University of Connecticut Students for Justice in Palestine Member Lena Maarouf Receives Threatening Voicemail

Accident – Death – Obituary News : As the nation grapples with a surge in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents, federal agencies and university administrators are facing a difficult challenge in balancing security on college campuses with the protection of free speech. This dilemma has caused schools to hesitate in intervening to stop speech that may be seen as threatening to one group but as an expression of free speech to another. Even within the Biden administration, representatives from the White House and various departments have engaged in lengthy debates about finding the right balance.

The Department of Education has recently issued guidance to schools, reminding them of their legal obligation to address discrimination. In line with this, the department has launched investigations into four elite universities for incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia. This action comes as students at the University of Connecticut (UConn) express concerns about their safety due to recent incidents on campus.

At UConn, students from various organizations, including the Muslim Student Association, Students for Justice in Palestine, and the Hillel center for Jewish students, have reported receiving calls from worried parents. Jewish students at Hillel have noticed that posters of kidnapped Israelis have mysteriously disappeared, only to be replaced by posters calling for the freedom of Palestine through any means necessary. Additionally, an Instagram post advertising a talk by a survivor of the Re’im music festival massacre received angry and antisemitic comments.

Yana Tartakovskiy, a junior at UConn and Jewish student, shared her concerns about the situation, stating, “I think that anything that has to do with violence affects me a lot. It’s very scary because I feel like words can become actions very quickly, as we’ve seen on other college campuses.” Tartakovskiy now hides her Star of David necklace to avoid being identified as Jewish on campus.

Muslim students at UConn also fear being identified and have taken precautions such as wearing hoodies when walking alone on campus. Incidents of harassment have been reported, including a Muslim woman being targeted by men in a car after leaving a pro-Palestinian rally.

Recent graduate Lena Maarouf received a threatening voicemail seemingly out of nowhere. She believes her number was obtained from the website of UConn’s Students for Justice in Palestine organization. The voicemail, which Maarouf shared with NBC News, contained derogatory and threatening language towards her, as well as inflammatory remarks about Muslims.

While both Muslim and Jewish students agree that they don’t feel safe, opinions differ regarding the need for increased security on campus. Jewish students at Hillel have taken steps to recruit, hire, and train student security guards, working closely with government funding, local police, and the fire station. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) offers free security assessments to universities and K-12 schools through the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

However, Maarouf and other members of Students for Justice in Palestine express concerns about trusting DHS for their protection, citing historical experiences of profiling and targeting of Muslim Americans by the agency.

UConn administrators state that they are investigating the incidents reported by Maarouf and Muslim students and have unequivocally condemned Islamophobia and antisemitism. Nonetheless, Jewish and Muslim students are calling on the university to do more to address hate incidents and engage students in informed discussions about the conflict and history in the Middle East.

Muneeb Syed, President of the Muslim Student Association at UConn, expressed the desire for the university to acknowledge these events and work towards creating a culture that promotes diversity and inclusion. The students believe that only by acknowledging and addressing these incidents can real change be achieved on campus..