It shook me to my core to see the poster of four-year-old Ariel Bibas torn down in USC Village after I had hung it up earlier this month. Without any remorse, someone ripped his picture in half, from his red hair to his gentle grin. Bibas was living a happy life in Kibbutz Nir Oz before he was kidnapped and taken hostage by Hamas militants along with his 10-month-old brother Kfir and his mother Shiri. Ariel was just one of more than 240 innocent Israelis.

For the past three weeks, I have been disheartened and disgusted. I’ve walked around USC’s campus, USC Village, Fraternity Row and other places, seeing countless Israeli hostage posters shredded into pieces as if the victims don’t exist. As if their loved ones aren’t enduring sleepless nights wondering where they are or if they are even alive. As a Jewish student, to see this happening on my campus — on our campus — is quite frightening and demoralizing.

To everyone who is committing these hateful acts, I want you to know: It is not resistance to senselessly take down posters of Israeli hostages. It is neither a political discussion, nor is it activism.

It is antisemitism.          

Public data from the Los Angeles Police Department shows that between Oct. 7 and Oct. 30, there were 250% more recorded antisemitic hate crimes in L.A. than there were during the same period last year. Not to mention the death of Jewish protester Paul Kessler, 69, in Thousand Oaks, after being allegedly struck in the head by a pro-Palestinian protester with a megaphone.

Sadly, this antisemitism is not just a USC and L.A. issue. It is a nationwide epidemic.

According to the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism, “incidents of harassment, vandalism and assault increased by 388% over the same period last year.” Between Oct. 7 and Oct. 23, ADL recorded 312 instances of antisemitism, of which 190 had a direct connection to the conflict in Israel and Gaza.

At Boston University, there was a similar incident to USC where someone was seen taking down signs in public. In addition, a dentist in Florida lost his job when a video of him destroying posters of kidnapped Israelis went viral.

However, at USC, there has been no punishment for those who mindlessly rip down posters of babies and Holocaust survivors who were abducted by Hamas. For context on Hamas, the Oct. 7 attack “did not seek to improve the situation in Gaza,” said senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya. “This battle is to completely overthrow the situation,” and by the situation, he means the Jewish state.

The posters are put up with the intention of preventing captured Israeli loved ones from being forgotten. The people who are tearing them down are committing a hate crime, per California law, and should be reprimanded either by the University or the LAPD.

And for those who are saying: “This happened over a month ago, why are you still talking about it?” or “Why doesn’t the Israeli government agree to a ceasefire?” Well, it’s the same reason why thousands of Jews, like myself, are putting up posters on campuses, streetlights and subway entrances. More than 240 Israelis were forcefully taken from their families by Hamas on Oct. 7 and just four have been released.

I am pro-peace and don’t wish for the death of any innocent Palestinians, but a ceasefire cannot occur until the hostages are released. You can hold space for the Israeli hostages and for Palestinian civilians. We should be working together to save both from the threat of Hamas.

If more than 3,000 Americans had been wounded, beaten and brutally slaughtered by a terrorist group and over 240 of them taken hostage, would our government sit idly by while they were being tortured?

I don’t think so. At least I sure hope not.

Many of us Jewish students, having family and friends in Israel, are still grieving the events of Oct 7. Yet, we still have to deal with combating antisemitism on campus.

Throughout my life I have faced my fair share of antisemitism: from having coins thrown at me to being told to “go sit in an oven.” When I came to USC, I thought it would be different. I thought I would be able to step on campus without being afraid to be Jewish.

However, we will not hide and sit in silence in the face of antisemitism. We cannot. Because if we don’t stand up and defend ourselves as Jews, no one will. For every poster torn down, we will put up a dozen more. Like so many Jewish students at this institution, I am proud to be Jewish and will continue to bring awareness to the Israeli hostages until they are returned home safely.