A small crowd of supporters gathered in the Iowa Memorial Union’s North Room on Monday to hear from Ian Haworth, a Jewish and conservative media personality, exactly one year since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants.
Haworth, a staunch supporter of Israel, spoke of the rhetoric surrounding the conflict that has deeply divided young voters since the attack. Young progressives around the U.S. have aimed to pressure President Joe Biden to take a harsher stance on Israel’s involvement in Gaza.
At the same time, conservatives and pro-Israel Democrats criticize Biden for not providing enough support to Israel.
A recent Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll found that 78 percent of young Iowans polled disapproved of Biden’s handling of the war.
The event comes exactly one year after Hamas militants carried out a coordinated attack on dozens of Israeli villages bordering the Gaza Strip. The attackers invaded the small villages, killing more than 1,200 Israelis and destroying many homes.
As a result of the ensuing invasion and the bombing of the Gaza Strip by Israeli Defense Forces in response to the Oct. 7 attack, the death toll has climbed to over 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Associated Press.
The issue has divided American politics with progressives calling for a ceasefire in the war and pressuring President Joe Biden to place an arms embargo, or a complete stop of sales to Israel, to force a peaceful resolution to the war. However, in recent months, negotiations for a hostage deal and a ceasefire have stalled.
The conflict has also expanded into a regional conflict after Israel attacked Lebanon on Oct. 1 for its continuous rocket fire on Israel’s northern border. The Israeli invasion of Lebanon prompted Iranian missile fire, raising tensions in the region.
Haworth started his speech to a crowd of more than 30 attendees by asking them to take a moment of silence for the innocent lives lost in the Oct. 7 attack and the Palestinians killed in the war in Gaza.
“Just remember that all life is valuable,” Haworth said. “Doesn’t matter if you’re Israeli, Palestinian, Christian, Jewish, or Muslim — we should all be able to agree that innocent life is valuable.”
Haworth said that the Oct. 7 attack showed that Hamas was “utter human evil.”
“If you disagree, we don’t share any values,” Haworth said. “If you’re out there celebrating October 7, I don’t care what you think about the Israeli military. I don’t care about what you think about Israel or Palestine or any of these things. If you could just look at October 7 as an event in isolation and celebrate it, you’re evil.”
Haworth was in support of a two-state solution — in which both Palestinians and Israelis have the right to their self-determination — but said peace between the two entities was nearly impossible with Hamas militants intent on killing Israelis.
“If you look at all those things and think that we can have a two-state solution with a group like Hamas in charge, if we can have any solution that leaves Israel forced to live next to a neighbor who only destroyed war, and not just Jews in Israel but Jews worldwide, you’re living in a dream,” he said. “Hamas must be destroyed. It must be removed from power. Anyone again with a shred of all fiber can agree to that.”
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Jasmyn Jordan, chairwoman for Young Americans for Freedom and organizer of the event, said there has been constant antisemitic rhetoric pushed on campus since Oct. 7, including a vandalized prayer vigil the group set up shortly after the attacks.
An Oct. 7 survey by the Combat Antisemitism Movement, a coalition of organizations against Jewish hatred, reported that 39 percent of Jewish students surveyed said they felt uncomfortable or unsafe at a campus event due to their identity, and 29 percent have felt or been excluded from a group or an event on campus because they are Jewish.
Jordan testified for the House Judiciary Committee about free speech and antisemitism and said she was shocked to hear other campuses were experiencing antisemitism.
“It’s great to have an outlet to share not only the conservative viewpoint because I feel like this is a nonpartisan issue, especially with the hostage crisis that’s currently going on,” Jordan said.
Jordan said bringing in speakers like Haworth allows for discussions that may not happen in classrooms, providing people with background information to learn more about the issue.
Itai Ben-Shahar, UI second-year and co-president of Students Supporting Israel, said the event was meant as a way to remember family and friends who were killed on Oct. 7.
Ben-Shahar co-founded the organization at the beginning of this school year because he felt there was not a “Zionist voice” on campus.
“Everyone on the campus is only getting one side of the story,” Ben-Shahar said. “There’s always two sides to a story like this, right? So allowing people to have two sides of the story so they can come to their own conclusions.”
Tension leading up to event dissipates
A promotional banner for the event outside of Hubbard Park was vandalized on the morning of Sept. 30. Vandalists painted a Palestine flag, blacked out the eyes of Haworth, and wrote “idiot” on his forehead.
Jordan filed a police report and said the police are looking at security footage and the vandalism is under investigation.
Jordan said the Young Americans for Freedom’s posters are always destroyed, but this specific incident was worse than the others before because it was “directly attacking a group of people and calling for their erasure.”
Jordan said the organization was able to wash the messaging off with nail polish remover and use the banner to promote their messaging. Due to the vandalism, Jordan said she was surprised no pro-Palestine protesters were speaking out against the event.
“We’ve had issues previously — First Amendment rights being violated, not respecting the speaker to have the opportunity to speak but also the guests who are here,” Jordan said. “We’ve had people pour thousands of marbles or spit on attendees, so I’m glad everyone was able to have a safe and exciting event.”