UNLV denies protesters’ claims
School says no commitments on demands
Pro-palestinian protesters and UNLV are at odds over reported meetings they’ve held regarding the university’s potential investments tied to Israel.
A UNLV organization that is part of a coalition of groups that have protested on the university’s amphitheater over the past couple of weeks claims to have met with the university’s administration and says “progress was made to meet stated demands of disclosure, divestment, and defense” of pro-palestinian, Muslim and Arab students who allegedly face harassment.
Students for Justice in Palestine claim students who are part of the movement went on a dayslong hunger strike that ended “due to the administration’s willingness to meet demands shown in the meeting,” the group said in an email. The group declined to provide any names of students to talk to because of an alleged hostile environment that pro-palestinian activists face and did not return follow-up emails from the Las Vegas Review-journal asking for more information on the hunger strike.
The university, however, said President Keith Whitfield and administrators continue to meet with student leaders and faculty representing all sides of the Israel-hamas war in Gaza, but that UNLV did not make a commitment to divest and disclose potential investments tied to Israel. A university spokesman was unable to provide more information about what was discussed at the meetings.
‘Shock’
Lilach Levaton, activism manager at the Israeli-american Council, said she was in “shock” to hear Whitfield met with the protesters.
“They’re trying to bully the university,” Levaton said of the protesters.
Levaton said she and other members of the IAC have seen an increase in what she says are antisemitic incidents on UNLV’S campus since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages.
The Israeli-american Council wants the university to meet with the organization and work together to ensure the safety of Jewish students. It doesn’t want the university to support Students for Justice in Palestine in any way, and it wants the university to accept the definition of antisemitism under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which would expand the definition, Levaton said.
Students for Justice in Palestine said in an email that some Jewish students are part of the same movement — what they say is the need for justice for Palestinians — at UNLV and around the country.
“Jewish students at UNLV, as well as across the country, are in the front lines advocating for these demands,” the email said.
In its statement, UNLV said it condemns bigotry against both Jews and Muslims.