September 22, 2026
This column appeared in the Austin American-Statesman.
Starting this weekend, Jewish communities around the world will celebrate Sukkot. This eight-day festival is rooted in the Jewish value of hachnasat orchim — welcoming guests and extending hospitality to friends and strangers alike.
Disturbingly, in the midst of this holiday, many Jewish students at the University of Texas will feel explicitly unwelcome as a student organization plans to host a Sept. 30 speech by controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker. (As of this writing, it is unclear whether organizers will find a venue to handle the anticipated crowd.)
With more than 3 million followers on the platform, Piker has used his sizable megaphone to amplify antisemitic tropes, deny or justify Hamas’ atrocities, and victim-blame American Jews targeted by antisemitism.
Piker is not operating and spewing his hate in a vacuum.
High-profile incidents targeting Jews in the United States because of their real or perceived support for Israel have become increasingly commonplace. These include the March 2026 attack on a Michigan synagogue, the June 2025 firebombing attack in Boulder (which severely injured a Holocaust survivor and killed an octogenarian) and the May 2025 murder of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky outside an American Jewish Committee (AJC) event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.
When Piker suggests that if American Jews “keep putting the idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel,” that someone might eventually “take action” against them, it emboldens extremists and normalizes hostility towards Jews. AJC’s State of Antisemitism in America 2025 Report revealed that, in the context of this climate, nearly 30% of Jewish college students felt uncomfortable or unsafe at a campus event because of their Jewish identity and one-third (34%) avoided wearing, carrying or displaying anything that would identify them as Jewish. There should be broad consensus that this is unacceptable.
At a public institution like UT, freedom of speech is sacrosanct. As abhorrent as Piker’s views are, they are protected by the First Amendment. It is also critical to understand that a student organization bringing Piker to campus is not the same as the university doing so, and certainly not tantamount to an endorsement by the school.
So how should a pluralistic society that values free speech react in this moment? Let me suggest a few pathways:
Fight speech with more speech. The best response to distasteful speech is not cancellation but offering a better alternative. In 2016, when white nationalist Richard Spencer spoke at Texas A&M, student leaders helped stage a program in the football stadium called “Aggies United,” whose speakers included Chancellor John Sharp and Holocaust survivor Max Glauben. Student organizations and clergy led peaceful counter-protests against hate and racism, drawing several times the attendance of the Spencer lecture.
Check in on and stand up for your Jewish friends, neighbors, colleagues and classmates. AJC’s report found that 40% of Jewish Americans were worried they would be a victim of antisemitism in the next 12 months. Platforming speakers like Piker with a sizable following and track record of trafficking in antisemitic tropes contributes to this environment and results in Jewish students feeling pushed out of political spaces.
Engage respectfully across diverse viewpoints. It is far too easy to cordon ourselves off in silos and disengage from anyone with whom we disagree, but this is anathema to university spaces where rhetoric must be met with critical rigor and healthy debate. If the only acceptable interlocutors are ones with whom we already agree, it only advances polarization. Granted, some voices may be too extreme for productive dialogue. However, most people genuinely want to understand their neighbors and be understood in return.
The challenge before us is not whether Piker should be allowed to speak. It is for people of good conscience to respond. Will they remain silent as Jewish students feel increasingly isolated, or will they use their voices to affirm that a university campus must be a place where everyone belongs? The answer will say more about the health and character of our society than any speech delivered from a podium.
Joel Schwitzer is Director of AJC Dallas.
