Two years after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that started the Israel-Hamas war, Pittsburgh communities are organizing and adjusting to the ongoing political tensions.
In the months following the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks, Pitt, along with many universities across the world, has seen a rise in tensions surrounding the conflict. Since 2023, Pitt’s campus has been the site of numerous protests including two “Palestine solidarity encampments” and a “Week of Rage.” Last year, Pitt also saw two separate physical attacks against Jewish students. Two years later, division is still present on Pitt’s campus — but has eased up this semester, according to some student organizations.
During the Oct. 7 attacks, 1,200 people — mostly Israeli civilians — were killed, and 251 people were taken hostage. Currently, 48 hostages remain in Gaza, 26 of whom are publicly confirmed to be dead. The Gaza Health Ministry estimates 65,000 Palestinians have been killed in the two years since the war began. In September, a UN Commission on Israel and Palestine declared that Israeli forces have committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The 2024 attacks against Jewish students at Pitt shook various on-campus Jewish organizations, but have since led to an increased sense of community, according to Olivia Shaw, a senior media and professional communications major and the president of Hillel at Pitt.
Shaw joined Hillel at Pitt during her first year. After the Oct. 7 attacks, which occurred during Shaw’s sophomore year, she joined Hillel’s executive board to make a “change” on campus.
“I felt like I needed to be involved in making Jewish student life a more safe, welcoming and supportive place,” Shaw said.
The rise of antisemitism on campus and around the world is one of the “frightening” long-term consequences of the war, according to Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, the founding director of the Center for Governance and Markets and a professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.
“I think we are in a new phase in the United States, in Europe and around the world, where Jews are being attacked — even on our campus — for their identity, about a war that’s happening halfway around the world,” Murtazashvili said.
Murtazashvili, who grew up in Pittsburgh, said she has been shocked to see the major increase in local antisemitism.
“I’m from Pittsburgh. I grew up here. I never thought I would see the kind of antisemitism that has been unleashed in the past two years,” Murtazashvili said. “As a consequence of this war, antisemitism has gone mainstream — things that were once taboo are now being talked about openly on the right and the left. And this is not just a political problem. This is a social illness.”
After numerous politically-charged conflicts on campus last year, Pitt ranked 219 out of 257 colleges in Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s annual Free Speech Report, constituting a “failing grade” for campus free speech. One of the primary reasons for the ranking was a “widespread unease about speaking up,” the report said.
Murtazashvili commented on the impact that the conflict has had on open dialogues at Pitt.
“I’ve seen a lot of faculty and students who are very strident in their activism, but not as open to having conversations with people who disagree with them,” Murtazashvili said. “Threats to our democracy are coming from us and our inability to listen to each other. You can’t have civil discourse unless you have viewpoint diversity.”
Hayley Rizor, a sophomore theatre major, has noticed tension on campus when it comes to expressing opinions about the conflict.
“I think because of the concern [for safety], people are expressing their opinions and views in other ways,” Rizor said. “I feel like it’s a very unfortunate thing that’s happening that people aren’t being able to express their views.”
In March, following a Hillman Library sit-in — which the University alleged was organized by Pitt’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine — the Office of Student Conduct initiated a conduct hearing against SJP, leading to their interim suspension. Following a federal judge’s ruling in September, SJP’s suspension was lifted.
“The reinstatement is monumental,” a Pittsburgh Palestine Coalition representative said. “Efforts to contain [free speech] and shut it away are fundamentally incompatible with sources of freedom that Americans value.”
Some students viewed the six-month long suspension of the club as an “aggressive move” by the University, including Maggie Megosh, a sophomore theatre and psychology major.
“They disbanded the club just because of things that certain club members were doing that weren’t necessarily reflecting the entire group, but I don’t know the whole situation,” Megosh said.
Even some students who aren’t actively involved in any political or religious groups are concerned about the conflict, including Sara Kulkarni, a sophomore psychology major.
“It’s just something that’s always in the back of your mind,” Kulkami said.
Over the past two years, multiple organizations across Pittsburgh have organized rallies and protests in response to the Israel-Hamas war, including Jewish Voice for Peace, the Pittsburgh BDS Coalition and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. One of the largest rally-organizers has been the Pittsburgh Palestine Coalition, who said Pittsburgh “has been receptive and in solidarity with Palestinian people.”
“Organizing around [the] cause is to everyone’s benefit,” a Coalition representative said. “Generally, I think the impact has been positive.”
The Coalition’s primary focus is organizing resources, increasing public awareness and coordinating demonstrations of advocacy throughout the city of Pittsburgh and showing support for Middle Eastern communities, according to the Coalition representative. Over the past two years, the Coalition representative said they have supported SJP’s actions and plans a “continuing relationship” with the student group.
“[We are] firmly in support of the students and are there for them in whatever capacity they require,” the representative said.
In the most recent ongoing developments, the Israel-Hamas conflict reached the closest point towards potential peace with a U.S.-lead 20-step plan for the return of Israeli hostages and a subsequent withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. However, Hamas has requested changes to the proposed plan, so implementation and timeline of the peace plan remains unclear.
When it comes to feasibility of the plan, there is both skepticism and hope in communities, according to Barbara Burstin, an adjunct professor in history who specializes in the Holocaust and Pittsburgh Jewish history.
“It’s an aspirational plan — it’s not an operational plan,” Burstin said. “I think there is hope, but what Hamas will do and how this will unfold and how long it will take is still unclear.”
Murtazashvili commented on the possibility for peace with this potential plan.
“We have to hope for the people of Gaza who have been through hell, the people of Israel, who have suffered terrorism at the hands of Hamas for decades,” Murtazashvili said.
Murtazashvili discussed that, in her experience studying war, the biggest challenge is finding a plan for “the day after [the conflict ends].”
“The question of Gaza is just, how do you rebuild?” Murtazashvili said.