This post was updated April 22 at 5:42 p.m.

Student government officers faced accusations of antisemitism Tuesday after they condemned an on-campus event with an Israeli former hostage.

The Undergraduate Students Association Council passed a letter April 14 alleging that hosting Omer Shem Tov – who was held in captivity in Gaza by Palestinian political party and militant group Hamas for 505 days – on UCLA’s campus created a harmful campus climate for Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students. Internal Vice President Tommy Contreras introduced the letter at the council’s meeting last week.

The Israeli military has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Associated Press. Israel’s attacks followed Palestinian political party and militant group Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, which killed about 1,200 people and during which Shem Tov was kidnapped.

The event – co-organized by Hillel at UCLA, the UCLA Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies and the UCLA chapter of Students Supporting Israel – took place hours before the council approved the letter at its April 14 meeting. General Representative Talia Davood helped organize the event and advertised it on her social media.

Shem Tov, who at the event discussed his time as a hostage, has previously spoken about his experience to students at UC Santa Barbara, Stanford University and other universities. Shem Tov’s event coincided with Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, which honors the six million Jewish people killed in the Holocaust.

Hillel at UCLA and SSI UCLA accused USAC councilmembers of being antisemitic in a joint Instagram statement Tuesday, adding that they believe the event demonstrated humanity in difficult times.

“Members of UCLA student government have once again shown they are anti-dialogue, anti-learning, anti-truth, anti-student, anti-Jewish and antisemitic in condemning our beautiful event last week with Omer Shem Tov,” the groups said in the statement.

All voting members present at USAC’s April 14 meeting passed the letter. President Diego Bollo – who cannot vote on USAC measures except to break ties – as well as Davood, who helped organize the event, were absent from the April 14 meeting. General representatives Jayha Buhs Jackson and Brett Berndt and Transfer Student Representative Hyerim Yoon also did not attend.

The letter alleged that Shem Tov’s lecture sought to justify violence against Palestinians and demonstrated a one-sided narrative that obscured Israeli state violence.

“Universities must not be complicit in the production or amplification of one-sided narratives that erase systems of oppression and occupation,” the members said in the letter. “USAC has, and continues to stand in unwavering solidarity with Palestinian students and all those impacted by state violence and displacement.”

Bollo said in a Wednesday written statement that he did not attend the meeting and was not involved in the letter’s drafting or passing.

Davood alleged at the council’s Tuesday meeting and in an Instagram statement that the letter was purposefully brought up and passed at a meeting that she could not attend.

“It’s disheartening to know that the letter was intentionally presented when I couldn’t be there to provide the transparency and clarity that was being demanded,” Davood said at the meeting. “This approach raises questions as to whether the goal was truly to seek transparency and foster communication.”

Bollo added in the statement that he also believed the letter was intentionally passed at the meeting at which Davood was not present to avoid receiving her input.

UCLA said in a Wednesday press release that the university supported the event. Chancellor Julio Frenk – who has previously spoken about the importance of combatting antisemitism and founded UCLA’s Initiative to Combat Antisemitism – and his wife, Felicia Knaul, attended the event, the press release said.

“The event’s message was one of resilience and respect for human rights and dignity – a message we support,” the university said in the statement. “We stand by UCLA Hillel, UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies and the UCLA chapter of Students Supporting Israel’s invitation to have this very important dialogue.”

UCLA added in the press release that the event was peaceful, adding that USAC’s condemnation was unwarranted and the university would review the letter’s issuing process.

Cultural Affairs Commissioner Divine Trewick alleged at the April 14 meeting that a minimum of 15 police officers accompanied Shem Tov during his visit to campus.

Richard Mejia, the director of emergency communications and information for the Office of Campus and Community Safety, said in an emailed statement that he could not share specific security staffing information for the event.

“UCPD worked in advance with event organizers and campus partners to support the visit and help ensure the safety of all attendees,” Mejia said. “This approach is applied consistently across all events, regardless of the speaker, topic, or content. Our security posture is based on ongoing assessments, and we scale our presence as needed to support a safe environment while allowing events to proceed as planned.”

Trewick, who voted in support of the letter, called for funding transparency about the event from Davood and Hillel at UCLA during the April 14 council meeting. However, Davood denied in her Instagram statement that the event had received funding from her office, UCLA, her personal stipend or the Nazarian Center.

“Today, it brought back the intense surveillance on campus and really made me question where student funds are going to,” Trewick said at the meeting. “I really urge Hillel and Talia, as Gen Rep 1, when she returns to be transparent with how much money they spent on that event, because it is truly unacceptable.”

Trewick was the Cultural Affairs Commission’s chief of staff when it was accused of discriminating against Jewish applicants during hiring decisions.

Trewick and Contreras did immediately respond to requests for comment.

Multiple public commenters spoke out against the USAC letter during the council’s Tuesday meeting, stating that the letter misconstrues the purpose of Shem Tov’s appearance on campus.

Reuben Broudy, a third-year political science student, said at the meeting that the council’s letter does not foster dialogue and instead will create polarization between Jewish and Palestinian students.

“This comment does not unify anyone, it polarizes the situation even more to new extremes we haven’t even seen yet,” Broudy said in a public comment at the meeting.

Davood also said at the meeting that she condemned instances of doxxing – the public release of private identifying information – of students by people outside UCLA. She added in an emailed statement that an X account unrelated to UCLA was responsible for the doxxing and that she wants her fellow officers to be safe but did not immediately respond to a request for comment on which account made the post and whether councilmembers were the target of the doxxing.

Davood added that she believes the proposal of the letter on Holocaust Remembrance Day was blatantly disrespectful and follows historical patterns of antisemitic hatred and violence.

“What left me particularly speechless was the decision to bring this forward on the night of Yom HaShoah, a day dedicated to mourning six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust,” she said at the meeting. “Condemning Omer Shem Tov for sharing his lived experience rooted in the same patterns of antisemitic hatred and violence my community has faced is not only inappropriate but blatantly disrespectful.”