Days after posters of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas were posted on and around USC’s campus, demonstrators and DPS officials were filmed removing them.
ATVN reported Thursday several students from the USC Chabad House put up those posters on and around campus. The posters were placed around Jefferson Avenue, 28th Street, Troy Hall and other locations around campus.
The posters are missing signs of people captured by Hamas, a militant group and U.S.-designated terrorist organization, during their surprise attack against Israel on October 7. The signs list the name, age and pictures of the victims. They also urge the reader to “please help bring them home alive.”
In a video posted to USC Chabad’s Instagram story Thursday night, two individuals were filmed taking down and throwing away posters of the hostages held by Hamas.
The video was filmed near University Avenue at the front of the school. Posters were put up on street lamps and bus stop benches.
In the video, two individuals with a bag full of crunched-up posters are confronted about taking down the posters.
The video, which received national attention, shows the following interaction:
“Excuse me, why are you taking those off? Why are you taking those off?”
“Because it’s causing the conflict to be worse…”
“My friends are one of those 200 people and you’re taking them off.”
“And that’s sad but I don’t see how that helps the conflict. People are just killing each other more and more.”
In a separate video obtained by Annenberg Media, a Department of Public Safety officer was also seen taking down posters that were on campus. In a university statement, a representative said that the university was enforcing its policy outlined in the USC Student Handbook.
The university “[applies] that policy consistently, without regard to the content of the flyers,” according to the representative.
The posters are part of the international movement #KidnappedFromIsrael. Nitzan Mintz and Dede Bandaid, two Israeli artists from Tel Aviv, created the project and its accompanying website, which features testimonials from families affected by the kidnappings and a list of 203 of Hamas’ hostages.
“We want people to pass by and look and understand that this is real… we’re talking about real people being held captive,” Bandaid said in an interview with Annenberg Media. “We’re talking about people: Babies and toddlers, men, women, grandparents… being held by militant people with guns.”
Rabbi Dov Wagner, who runs the Rohr Chabad Jewish Center at USC, called the teardown of the posters “an attempt to erase the value of human beings.”
“This isn’t a political statement; these people are being held hostage,” he said.
Junior Andrew Turquie said he was disappointed by the removals.
“I was quite upset. I felt like our community wasn’t being supported again. I felt like you were using university policies or guidelines per se to put down the Jewish community,” Turquie said.
On Instagram, USC Hillel put out a message regarding the posters getting taken down.
“The intent of the students who posted these flyers was to draw attention to the tragedy of these 200 Israeli hostages,” the message read. “We will not allow them to be erased. These are our friends and our family, and we are praying for their safe return”
Innocent lives are being lost on both sides of the war, which further calls for empathy and kindness from the student body, according to Wagner. However, “rather than hearing and empathizing with each other, it just seems that things are being erased to the loudest voice,” he said.
Wagner said that the USC community should focus on exhibiting resilience and strength. Students can come together to connect and bring positivity to each other during these times, and while community members may not reach a consensus at the moment, they can, “at the very least, not call for the erasure of the other,” he said.
“It’s important for people all over to pause a little bit before saying something,” Wagner said. “Is it achieving something? Is it bringing light to the world, or are you just trying to bring someone else down?”