UCLA Student Gov't Calls Appearance by a Surviving Israeli Hostage Omer Shem Tov a "One-Sided Narrative"

Omer Shem Tov was kidnapped by Hamas at the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023 and held hostage for 505 days. 

Since his release over a year ago, Shem Tov has been telling his story and making public appearances. Last May, he even got to throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park.

Earlier this month, Shem Tov spoke at UCLA. 

Following the event, UCLA's student government condemned his visit to campus. The Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC) issued a statement which read:

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

Perhaps the USAC would have preferred that UCLA had invited Shem Tov's Hamas captors to speak on campus and regale them with tales of kidnapping, rape and murder.

Now that one would have been a one-sided narrative.

For his part, Shem Tov has issued a statement of his own:

If you are willing to silence a survivor of 505 days in captivity to protect a preconceived narrative, it’s worth pausing.

When a worldview requires you to override your own values, something is misaligned. The hope is that it’s the worldview that changes — because the values are worth keeping.

Alas, when a group of people see fit to condemn a man who was the victim of unspeakable violence it is a demonstration that they have no value system other than hatred and contempt of Jews. In their eyes, Jews are subhuman and thus Shem Tov is unworthy of any compassion and sympathy.

You are either with the hostages, or you are with Hamas. UCLA's student government has chosen Hamas.