Protesters yell antisemitic chants during demonstration at Emory University, president says

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Some Jewish students at Emory University said they don’t feel safe after a group chanted antisemitic slogans during a demonstration Wednesday.

Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen was at the university Thursday, where Emory’s president has denounced what happened.

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About three dozen people organized by the campus chapter of the Stop Cop City movement gathered Wednesday afternoon. The group is opposed to the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.

The group was protesting the university’s financial ties to the training center and also demanding the university condemn the deaths of Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war.

Some involved in the protest shouted chants and slogans that university officials said were antisemitic, including a chant that has been adopted by Hamas, which the U.S. labels a terrorist organization.

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University President Gregory Fenves issued a statement, writing:

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“Throughout the event, antisemitic phrases and slogans were repeatedly used by speakers and chanted by the crowd,” Fenves wrote. “I cannot be more clear — this kind of rhetoric has no place at Emory. I am appalled by this behavior. It violates our core values, particularly our commitment to creating an inclusive environment for all who learn, work, and live on our campuses.”

Fenves said that the “terrorist atrocities and ensuing war in Israel and Gaza have horrified us all.”

Now, some Jewish students on campus said they don’t feel safe.

Morgan Ames is the president of the Emory Eagles for Israel. She said that in her four years at the school, she’s never seen anything like the protest happen. Now, she’s worried it could happen again.

“I was at home, because I didn’t feel safe on campus with everything going on,” Ames said. “I appreciate President Fenves’ immediate response. I think everything he said was absolutely true. I think, unfortunately, there are students who don’t care.”

Jewish leaders in Atlanta are calling on all Georgia colleges and universities to take steps to ensure the safety of Jewish students.

Metro Atlanta student back home after she and more than 100 students escaped war zone in Israel

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