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At the University of Texas at Austin, attendees of an annual Israel block party faced disruptions from anti-Israel protesters on Wednesday afternoon.
The Israel Block Party has been a tradition organized by Texas Hillel at UT Austin for 25 years.
Blake Shanberg, a junior at the University of Texas, said the students were just trying to celebrate their culture.
“You’ll find that students here aren’t aiming to spread hate,” said Shanberg. “We’re simply wanting to enjoy ourselves and celebrate. Our goal is to demonstrate that peaceful coexistence is attainable.”
The protesters also voiced demands for the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian student from Columbia University, who was prominent in leading large scale protests at the Ivy League institution last year. (Fox News)
The anti-Israel protesters were also calling to free Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student from Syria, who led massive protests on the Ivy League campus last year. Khalil is now held at an ice detention facility in Louisiana and is in the middle of a legal battle with the Trump administration who is pushing to get him deported.
Protests remained peaceful with campus police and staff on site monitoring both groups.
Last April, over 100 anti-Israel protesters were arrested on UT Austin campus and police had to use pepper spray to break up the massive crowds.
