KTTH OPINION

Rantz: UW Seattle gave barriers to Antifa to keep Jews out of Liberated Zone

May 13, 2024, 5:55 PM | Updated: 6:48 pm

Photo: The UW autonomous Liberated Zone....

The UW autonomous Liberated Zone. (Photo: Jason Rantz, KTTH)

(Photo: Jason Rantz, KTTH)

The University of Washington (UW) administration gave the autonomous Liberated Zone barricades to keep Jews and Zionists out of the encampment. The move is not merely illegal discrimination, it’s dangerous to cede security to untrained, antisemitic activists, many of whom do not even go to UW.

Over the weekend, roughly 500 people showed up for a pro-Israel rally on Red Square. The intent was to walk through the Jew-hating encampment to show that local Jews, Christian supporters, and other allies, are not scared of the antisemitic students and their outside agitator friends. But the UW administration erected physical barriers and offered antisemitic encampment activists police protection as if the peaceful pro-Israel crowd was dangerous.

UW Police, flanked by Washington State Patrol (WSP) troopers, stood by on Sunday as Antifa thugs, decked out in black bloc, put up their own fencing around the barricade to keep Jews out. They had previously stolen campus bicycle racks to use as barricades. The UW didn’t merely allow it, they tacitly encouraged it.

Jason Rantz Exclusive: UW professor assaulted at autonomous Liberated Zone as admin keeps cops away

UW administration mostly ceded security to Antifa and Liberated Zone antisemites

Ahead of the pro-Israel rally, the UW inexplicably decided to keep one entrance in and one entrance out of the illegal encampment. That would ensure that should the pro-Israel rally march through the encampment as intended, they would be flanked by Antifa thugs and other antisemites who have openly harassed and assaulted Jews and supporters of Israel.

A UW spokesperson would not explain the decision to have only one way in and one way out of the encampment, even though they knew the one way in was heavily “guarded” by encampment activists. UW Police have been instructed to stay out of the autonomous UW Liberated Zone.

As pro-Israel rallygoers walked by, they were called “Nazis” by some in the pro-Hamas crowd. The encampment activists chanted various anti-Israel, pro-genocide and violent messages, including, “Long live the intifada.” At one point, the pro-Hamas crowd hit pro-Israel rallygoers with what is believed to be pepper spray. UW Police reportedly did not intervene.

UW has become increasingly hostile toward Jews

The UW Liberated Zone has grown increasingly hostile and violent towards Jews and perceived Zionists (code for “Jews” or “supporters of Jews”). Last week, an activist assaulted UW professor Stuart Reges (on video) as other encampment antisemites stalked and harassed him. UW President Ana Marie Cauce would not provide a comment on the incident out of fear she’d upset the antisemites.

“It (the encampment) has now taken over the quad, and black-hooded and masked men carrying sticks have been seen marching menacingly across campus,” UW professor Carol Schiller reported.

Activists cosplaying as security stalk people they think are not on their side. They appear to be outsiders, not students. They coordinate with other faux-security guards as they follow “suspicious” Zionists around. At times, they block the visitors from filming signs calling for the end of Israel. At other times, they won’t allow entry to Zionists, which is a violation of the City of Seattle Title VI, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of political ideology and religion. (Anyone can file a complaint here.)

Cauce has remained mostly silent during the unrest and illegal encampment. And she’s done little to support Jewish students who feel terrorized on campus. Previously, when progressive students feigned outrage over a lawful College Republicans affirmative action bake sale, which called attention to the racism of affirmative action, Cauce was an outspoken critic of her student activists. She didn’t see a problem calling out a small group of conservative students.

While the UW comes down hard on fraternities that throw reasonable parties, the administration has allowed the encampment to govern itself and enforce strict border rules around who they allow inside the public space. The administration said it will only intervene when the situation becomes life-threatening.

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