UCLA’s student government condemned a recent campus event featuring former Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov, labeling the speaker selection as “selective platforming of narratives that obscure the broader reality of ongoing state violence” and “a troubling disregard for Palestinian life.”    

In an undated letter to UCLA administration, as well as the organizers of the event — UCLA Hillel and the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies — and “affiliated campus stakeholders,” the UCLA Undergraduate Students Association Council wrote that it “condemns” the April 14 event, held on Yom HaShoah, which was titled “505 Days in Captivity: Omer Shem Tov’s Testimony of Resilience.” 

The council represents over 29,000 undergraduates at UCLA. 

“While we affirm the humanity of all people impacted by violence, we reject the selective platforming of narratives that obscure the broader reality of ongoing state violence. Israel is currently continuing to carry out what has been widely identified by human rights advocates as a genocide in Gaza, while also expanding its illegal military campaign into Lebanon. In this context, elevating a single narrative, absent of critical political and humanitarian framing, serves to legitimize and normalize these ongoing atrocities,” the letter states.

“Institutional sponsorship of this event reflects a troubling disregard for Palestinian life … Universities must not be complicit in the production or amplification of one-sided narratives that erase systems of oppression and occupation,” the letter continued. “USAC calls on UCLA to immediately reconsider its role in sponsoring future programming that advances incomplete and harmful representations of ongoing violence.” 

“Hillel at UCLA would like to apologize for absolutely nothing,” the group’s executive director, Daniel Gold, told Jewish Insider. 

“Members of UCLA student government have once again shown they are anti-dialogue, anti-learning, anti-truth, anti-student, and anti-Jewish in condemning our beautiful event last week with Omer Shem Tov,” Gold said.

Shem Tov was kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7, 2023, and held captive in Gaza for 505 days. 

A spokesperson for UCLA told JI, “The event’s message was one of resilience and respect for human rights and dignity — a message we support. We stand by UCLA Hillel, UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies and the UCLA Chapter of Students Supporting Israel’s invitation to have this very important dialogue.” 

“We will review the process by which this letter was issued. The condemnation of such a peaceful event to share a story of resilience in the face of extreme suffering is antithetical to the values of our Bruin community,” the spokesperson said.

UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk spoke at the event, introducing Shem Tov.

The federal government has been in a monthslong legal battle with UCLA, including a February lawsuit alleging that the campus failed to protect Jewish and Israeli faculty and staff in accordance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination.