Overview
- - UCLA’s Undergraduate Students Association Council issued a letter condemning a campus talk by former Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov, arguing the event elevated a single narrative that “legitimizes and normalizes” alleged atrocities in Gaza and Lebanon.
- - The program, titled “505 Days in Captivity: Omer Shem Tov’s Testimony of Resilience,” was organized by Hillel at UCLA with the Nazarian Center and took place April 14 on Yom HaShoah, drawing UCLA’s chancellor and proceeding without disruption.
- - Hillel leaders denounced the council’s statement as antisemitic and silencing, and Shem Tov said attempts to mute his testimony show a refusal to hear a survivor’s account.
- - UCLA said it stands by the organizers and called the event’s message one of resilience and human dignity, and the university said it will review how the student council’s statement was drafted and released.
- - USAC President Diego Bollo said he was not present when the letter advanced, described a “bare majority” passage, and announced an internal review, a step that followed objections from council member Talia Davood who said the vote excluded some members and disrespected Holocaust Remembrance Day.
- - The dispute unfolds as the Justice Department’s February 2026 lawsuit accuses the University of California of allowing a hostile environment for Jewish and Israeli employees at UCLA, a backdrop that has kept the campus under national scrutiny since the 2024 protest encampments.