Hundreds to counter anti-Semitic protest

When picketers from the Westboro Baptist Church arrive on the Banks Wednesday at 8:45 a.m., Rutgers Hillel plans to greet them with a sea of red.
The Jewish student organization is joining with other organizations around campus to counterprotest the Kansas-based anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic and anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church, which is scheduled to picket outside Hillel House for 30 minutes.
“In the face of this kind of assault, we will not stand idly by,” said Student Board President Hilary Neher on behalf of Hillel. “We join with our brothers and sisters at Rutgers — across ethnic, religious and gender lines — to condemn the blind hatred spewed by these people.”
Neher said anyone is welcome to join the Hillel event as long as they work to make it safe and do not bring offensive signage that will provoke the group.
“The event will likely consist of songs and readings from different students and student groups on campus,” Neher said.
At press time, about 2,400 people have indicated they will attend the counterprotest on Hillel’s Facebook event, which is not the only event on Facebook. 
Hillel plans to gather outside of their building, located at 93 College Ave., at 8:30 a.m. and is encouraging people to wear red University apparel in solidarity.
Students began to organize counterprotests after the news of the protest was published, Neher said.
“At that point, we realized that Hillel had a choice,” Neher said. “Either we could close our door and go about business as usual with many different disjointed groups of students protesting outside our building, or we could make the decision to act in hopes not only of combating the message of hate, but of unifying our campus in a way that has not been done in a long time.”
The Rutgers University Student Assembly unanimously approved a resolution at their Thursday night meeting, supporting Hillel and calling for students to unite against hate speech.
“RUSA supports Rutgers Hillel, as well as the Jewish community as a whole in addition to [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender], Catholic and other communities targeted by the Westboro Baptist Church’s messages,” said RUSA Chair Werner Born, reading from the resolution.
Neher said Hillel was very grateful the RUSA passed the resolution.
“It shows a great deal of support and helps us in our aims of uniting the University community,” Neher said.
About 10 protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church, which is known for protesting at funerals of American servicemen, are expected to protest outside Hillel, said Shirley Phelps-Roper, a member and attorney for the group.
The group is scheduled to protest at 11 other New Jersey locations on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to their Web site. Prior to coming to the University, the group is scheduled to protest outside New Brunswick Public High School.
There is some concern about the size of the event at the University, and New Brunswick police officers will be present, said RUSA Legislative Affairs Chair John Aspray, a School of Arts and Sciences junior.
He said many places chose not to counterprotest the group, but that is not the sentiment among many at the University.
Born, a School of Engineering senior, encouraged members of the community to remain calm.
“It’s important for everyone to know that these people make all their money by suing people,” Born said. “If you do go to this event, if you participate in anything that goes on that day [it’s important that you remain peaceful].”
Students should avoid talking to the members of the Westboro Baptist Church because these efforts will not change the group’s opinions, Born said.
“Some time ago at Rutgers, there was a similar instance where a group came to protest gays and lesbians on campus and [the University] to something very similar to this,” Born said. “[The University] told the group that anyone wearing jeans was ignoring [the group].”
Hillel
Other religious groups around campus have also voiced their support of Rutgers Hillel and opposition to the Westboro Baptist Church.   
“Jesus was not someone who would want people to be bantered and to be called names and to be told that ‘God hates you,’” said Community Group Coordinator for Campus Crusade for Christ Sarah Nitchman, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences junior. “For me, that’s totally the opposite of what Christianity is all about and to see groups like the Hillel being targeted in that way, with this totally negative, unloving methodology, it just nauseates me. … It’s just not right.”
Campus Crusade for Christ wants to support Hillel and all of the groups targeted to show that the University is united against the message of the Westboro Baptist Church, said Co-President Andrew Yassa, a junior in the School of Engineering.