MINNEAPOLIS — Outside of Minnesota Hillel, the University of Minnesota's Jewish student center since 1940, is a display with the faces of several Israelis taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7.
"For us, when one person in our community hurts, most of us feel that pain," said Hillel Executive Director Benjie Kaplan. "For us to be able to outwardly show our support, it was an easy way to do so. And a call to return of innocent people who never should have been part of conflict."
But the display has been damaged twice already since going up. First, by someone kicking it over and stomping on it in broad daylight, then on Saturday night, when it was kicked over and damaged again by a group of young men.
This vandalism comes after a number of videos at college campuses across the country have been shared on social media, showing people removing or defacing similar posters.
"It creates an unsafe environment for Jewish students who are just trying to show support for their friends, family and people on the other side of the world," Kaplan said.
Kaplan wishes he could say he's surprised.
"Sadly, there is so much anger in the classroom and in the quad and in social media spaces that this doesn't surprise me," Kaplan said.
Police witnessed the incident Saturday night, arrested the young men and cited two of them for underage drinking and possessing fake IDs.
The U of M's police department has also placed a surveillance camera a half-block away.
As the sign in support of kidnapped Israelis is once again displayed outside Minnesota Hillel, Kaplan hopes tension on campus does not escalate.
"It takes one bad actor to make it go from an unsafe environment to a physically harmful environment," Kaplan said.
In a statement, a U of M spokesman wrote:
"Vandalism or intimidation against any members of our campus community is unacceptable. Beyond responding promptly to any reports of crime or bias, the University takes a multi-layered approach to supporting students, faculty and staff any time a local, national or international situation may cause stress or fear.
The safety of all members of our community is our top priority."
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