San Francisco State University issued a letter sharing “a deep sense of concern” after a student made “antisemitic statements” during an event planning meeting earlier this month, the university said.

In the latest flare-up surrounding Jewish inclusion and anti-Israel animosity at the state university, an unnamed student, speaking at the March 9 meeting, reportedly called Hillel an “extremist” group and said they would not work with the campus organization.

The incident occurred during a planning session for the celebration of a campus mural, according to Jamillah Moore, vice president of student affairs and enrollment management at SFSU. An S.F. Hillel staffer joined members of several student groups in the virtual session.

“It was reported that, during the meeting, a member of a student organization articulated they did not want S.F. Hillel members collaborating on the event and made anti-Zionist statements,” Moore said.

The meeting on Zoom included about a dozen people representing Latinx student groups, according to Roger Feigelson, the executive director at S.F. Hillel since February. The topic was an on-campus Cesar Chavez mural.

Hillel had been invited to offer a Jewish perspective, he added, noting that the participation of the staff member was not at all related to Israel.

“Why is Hillel here? They’re an extremist Zionist organization,” the staff member recalled the student saying, according to Feigelson. The staff member immediately left the call, Feigelson said.

Feigelson said Moore contacted him “within an hour of the incident,” letting him know what occurred and affirming plans to take immediate action, including by issuing a statement of condemnation.

“As a campus community, we encourage a rigorous exchange of scholarly ideas and debate about Zionism, Israel, and any other world issue,” the SFSU statement, signed by Moore, says. “That debate, however, cannot exclude people from participating in meetings and events based on an assumption of their political stance or religious identity.”

The full statement can be downloaded as a Word document here.

This incident follows multiple incidents on the SFSU campus that Jewish groups characterize as stridently anti-Zionist and often antisemitic.