Wherever anti-Israel campus protesters are at their most chaotic, there also goes Sean Feucht.
The Christian worship leader hosted a “Unite for Israel” march and rally Wednesday night outside the University of Southern California, where officials have shut down the campus to outsiders after clearing out a pro-Palestinian camp ahead of this week’s graduation festivities.
“We want this to be a display of unity with church leaders, Jewish leaders, Catholics, politicians — we’re going to come together and say that we’re not going to stand for antisemitism, the rot that’s on the campuses of America,” Mr. Feucht told ABC7 in Los Angeles.
The crowd of about 200 marchers at Exposition Park across the street from the campus waved American and Israeli flags while chanting “bring them home,” a reference to the hostages still held by Hamas after the Oct. 7 slaughter of Israeli civilians.
The event came a few weeks after Mr. Feucht led a “Unite for Israel” gathering outside the gates of Columbia University at the height of the anti-Israel unrest on the Manhattan campus.
Both Columbia and USC have closed their campuses and canceled their main-stage commencement over concerns about protest unrest, opting instead for small-school ceremonies and gatherings.
Supporters of the “Unite for Israel” rally included the Concerned Women for America.
“We stand with Israel and against the demonic forces that would try to destroy its people, including the hateful identity Marxists on college campuses,” said CWA President Penny Nance. “We call on the president and world leaders to stand with our ally in this war and to focus on getting hostages home.”
USC : Hundreds of Pro Israel supporters are currently marching around the school in show of solidarity for Israel, weeks after the school shut down the campus Pro Palestine encampment. pic.twitter.com/2BU5HyO2uB
— Anthony Cabassa (@AnthonyCabassa_) May 9, 2024
Mr. Feucht had planned to hold a worship service Sunday at the Mall of America in Minnesota, but the shopping center nixed the idea, prompting him and his supporters to hold a march outside the mall.
The “Unite for Israel” rally at USC went off without incident, but that doesn’t mean the university is free from strife.
USC’s Academic Senate, which represents the faculty, voted 21-7 Wednesday to censure USC President Carol Folt and Provost Andrew Guzman over their handling of the protests and graduation, including the decision to cancel the speaking slot of valedictorian Asna Tabassum.
The Muslim student had drawn pushback over a three-year-old Instagram post in which she accused Israel of “a racist settler-colonial ideology” and called for the “complete abolishment” of Israel, but critics condemned the decision as a free-speech infringement.