, just as in other states, anti-BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) laws have been passed. This legislation jeopardizes some of our only tools of direct action against the illegal Israeli occupation and its settlements.
Conclusion
In the face of racist anti-Palestinian harassment, Palestinian Penn State students, community members, and allies remain ever more determined in their work to demand an end to Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. A growing climate of anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobic hate, and state repression of Palestinian activists has begun to fester in the U.S. and at Penn State. We call on all people of conscience, who love peace and hate aggression, to be in solidarity with the just cause of the Palestinian community and their allies against violent repression. The time is now.
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