COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Jewish students at Ohio State University are raising their voices against antisemitism days after one of the Jewish fraternities on campus filed a report, alleging two people yelled antisemitic slurs and threw bottles at their house. 

It’s the latest in a string of antisemitism acts since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October.

Dozens of students from Jewish organizations gathered Tuesday to stand up to antisemitism, holding signs that carried messages like, “No place for hate at Ohio State.”

Organizers said the gathering was planned weeks before the antisemitic incident at the fraternity house happened. The men who experience that hate firsthand said it makes it that much more important for them to be here today. 

“We didn’t think it would be us who were the who were the victims of it,” Daniel Brener, president of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, said.

Brener said members of his fraternity came face-to-face with hate at their off-campus house on Sunday.

“At about 5:30 in the morning, two guys were walking outside the house, one had a mask on and some of the people inside the house said that they heard antisemitic phrases being yelled at the house and then some loud banging noises, which we then believe to be items being thrown at the house,” Brener said.

Brener said he’s seen other antisemitic acts around the campus area. In November, police said two students were assaulted near High Street and the Hillel center was vandalized. But Brener said now this feels even more real.

“It’s definitely hurtful,” he said. “It’s always hurtful to see any time any Jewish student is targeted for who they are.”

Brener said the men who live at the house reported the incident to Columbus police and are working to find those responsible.

“You can’t be intimidated by actions of antisemitism; you got to stay true to your values,” Brener said.

Standing strong is exactly what they are doing. The members of AEPi were at the “Stand Up Against Antisemitism” gathering, joined by members of other fraternities, Schottenstein Chabad House, and Hillel. 

“Personally, I feel like this is just a time for us to stand up tall and proud and to say we are not ashamed and to say we are excited to come together and be proud of who we are,” Batya Deitsch, the freshmen engagement coordinator at the Schottenstein Chabad House, said.

Deitsch said Tuesday’s gathering was all about unity. 

“I want to empower Jews to know that they’re not alone,” Beitsch said. “I want to empower the Jewish community here at Ohio State to know that we have each other.”

They say Hanukkah starts in a few days – which celebrates light prevailing over darkness – so it feels right to do this now.