Editor’s Note: This story contains discussions of Islamophobia and hatred and violence toward Palestinian people.
IU junior Ranya Barham returned home to her Bloomington townhome late Oct. 14, 2023. She grabbed her mail from outside. As the black door of the mailbox flopped down, she saw a small index card waiting for her. It was a handwritten note scribbled in blue ink that said, "So you support the beheading of babies?"
The last week had been a whirlwind of emotions and grieving. On the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, the militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from land and air — killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 240 hostages, according to the Israeli government. About 120 hostages are still being held by Hamas, Israeli officials believe.
Israel retaliated immediately, killing more than 36,700 Palestinians civilians and combatants in Gaza in the ensuing conflict as of June 11, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
As she looked up at the Palestinian flag hanging in her window, she suddenly felt like a target had been placed on her back. Her family is from Qalqilya in the West Bank, and some of her family still lives there.
With her roommates away for the weekend, she went inside and locked the door quickly.
She never felt like anyone would enter her house, but that didn't stop the uneasy feeling from stirring in her stomach. The feeling stemmed from the thought that if something did happen to her, she didn’t feel like anyone in power at IU would do anything to help her.
IU President Pamela Whitten has faced scrutiny for her response to the Israel-Hamas conflict. Whitten released a statement Oct. 10 many students and faculty found to be vague. It did not mention specific names of groups or nations beyond a title that referred to “the Middle East.” Many criticized it for having “fluff” and ambiguity. She released another statement Oct. 12 in which she condemned Hamas for its attack on Israel and expressed empathy for Jewish students and faculty.
The statements offered no mention of support for Palestinian students or faculty.
"Her empathy is discriminatory," Barham said about Whitten in December. "I feel a lot of shame being a student at IU right now."
Barham is not alone in this feeling. Over 2,000 people signed a petition titled "Ask IU's President Whitten to Not Discriminate in her Empathy" in response to Whitten's second statement on the Israel-Hamas war.
"It is very disrespectful when I pay thousands of dollars to go here and still not feel protected or heard," Barham said.
Eight months since the ground assault began, Whitten still has not released a statement about the Muslim and Palestinian population on IU's campus.
IU Executive Director of Media Relations Mark Bode sent a statement to the IDS in response to claims that administration has not listened to concerns from Muslim and Palestinian students.
“Students remain President Whitten’s top priority,” the statement read. “Under her leadership, IU will always strive to maintain a safe and welcoming environment for students of all backgrounds.”
Barham is not the only Palestinian student on campus who has said they’ve experienced threats, discrimination and harassment.
In September of 2023, before the Oct. 7 attack happened, a TikTok video posted by IU student Hailey Toch went viral. Toch, who is Jewish, posted a video where she is seen doing her makeup and telling the story of an encounter between her and her apartment complex neighbor, a Palestinian student.
She faced criticism in the wake of this video for remarks many deemed racist against the Palestinian student.
Toch explained the student came to her door to introduce himself as her new neighbor.
“Literally my jaw’s like, dropping,” Toch said in the video. “He probably wants to, like, kill me right now.”
Toch only learned her neighbor was Palestinian after her roommate mentioned it when he left.
She said that if she had known he was Palestinian, she would never have opened the door, let alone engage in a full conversation with him. Before ending the video, she said, “if he ever comes near me, I have pepper spray ready to go.”
Students began flooding the university’s social media, calling for discipline to be taken against Toch.
The Dean of Students Office and IU Bias Response and Education team said they were proceeding in alignment with university policy and procedure in September.
The video was later deleted but sparked the conversation both in and out of the comment section, “are Palestinians safe on campus?”
Another incident on IU's campus came after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, during the separate peaceful gatherings of pro-Israel and pro-Palestine groups Oct. 9, 2023.
The two groups gathered in separate parts of campus to honor the lives lost in the conflict. Later in the night, some supporters of Israel walked toward the pro-Palestine group at Sample Gates, and gradually, the two groups were separated by only a small line of police officers.
“Fuck you terrorists,” a handful of students with Israeli flags shouted to the pro-Palestine group. Many pro-Palestine demonstrators continued to shout “free, free, Palestine.” As the night went on, the two groups stayed at Sample Gates. Some members of both groups attempted to talk peacefully while others shouted hateful messages over the police line.
Barham, a junior at IU this year, attended the pro-Palestine vigil.
Students have expressed frustration with the university and how it has handled its responses to campus events in relation to the Israel-Hamas war.
Two events were canceled, both for “security reasons.”
The PSC organized an event in November 2023 set to feature Miko Peled, an Israeli American writer and activist, but IU denied a room request for the event made by advisor Abdulkader Sinno just two days before it was set to take place. Despite being denied the reservation, the event took place as scheduled.
Peled is a proponent of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions — a movement launched in 2005 aiming to push Israel to recognize the rights of Palestinians through political and economic pressure. He grew up in Jerusalem and is the grandson of one of the signers of the Israeli Declaration of Independence and the son of an Israeli general.
After his sister lost her daughter in a suicide bombing in 1997, Peled said he was driven to reexamine the assumptions that guided his life from his upbringing.
At the Nov. 16, 2023, event, Peled said the violence people are experiencing in Gaza has been going on for decades, and nothing has changed. The issue now is the violence has become normalized, he said.
The president of the PSC told the IDS in November he believed the event was denied because of the fact it involved a speaker who expressed views in support of Palestine and not because of issues with security. IU had been able to provide same-day security measures Oct. 9 when the PSC organized the vigil in front of Sample Gates, he said.
A few days later, Sinno, a professor at IU, received a conduct violation claiming he falsely or incorrectly indicated the room reservation was for an academic event and not for a student organization. He was later suspended from teaching and advising students for one calendar year.
The IU Faculty Board of Review later determined Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Carrie Docherty violated IU policy when suspending Sinno without first referring the matter to the Faculty Misconduct Review Committee.
IU Hillel planned to bring Mosab Hassan Yousef, a Hamas member-turned-Israeli-spy, to campus for the “The Truth About Hamas and Israel” event in March. Students criticized the event prior to its cancellation, calling Yousef Islamophobic for his remarks about Muslims, including numerous tweets, public speeches and interviews.
In December of 2023, Yousef tweeted, “never trust anyone who identifies as a Muslim, they may appear as a harmless sheep when they are alone, but when they are in the pack, they will begin to show their tusk. I have zero respect for any individual who identifies as a Muslim. And I may consider the use of force when it comes to Islamists.”
When the event was canceled, Hillel and the university cited security concerns as the reason. Officials from Hillel and IU plan to bring Yousef to campus this fall instead.
Barham, a member of the PSC, expressed frustration with what she called a lack of accountability from Hillel and IU administration.
“We would never invite someone who speaks so hatefully and dangerously about a specific group,” Barham said. “Especially Jews.”
IU Hillel Executive Director Rabbi Sue Silberberg and Paul Sterbcow, the father of Hillel’s student president, said at an event March 26 in place of Yousef’s they just wanted Yousef to have a chance to tell his story.
“Never, ever, ever in a million years occurred to me that was controversial,” Silberberg said in a speech. “I really, honestly didn’t think it was controversial because he’s been to some other campuses and all he’s doing is speaking about terrorism and why terrorism is bad and his experience as the son of a terrorist.”
Barham said the climate surrounding the conflict has been so focused on antisemitism without talking about Islamophobia. Both antisemitism and Islamophobia should be in the conversation, Barham said.
She feels this way regarding the media’s reporting on the war, but also about IU.
“I feel like IU has completely ignored our cries for someone to just stand up and say, ‘this is wrong,’” Barham said.
***
On April 24, IU changed a 1969 policy to ban the use of temporary structures, like tents, in Dunn Meadow without prior approval.
On April 25, pro-Palestine protesters took to Dunn Meadow to peacefully protest and set up an encampment of tents and canopies. Five hours later, Indiana State Police and IU Police descended upon the camp, arresting 34 protesters. All would be charged with criminal trespassing, and some with battery and resisting law enforcement. The prosecutor’s office later declined to file charges against those arrested for criminal trespass. Protesters arrested received at least a one-year ban from campus.
Sarah Alhaddad, a freshman at IU this year, entered the encampment around 11 a.m. April 25. The police had already been around the field. It began as a community gathering, Alhaddad said. There were drums, chants and places for people to make signs. It was peaceful, she said.
At 3 p.m., Alhaddad left Dunn Meadow for class. In that short hour and a half, the protest became chaos. Her roommate texted, telling her that the state police had shown up and to get to the gathering immediately.
Alhaddad ran from her class to Dunn Meadow, noticing the armed police as she reentered the scene. She said her instinct was to rush onto the field but hesitated due to the guns strapped to officers' hips and the officer armed with a sniper atop the Indiana Memorial Union.
She slowly entered the crowd and took in her surroundings: A wall of police surrounded a group of protesters at the front. A group of protesters were in a circle, each with their hands zip tied together. The tents surrounding the area, she said, resembled a bear mauling. Their tents were ransacked.
Students were not the only ones being arrested. Professors, community members and students alike were taken by IU buses to be processed at Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse before going to the Monroe County Jail.
“This is my first year at IU, and I came to IU really proud to be a Hoosier,” Alhaddad said. “Now, I feel really betrayed that IU and Whitten specifically would leave us in the dust like that. Completely silencing us.”
Following the arrests, Whitten and Provost Rahul Shrivastav said in statements IU made the decision to call in ISP due to “the expectation of a high number of external participants” in the protests and that the encampment coincided with a rise in antisemitic incidents across the country associated with the movement. They provided no specific evidence of antisemitic incidents on IU’s campus.
Whitten later said at a listening session with faculty May 14 she saw evidence of wooden shields, pepper spray and “creek rocks” at the encampment that indicated IU was at risk for violence. The university has not publicized any evidence of pepper spray or “creek rocks” in the encampment. IDS reporters observed wooden shields multiple days in the encampment, which one protester told reporters on April 26 were for protection in case police acted violently.
In the face of the arrests, the group stood strong, Alhaddad said, as they continued their chants and held their heads high. Within 15 minutes, as the line of police were leaving Dunn Meadow, the protesters marched forward until they were alone on the field.
“That was an indescribable moment,” Alhaddad said. “At the end of the day, the support and the power of the people was still stronger than what they could do.”
She said the protesters that remained on the field celebrated.
She sat with her friends in Dunn Meadow and smiled as support from social media poured in.
Alhaddad attended the first pro-Palestine gathering back on Oct. 9, 2023, that took place in front of the Sample Gates. She has watched as this group in support of Palestine has gained strength and support. She watched as every protest and event the past months led to that moment.
“It was a very cumulative moment,” she said. “I’m hoping that feeling in that moment carries over to the other victories that we will have.”
She said she knows the fight for their cause is not over, and there is still a long road ahead. However, she said this moment was surreal.
Over six weeks later, the encampment continues. On April 27, 23 more protesters were arrested, receiving campus bans, as well. 51 protesters have successfully appealed their bans, according to Indiana Public Media. Day in and day out, protesters have remained camped in Dunn Meadow, calling for IU to divest from Israel, for IU to end its partnership with NSWC Crane and for Whitten, Provost Rahul Shrivastav and Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Carrie Docherty to resign. The protesters plan to remain in Dunn Meadow until their demands are met.
“These victories are incredibly motivating, but we still have a long way to go,” Alhaddad said.
***
It was 2 a.m. on Oct. 7 and after hours of homework, graduate student Miral Alabed was finally ready to turn in for bed. Meanwhile, her family was waking up halfway across the world in the West Bank of Palestine.
Alabed began her two-year graduate program at IU in August 2022 to study International Studies. Her mother, three brothers and sister still reside in the West Bank.
Seconds after hitting send on a text to her mother, her phone rang, and her mother's name appeared across the screen.
After minutes of talking, her mother quickly realized Alabed had not been on her phone for hours. She hadn't seen the reports flooding in.
Before they said their goodbyes for the night, her mother said to look at the news and they would talk in the morning.
As soon as she opened social media, the exhaustion left her body, and fear took over.
That night, Alabed lay restless. It wasn't until 6 a.m. that she finally fell asleep.
"I just knew it was going to get worse," Alabed said.
By the time she had woken up in Bloomington, the Israel Defense Forces had already begun its military retaliation in Gaza.
Alabed called her mom that morning of Oct. 8, and they spoke about the conflict. Her mother warned her to stay safe and the environment for Palestinians might also get bad in Indiana. At first, Alabed was not concerned about her own safety, unlike her mother.
Alabed knew it would affect her family back in the West Bank. She was constantly telling her brothers not to go to work or university. She said she knew it wasn't safe for them, not with the existing checkpoints placed around all of Palestine and Israel, and not with the news displaying a growing number of Palestinian deaths.
No matter how hard she tried, she could not calm her mother's nerves. Friends called Alabed and told her to stop worrying her mom. She answered every phone call and reassured her mother she was okay. She took precautions to ensure she was keeping her promise to remain safe. She went out in groups rather than alone. She called or texted her mother to assure her she was attentive.
Alabed understood her mother's concerns, but she didn't share the same fears. Not until attacks against Palestinians began happening around America.
On Oct. 14, a week after the Oct. 7 attack in Israel, police said a 71-year-old landlord in Chicago stabbed and killed a 6-year-old Muslim boy 26 times. Detectives determined that the landlord targeted the young boy and his mother, who was also stabbed at least a dozen times, for being Muslim.
On Nov. 25, a man shot three Palestinian students in Burlington, Vermont, near the campus of the University of Vermont. As they walked down the street wearing keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian scarves, a shooter shot two of them in the torso and one in the lower extremities. The 20-year-olds survived, but one of them was paralyzed from the chest down. Two of the victims said they believe they were targeted for being Palestinian.
Reports and complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate crimes around the U.S. increased by 180% following Oct. 7, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The Council on American Islamic Relations received the highest number of anti-Muslim complaints ever in 2023, according to their website. Alabed said in November she was scared for herself. She was scared to go out on campus and around Bloomington.
She would never let her mother know that, though. She didn't want to worry her any more than she already was. In fact, she didn't tell anyone at home about her fears. By reassuring them that she was okay, she was able to convince herself that nothing would happen to her on campus, even if she was terrified.
In May, Alabed graduated from IU, and she planned to return to the West Bank in early June. Since then, Alabed has not responded to request for comment.
However, she told the IDS in May she had no idea what the Palestine she returns to will look like.
On April 12, she learned that Israeli settlers had entered towns near hers and began killing Palestinians.
Settlers are Israeli citizens living on private Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Settlements are authorized by the Israeli government. As a result of the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel began to establish Israeli communities in the territories they captured, including the West Bank. There are 146 settlements in the West Bank, according to CNN. The majority are built entirely or partially on private Palestinian land, according to Al Jazeera.
According to Reuters, the U.S. said in February new Israeli settlements are inconsistent with international law. Palestinians and the international community view settlements as a violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states “the Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory.”
Ahead of her trip home, she didn’t know what the situation would look like when she returned to Palestine. She constantly wondered if she was making the right decision.
She said she knew the trek home would not be easy or quick. After flying into Jordan, she would be going to the border to enter Palestine. Alabed said she was worried about how long it would take to get home since she has heard the Israeli occupations have been making travel for Palestinians difficult following the beginning of the war.
From the first phone call with her mother in October, she didn’t know what the future would look like for her, her family or her friends in Bloomington. All the fear they faced and still feel every day has weighed on them for the last eight months.
Alabed said she has been involved in IU Palestine Solidarity Committee events throughout the months and has watched students and faculty stand up for Palestinians and against the killings of Palestinians in Gaza.
“It has warmed my heart,” Alabed said. “It has made me feel included.”
However, she also said she missed home. To cope with being away from home, she told stories from her life in Palestine to her friends. It was bittersweet, but telling them made her smile. Throughout the school year, at night, she would cook with olive oil she brought from Palestine, made from the tree that grows outside her family's home. Every day she still wears her keffiyeh, often worn to symbolize Palestine's aspiration for independence.
Yet, despite her uncertainty about what "home" may look like, she never stopped thinking about that olive tree in her front yard or the feeling of her mother's arms wrapped around her.
"As unsafe as it is there, I feel safe there," Alabed said. “Here, you just don’t know if someone has bad intentions towards you.”
She said she was looking forward to finding a job to help Palestinians and refugees when she returned home.
Alabed said they need people like her to step up now more than ever.
“We, as Palestinians, don’t have time to mourn our death,” Alabed said.
