MINNEAPOLIS — Fadwa Wazwaz attended a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Minnesota recently and intentionally took a picture with a Jewish attendee to show they could coexist despite the war in the Gaza Strip.

"This has to stop," Wazwaz, a Palestinian U employee, said of the violence.

Jewish student Jon Greenspan felt unnerved a couple weeks ago when his group, holding Israeli flags and pictures of people taken hostage by Hamas, was surrounded by a few dozen people.

He worried what might happen to Jewish students if no one spoke out and decided "that fear completely outweighs any other fears I have standing up for myself."

The war between Israel and Hamas, unfolding thousands of miles away, has reinvigorated a wave of activism on college campuses in Minnesota and across the nation. More than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at Columbia University, prompting the Ivy League school to cancel in-person classes and religious leaders to encourage Jewish students to celebrate Passover elsewhere. That spurred a flurry of other demonstrations across the country.

Protests in Minnesota have been less disruptive, though nine people were arrested for trespassing at the U earlier this week. And the issue hovers over many aspects of university life.

"These are really fraught times," said Macalester College President Suzanne Rivera.

The last six months have corresponded with what the U.S. Department of Education has described as an "alarming nationwide rise" in complaints of antisemitism and Islamophobia since Oct. 7. On that day, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel that killed an estimated 1,200 people and resulted in hundreds being taken hostage. Israel responded by invading the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian death toll has now surpassed 34,000, according to statistics released by the United Nations.

College leaders find themselves facing renewed pressure to protect free speech rights while ensuring students' safety — and lamenting that two values they have long held dear are increasingly being pitted against each other.

"Most people will tell you they believe in the importance of free speech and that they believe free expression is important on college campuses, right up until they hear a word they don't like," Rivera said. "And then, at that point, it seems like there is an urge to expect presidents and other leaders to step in and limit free expression."

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