A student from the Palestinian Solidarity Committee protests against the Israeli Block Party on April 2, 2025.
At least 40 people, including students, faculty and community members, gathered at the intersection of Speedway and 21st Avenue on Wednesday to protest the 25th Israeli Block Party, which celebrated Israeli and Jewish culture in front of Gregory Gym.
According to Celebration Organizer Texas Hillel, the event is the largest Israeli event on North American campuses this year. The event featured an exhibition at the Jewish Museum, which highlighted Jewish history, provided food, and honored the victims of the Hamas attacks in Israel from October 7, 2023.
“The Israeli Block Party is an opportunity to introduce my students to Israeli culture and history,” Junior Jared Levy, co-chair of the Israeli Block Party, said in a news release. “We look forward to welcoming students across campus to participate in our celebrations and engage in thoughtful learning.”
The Block Party also featured a market where Texas Hillel volunteers sold kosher candies along with other cultural foods such as curry, hummus and Israeli salads.
“(My favorite thing here) is to eat really tasty food (and) I can eat a lot of things I eat as a kid when I visit my family,” said acting Nama Ozeri.
The Palestinian Solidarity Committee organized protests against the Bullock Party as part of the Palestinian Resistance Week. This is a series of events held to raise awareness of collective action in support of Palestine.
The protesters held signs that read “There’s nothing here to celebrate,” and the protesters expressed their dissatisfaction with the “Zionist exhibition” on campus.
“This kind of event appears to exist in front of us as a form of Zionist propaganda, which was intended to erase the crimes of the Israeli state while at the same time erasing Palestinian identity,” the protest chairperson said.
UT students and protesters from PSC asked them to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation, but said among their concerns there is the cultural diversion of traditional symbols related to Palestinian culture, such as poppy flowers. They said the impact of the Israel-Hamas War was personal to many students and members of the community.
“Our message is that genocide is still ongoing two years from now,” the protesters said. “There are still people dying. Many of our campuses have families who have passed away. Many of them have dead friends. And seeing Zionism on our campus, this big exhibit, the largest in the US on a university campus, is frankly disliked.”
Vignesh Vasan, a graduate student in technology and commercialization, said he thought the protest was peaceful but expressed concern to law enforcement agencies mobilized to respond to monitor the situation.
“I think there’s freedom of speech on campus. … Can you deal with the consequences of what you’re saying, and are you actually doing something positive about that voice?” Versan said.
At least three UTPD officers were facing a block party in front of the McCombs business school. At least four additional officers lined up at the speedway to monitor the events of the protest. At least three members of the event preparation and response team observed the protesters and informed the university’s policies.
Karma Chavez, a professor of Mexican-American and Latina/O research, said there was support from some members of UT faculty towards pro-Palestinian activities, but the conditions for free speech on campus have deteriorated since the university’s administrative response to the April 2024 protests. Law enforcement arrested more than 150 peopleAlthough the district attorney’s office later dropped some of their charges.
“We have realized that the administration is willing to reach the caves for right-wing extremists who have a lot of money from donors and elected officials, and that despite what they say, protecting students is not their priority,” Chavez said. “This is all happening in the name of the fight against anti-Semitism, but that’s a false premise because the Palestinian movement is not anti-Semitism.”
Both groups remained peaceful, but some participants at the block party felt that they had hampered the cultural celebration. Texas Hillel said they were unaware of the opposition protest and declined to comment further.
“That’s certainly a double standard. We’re not making anything out of it,” Ozeri said. “Protesting people’s identities is not a good expression if you’re trying to make the point.”
