(Photo : ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
People demonstrate during a pro-Palestine rally near the White House in Washington, DC, on October 14, 2023. Thousands of Palestinians sought refuge on October 14 after Israel warned them to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip before an expected ground offensive against Hamas, one week on from the deadliest attack in Israeli history.

The University of Wisconsin in Madison (UW Madison) has refused to condemn students participating in a pro-Palestine rally who endorsed the attacks Hamas made against Israel, which left at least 1,300 dead - a figure some say was the highest number of Jewish deaths since the Holocaust.

The students were observed holding Palestinian flags and pro-Palestinian messages on placards in front of the university's library as one woman was heard shouting into a microphone, "Glory to the murders!" and "We will liberate the land - by any means necessary!"

A video of the incident posted on X, formerly Twitter, garnered over 2.6 million views.

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UW Madison Says Chants Protected by 1A

Since then, the university told the New York Post that the chants celebrating Hamas's attack in Israel's southern region as "respectful dialogue" that it allows on and off the campus, adding that those were speeches protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

The school also declined to comment when pressed by the Post on whether the use of the term "martyrs" was appropriate since Hamas terrorists killed, kidnapped, and raped Israeli civilians. University chancellor Jennifer Mnookin also released a statement last Wednesday (October 11) condemning the "vicious terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians" but did not address the protest the day prior (Tuesday, October 10).

She wrote that she mourned for the dead and hoped for the injured and abducted while fearing that the war would increase cases of both antisemitism and islamophobia, further preventing the promotion of peace and justice in the region.

According to Hillel International's report, roughly 5,200 Jewish students were attending the University of Wisconsin, the sixth-most of any public university in the US.

Condemnation from Alumni

Meanwhile, the Post added that several alumni athletes of the school's Badgers athletic teams have condemned the pro-Hamas messages in the rally in the viral video.

Former UW Madison hockey player Cami Kronish retweeted the viral video, saying she was "disgusted" and disappointed for her school allowing alleged antisemitic messages within university premises, with former Badger gridiron football player Vitaly Pisetsky concurring the sentiment.

As of writing, the Israel-Hamas War has claimed the lives of 3,600 people on both sides of the conflict, with observers indicating the number would increase in the next few days as Israel is on the brink of what was speculated as a full-scale invasion of Gaza City. Thousands more have been wounded, and Hamas took many others hostage.

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