By Chris Jennewein
Times of San Diego
LA JOLLA, California — A Jewish student organization at UC San Diego said Sunday an Instagram video showing students leaving a building amid an anti-Israel protest is real, despite an earlier denial by the university.
Hillel San Diego said the video circulating on social media was taken by a student during a Nov. 1 meeting on campus.
“The video being circulated is an unaltered video from a protest that occurred while Jewish students at UCSD spoke about rising antisemitism on campus during an Associated Students meeting on Nov. 1,” Hillel said in a statement.
The organization said some of the protesters were carrying flags of Al Qaeda, the terrorist group that attacked the World Trade Center on 9/11, creating a hostile environment.
As a result, some of the students at the meeting received a police escort back to the Hillel center off campus.
UC San Diego issued a statement Saturday that an evacuation did not take place, posting on X (formerly known as Twitter, “UC San Diego Police are aware of a video circulating on social media that says a building was evacuated where Jewish students had gathered to discuss antisemitic threats. Police report no such action took place.”
However, on Sunday the university clarified that the video is real, but reiterated that police did not evacuate the building.
“In our prior statement based on the information that we had at the time, we incorrectly stated that the video had been edited into another video,” the university said.
Hillel said that antisemitism is rising on the UC San Diego campus and in society, but said the organization would “remain a safe and welcoming space for Jewish students.”
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Preceding republished from Times of San Diego, with which San Diego Jewish World trades stories under auspices of the San Diego Online News Association.