Rantz: Antisemites held UW building hostage, but will officials finally call this domestic terrorism?

The University of Washington (UW) became the latest stage for an ongoing national disgrace Monday night: A mob of antisemitic, pro-Hamas extremists took over a building and held it hostage in the name of “resistance.” But let’s drop the euphemisms the media loves so much. These weren’t “pro-Palestinian protesters.” This was a textbook example of domestic terrorism fueled by Jew-hate—and UW and Seattle officials are too spineless to say it out loud, let alone really do anything about it.

The Antifa mob, most wearing masks so they’re not fired from their barista jobs for being antisemites, forcibly entered the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building around 4:30 p.m. They barricaded doors, unfurled banners praising Shaban al-Dalou—a Palestinian student who died after an Israeli airstrike against a Hamas command center that terrorists intentionally staged next to a hospital, though Seattle activists don’t seem to mind the Hamas strategy—and locked the university out of its own property. They lit fires, damaged property, and hurled anti-Israel and anti-police invective.

“We are taking this building amidst the current and renewed wave of the student Intifada, following the uprising of student action for Palestine after the heroic victory of Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct. 7, which shattered the illusion of zionist-imperialist domination and brought Palestine to the forefront for all justice-loving people of the world,” the extremists’ manifesto claimed.

This wasn’t a sit-in. This was an insurrection. But in Seattle, if you hide behind the right political slogans, you almost always get a free pass.

SUPER UW extremists celebrate Oct. 7

The club involved in this illegal act? SUPER UW, or Students United for Palestinian Equality & Return. Its members aren’t merely imbeciles with no historical understanding that extends beyond their hatred of Jews. They’re pro-Hamas thugs who have celebrated the Oct. 7 terrorist attack against Israel as justified.

Despite supposedly being suspended by the UW, the group has continued to organize and operate on campus. Would the UW turn the other way if a local KKK group used its campus to promote hate? Of course not. But, hey, the victims here are Jews, and we don’t count as part of the progressive activist class. We’re merely privileged white colonialists. Or something.

The UW knew this illegal occupation was going to happen. SUPER UW and other antisemitic activists didn’t hide their plans or intent. It’s how “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH heard about this inevitability early Monday morning. Rather than stop the hate and destruction, UW leadership let it happen and waited five hours before truly intervening.

Seattle Police could have been asked to intervene immediately. Instead, they tried to “negotiate” with the antisemites. Apparently, we’re still under the illusion that you can negotiate with terrorists. UW is all about de-escalation—even for the modern day manifestation of the new Nazis. I rarely invoke that language, but I struggle to come up with a better name for a group of antisemites who don’t believe in Israel’s right to exist, while rooting for the side that’s mere existence is to slaughter Jews.

Media coverage

And let’s talk about the media.

KOMO, KING 5, and others parroted the same tired narrative, referring to the extremists as “pro-Palestinian protesters.” It’s lazy, dishonest, and dangerous. The Seattle Times calls the extremists “protesters.” If these were white kids in MAGA hats, they’d be immediately labeled white supremacists.

These people weren’t protesting Israeli or U.S. policy—they were glorifying Hamas and trying to force the university to divest from Boeing because the company works with the Israeli government.

They’re not protesting war; they’re demanding Jews have no right to self-defense. Call it what it is: antisemitism wrapped in academic buzzwords.

UW must suspend every student involved

This illegal occupation wasn’t about peace. It wasn’t about Gaza. This was about intimidation, occupation, and pushing an extremist ideology that treats Jews as villains and terrorists as freedom fighters.

Let’s be clear: if UW doesn’t immediately suspend every student involved, if charges aren’t filed for trespassing and property damage, and if a judge doesn’t actually his or her job, then the university, the city, and the criminal justice system is yet again cowering to the New Nazis. Yes, Nazis. When you use violence and threats to push an ideology that demonizes Jews, glorifies terrorism, and silences dissent, you’ve joined that legacy.

A rise in antisemitism in Seattle

Seattle has a choice: Confront the rising tide of antisemitism or surrender to it. For the last two years, the choice has been to surrender or embolden. It’s precisely why Monday night’s occupation happened: They believe they can get away with it.

UW is choosing to surrender until they prove otherwise. And the media? They’re busy making excuses for the extremists, pretending this was some sort of misunderstood act of youthful rebellion by “pro-Palestinian protesters.”

This was an act of hate and lawlessness, plain and simple. And if the UW and the city don’t treat it that way, they’re not just complicit—they’re ensuring that it happens again.

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