Hamas’s devastating attack on Israel that began on October 7 has killed more than 1,300 Israelis and taken at least 200 people hostage. Israel has responded with airstrikes on Hamas targets in Gaza, which have killed more than 2,300 Palestinians. Thousands more have been injured in the escalating conflict.
Simultaneously, tensions on university campuses around the world have risen with students staging massive protests and gatherings in support of both Israel and Palestinians. Some of these protests have promoted intense anti-Israel messages, making Jewish students feel threatened. Universities have issued a range of responses to the Hamas attacks and situation.
Amid the violence, the constant news cycle, and the hundreds of social media posts most have seen from classmates, Unpacked wanted to check in on our college and graduate student readers. We want to give our readers a place to vent, grieve and express how you’re feeling.
Have you found a lot of support in your campus community? Have you felt isolated or even targeted?
We will be reviewing the submissions and publishing them with the goal of making our readers feel heard. No matter your situation, we hope to give you a space to feel less alone.
How to submit
Unpacked has opened a Google Form where you can express how you’re feeling about the current situation and what it is like to be on your college campus.
The form gives you the option to share your name, but you can also choose to remain anonymous. However, to certify the validity of the response, we will require a valid university email on the form — these will not be shared and will be deleted following the publication of an article with the submissions we receive.
Please keep responses under 200 words and relevant to the topic.
In the article, responses will be phrased as “a student from BLANK university” in addition to your name, if you elected to include it.
We hope you can find catharsis in sharing how you are doing and hopefully camaraderie with your fellow Jewish college students.
Originally Published Oct 17, 2023 03:35PM EDT
