Saying the administration has let them down, Jewish students at the University of Denver have formed a "first responder" squad to defend and protect themselves from Pro-Palestinian protests who, they believe, have become increasingly threatening.

A rally on the steps of the DU administration building on Friday was the first step toward taking matters into their own hands, they said. 

It also marked a new stage in the drama unfolding across several universities in Colorado, where activists — some of them not students, officials claimed — have set up encampments and occupied buildings, though they have avoided the violent clashes with the police that have occurred elsewhere in the country.

The activists are demanding that universities "divest" from Israeli companies, a move that is tantamount to an economic sanction. University officials said this demand, along with many others, are beyond their control.     

The Jewish students said they are forming a safety patrol, which will give them the option to travel back to their dorm with company, especially if they have to walk past the encampment after dark. 

They will carry flashlights and pepper spray, but emphasized the tools are a last resort they hope to never use. 

The first pro-Palestinian encampment in Denver emerged three weeks ago on the Auraria campus, which is shared by the Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver and the University of Colorado Denver.

More than 200 hundred protesters — including students — occupied the Auraria campus, chanting slogans that included “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

The river is the Jordan River and the sea is the Mediterranean, between which lie Israel and the Palestinian territories. Palestinian activists say it’s a call for peace and equality after 75 years of Israeli statehood and military occupation.

Jewish students at DU — and Jews elsewhere — hear a clear demand for Israel’s annihilation.

"They all — when asked, 'What does that mean to you?' — have some interpretation of the slogan, as if there isn't a meaning of the slogan," one of the student organizers said. "(It means) let's entirely remove Israel from the map and make it Palestine, not have a two-state solution and live in peace."

"It makes me feel like I have to come out here and defend the only homeland that we have, even though I think I speak for most of us when I say that we don't entirely agree with Netanyahu or the Israeli government," he said.

Another student, Jack Fingeroot, said he hated seeing a war but couldn't imagine ending a war without seeing the hostages returned. He made a comparison to the Iran Hostage Crisis of the late 1970s and how Americans were enraged at the idea of the hostages not coming home. 

The Denver Police Department swept the Auraria encampment on April 26 and made arrests. Since then, university officials have described deteriorating conditions at the campus, as the pro-Palestinian activists became more emboldened.

In the last few days, the activists have destroyed the sod in the quad and trashed an office, said the officials, who also noted the graffiti and vandalism in the area. Homeless people have moved into the encampment, which has grown to 110 “structures” on the quad, they said, adding that cancelled events have cost the campus nearly $300,000.  

Meanwhile, the first tents were erected at DU — a private university — last week on the Carnegie Green quad.

DU officials have decided to allow the encampment under, they said, strict conditions. They have also been eyeing disciplinary action against protesters who fail to comply with campus policy, adding they have seen instances of antisemitism from the encampment.

"In addition, we have become aware of a video containing remarks made by a professor while engaged with the protest encampment on campus," DU Chancellor Jeremy Haefner said in a statement. "While we support freedom of expression, some of the professor's remarks crossed a line."

The very same day, a Jewish student was called a "Nazi" by one of the protesters, the students said. 

Nazi Germany systematically hunted down and murdered six million Jews and other minorities during World War II.

Being called a "Nazi" is one more instance of the name calling Jews have had to endure throughout history, the Jewish students said.

The students also denounced the student body president, who called the events in Gaza a "holocaust." The Jewish students said it's a "war" — not the systematic extermination of a people. Pro-Palestinian activists have accused the Israeli government of "genocide," while supporters of Israel's response argued that Hamas, which killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped more than 250 people on Oct. 7, is deliberately using the Palestinian population as a human shield, even as Israeli forces have sought to minimize casualties.   

Haefner said any students who feel discriminated against or harassed should report the experience immediately to The Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX through an online portal. 

Jewish students at DU, who still have one more month of classes before graduation, expressed worries over what the future of the encampment holds now that other students have graduated. They said they attempted to engage student administrators and asked campus safety officers to check the IDs of people entering the encampment, but so far, they claimed, this has fallen on deaf ears.  

"We just want this to go away and we want stricter protocols," Jaiden Skinner said. "(DU has to figure) out ways that we can just get the encampment off campus and ensure safety for everyone, not just the Jewish students."

This week, Haefner, Provost Mary Clark and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Todd Adams said that, despite efforts to "promote free expression, engage in listening, and maintain safety, the situation has continued with intentional disregard for university policy and a troubling increase in reports of unacceptable behavior, including antisemitism and disruption."

DU officials also said they would require a "visual check" of university IDs and clarified the security step won't be used for "punitive" purposes. They added that, throughout the weekend, they have "various instances of noncompliance from encampment participants, including refusal to show university-issued ID upon request."

Noncompliance, they warned, could result in a suspension.

Adam Rovner, an associate professor of English and Jewish literature and who serves as the director of the Center of Judaic Studies, said he walked out of a meeting with DU administration.

He said he spent 45 fruitless minutes with leadership but that, because of their inaction, students must self-organize and stand up for themselves. 

"These are not whining students, much like our campers out there in the Instagram Intifada. These are students who are being mature and direct and standing taller," he said. 

Reporters Noah Festenstein and Nico Brambila contributed to this report. 

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct quotes that were incorrectly attributed to Jack Fingeroot.