Overview
- The council’s letter criticized an April 14 campus talk with Omer Shem Tov as “selective platforming” that it said normalizes alleged state violence in Gaza and Lebanon.
- The event, titled “505 Days in Captivity,” featured Shem Tov’s account of being abducted from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, and held in Gaza for 505 days.
- UCLA said it supports the organizers and described the gathering as a message of resilience and human dignity, adding that it will examine the council’s statement process.
- Hillel at UCLA rejected the condemnation as antisemitic, with its director saying the group would “apologize for absolutely nothing,” and a retired Hillel rabbi calling the critique “completely ridiculous.”
- Internal rifts surfaced as council president Diego Bollo said he was not present, called the narrow passage a lapse in oversight, and launched a process review, while councilmember Talia Davood said the vote occurred without her and called targeting the Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) talk “blatantly disrespectful.”