Campus Leaders Vote To Ban All Israeli Defense Forces Speakers From University

The University of Maryland (UMD) Student Government Association (SGA) passed a resolution Wednesday demanding that the university ban Israeli Defense Force (IDF) speakers.

The resolution, which passed 25-0 with just one abstention, was created in response to the group of students supporting Israel on campus who hosted three IDF soldiers at an event in early October. The SGA called on the school to condemn the event, formally apologize and ban any “speakers who have been found or are under active investigation for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or systematic human rights violations” from being hosted on campus, according to UMD’s independent student newspaper, The Diamondback.

UMD did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Four people were arrested by university police at the event after a protest broke out, The Diamondback reported. One of the SGA’s resolutions demands that the university apologize for the detention of the individuals and hold a meeting with them so they “can express their concerns and demand policy changes.”

People prepare for a vigil organized by Students for Justice in Palestine along McKeldin Mall in the heart of the University of Maryland campus October 7, 2024 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The SGA is demanding that the university “publicly acknowledge the harm caused by this event” and issue “an apology to affected students and the campus community as a whole,” The Diamondback reported. The newspaper cited a September United Nations report that Israel had committed “genocidal acts” in the Gaza Strip, such as “killing and seriously injuring an unprecedented number of Palestinians” and “blocking humanitarian aid leading to famine,” among other claims. (RELATED: The university where Charlie Kirk was murdered is beefing up its police force)

“It was a double standard that the university decided it was worth devoting university resources to protecting war criminals rather than their own students, given that students who spoke out openly against this event were detained,” Zyad Khan, a UMD student and SGA representative who sponsored the resolutions, told the Diamondback.

The individuals were only detained for about an hour, according to The Diamondback. University policy prohibits the disruption of on-campus events, only allowing protesters to demonstrate outside the event building or “give the speaker a respectful hearing” inside the event space.

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