Standing Up // Benny Shaevsky Standing Up to Anti-Semitic Agitators

Your confrontation with those pro-Hamas agitators at the University of Michigan has gone viral. The fact that you stood up to that woman was very heroic. Who was she?
I don’t know her name, but I can tell you the backstory to what happened. There’s a big encampment in the middle of the university’s central campus. It’s already been there for close to three weeks, and it continues to grow in size. They have a large banner that says, “Long Live the Intifada,” and they keep putting up posters accusing the university of being complicit in genocide and saying that Israel is an apartheid state. I’ve taken down a few of them, but there was one in particular that was affixed to a university building, which is in violation of the school’s poster policy. You aren’t allowed to put any posters on university buildings. So I removed the poster, as I confirmed with the police that I was permitted to do. It’s my free expression to take it down just as it’s their free expression to put it up, even though they weren’t allowed to put that one up anyway. I was placing it in the trash when an individual from the encampment approached me with her camera and asked why I was taking down the poster. That’s how the video started.

Was this woman American or Middle Eastern?
She’s white and is definitely not of Middle Eastern descent. She asked me if I was a student, and I confirmed that I was, but when I asked her the same thing, she wouldn’t answer me. She’s certainly not an undergrad. If she is a student, she would have to be a master’s student, but I would say that she’s probably not a student at all. She seems too old for that.

She was the one who was filming you, so I would imagine that she was the person who posted that clip.
Yes. The local chapter of Jewish Voices for Peace—I’m sure you’re familiar with that terrible organization—posted that video on Thursday afternoon. That was the first time I saw it anywhere, so I think they were the original posters. She must be either a member of that organization or sent it to someone who is. They captioned it “Zionist agitator caught taking down poster,” or something along those lines. I knew she was filming the video because she wanted me to say something negative that would make Israel or Jews look bad, so I made sure not to say anything that could be construed as offensive in any way.
After it happened, I really didn’t think she would post it, because all it would do is make their cause look bad, so I was pretty surprised. When they put it on their Instagram, a lot of pro-Israel supporters commented on how it made the Israeli cause look a lot better on campus. There was very little support for the protesters in the comments and a lot of support for me, so they ended up deleting it. But a couple of people on X grabbed the video before they could delete it and posted it there, and that’s when it really went viral. Ambassador David Friedman retweeted it, as did podcaster Dave Rubin and Meghan McCain, John McCain’s daughter. Then a lot of people with large followings on social media started disseminating it and it really spread. Between all the people who posted and reposted it, it probably got around five million views.
In general, the feedback has been very positive. Most people have been very supportive, although there have been some negative and hurtful messages.

Were you surprised by the positive response?
I was. Frankly, I’ve heard from everyone I know and everyone I don’t know. There are hundreds of messages on Instagram that I haven’t even had an opportunity to respond to, thanking me and saying how brave I am. But all I’m doing is using my words. The people in Israel and the IDF are putting their lives on the line. It’s been really nice to hear what a difference I made. Honestly, I wasn’t trying to do anything. It was a small thing.