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‘Rape Is Not Resistance’: Jewish Students Discuss National Walkout to Call for Release of Israeli Hostages
Jewish Tulane University students Yasmeen Ohebsion and Zoë Silverberg. Photo: Anthony Karry.
Jewish college students across the US last week participated in mass walkout to demand the release of Israeli hostages still held captive by Hamas in Gaza, where they were taken during the terrorist group’s massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7.
The demonstration was organized by Students Supporting Israel (SSI), a nonprofit that promotes education about the Jewish state, as a response to a surge in pro-Hamas demonstrations on higher education campuses throughout the world. It also aimed to sustain the momentum of the Jewish community’s advocacy heading into the new academic semester, following November’s mass protest by the pro-Israel community in Washington DC.
The Algemeiner spoke to four students who participated in the walkout and events related to it — Ellie Raab of Florida Atlantic University, and Zoë Silverberg, Yasmeen Ohebsion, and Bali Lavine of Tulane University in New Orleans. Each discussed their triumphs as well as lingering challenges the students say they still face in their efforts to win the hearts and minds of their classmates, some of whom refuse to acknowledge the suffering of those affected by Hamas’ atrocities.
“At FAU, everyone walked out whether you had class or didn’t have class. We all met up at 10 AM, and at 10:07 AM, we walked around our campus holding signs, playing music, and basically we had three things we were walking for — to remember the victims of Oct. 7, call for the return of the hostages, and take a stand against rising antisemitism throughout the world, specifically in academic institutions,” Rabb told The Algemeiner. “We had a moment of silence for the victims, and we all had posters and signs of all the hostages. My vice president had a poster that said, ‘Rape is not resistance’ and ‘#metoo unless you’re a Jew.”
Later, the students were led in prayer by FAU’s Chabad rabbi, who asked for the protection of Israeli soldiers and the hostages.
Students at Tulane University “tabled” to promote the demonstration, setting up at a location on campus to distribute literature to passerby and engage willing students in conversation. Tulane, a school known for having a large population of Jewish students, has had at least one incident of note since Oct. 7. During protests near the campus on Oct. 26, a Jewish student was assaulted by pro-Hamas demonstrators. That incident was on the mind of Bali Lavine — she called it a “riot” — as her tabling duties prompted her to reflect on Jewish life at Tulane.
“It’s been strangely quiet on campus lately,” Lavine, a freshman who recently declared Jewish Studies as a second major, said. “But when I say quiet, I just mean that a student wasn’t physically assaulted, not that there wasn’t any antisemitism. Just this week I learned about multiple students transferring out of Tulane. Some of the students I know really did feel welcomed by [Governor Ron] DeSantis’ message from the Florida schools saying that Florida welcomes students with open arms.”
A hesitance of some to embrace SSI’s message was palpable, Zoë Silverberg, who is a senior, told The Algemeiner. Many did “engage positively” but others declined to wear a sticker that said “104 Days,” which was then the amount of time that Israeli hostages had remained in captivity. It has now been 112 days.
“I felt really loved and supported when people approached the table and asked questions or took stickers, but when people would say ‘no thanks I’m not interested,’ it just made me wonder if they are anti-Zionists or aren’t aware of what I’m tabling for,” Silverberg said, noting that one of the hostages they highlighted was Kfir Bibas, a baby who turned one year old while being held by Hamas. “The fact that people are able to easily walk past a table advocating for the safety of a one year old child and not bat an eye makes it abundantly clear how war removed so many college students are from the reality of this situation.”
Some of the students who wouldn’t wear a sticker were Jewish, Yasmeen Ohebsion noted, saying that “saddened her.”
“To see students who were nervous or hesitant to display their Jewish identities shows that the campus climate likely makes them feel unsafe. Later, I walked into class after tabling and considered taking mine off my sweatshirt out of fear that my professor would judge me or treat me differently,” she continued. “I decided to leave it on and proudly stand against terror, with Israel, and with the hostages.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ‘Rape Is Not Resistance’: Jewish Students Discuss National Walkout to Call for Release of Israeli Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.