Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated what Israeli holiday the event took place on.

Palestinian advocates transformed the center of McKeldin Mall yesterday into a barred-in checkpoint intended to replicate border crossings between Israel and the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza.

Posters and signs hung on the gates, decorated with the Palestinian flag, images from the Middle East and messages deploring what students described as the illegal occupation of a people. Jewish students wrapped in Israeli flags handed out fliers in protest. The demonstration marked the last day of Palestinian Solidarity Week at this university, as well as the Israeli equivalent of Memorial Day.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has existed since before Israel became an independent state in 1948. The United Nations had originally attempted to split the territory into two states — one Arab and one Jewish — with Jerusalem functioning as an international city. But when that plan failed and the two populations were forced into the same country, conflict erupted. The dust has yet to settle.

Yesterday, the two groups came face-to-face on the mall. Although the confrontation was relatively calm, marked by heated discussions and quiet disagreement, the previous week had been anything but.

The student group UMD Students for Justice in Palestine organized a full week of events that promoted Palestinian culture and issues starting last Monday. The week quickly dissolved into a prolonged debate over free speech and to what extent the university could promote discourse without taking sides.

Originally, the solidarity week was promoted as being sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy and the Nyumburu Cultural Center. But after Jewish student leaders flooded university President Dan Mote’s office with letters saying the speakers featured throughout the week were anti-Israel and offensive, the two university departments denied they were ever involved with sponsoring more than an April 12 movie screening.

Hira Zeb, president of UMD Students for Justice in Palestine, said many meetings followed, in which little was resolved.

“I feel very disappointed and rejected by how the administration treated this,” Zeb said. “They went through great lengths to show the rest of the campus community that they do not support the week. This implies that there was something wrong with it.”

But Jewish student leaders maintain there was something wrong with it — at least, something wrong with a comment made Wednesday night by featured speaker Obi Egbuna.

“During the week, one of the speakers said, ‘The only good Zionist is a dead Zionist,'” Jewish Student Union President Eric Merin said. “That phrase really bothered some in the Jewish community.”

But Palestinian advocates said this was just a case of people passing on misinformation and taking things out of context. The speaker used the phrase to illustrate the feelings of the people living in Palestine, said sophomore biology major Ahsan Tariq, who attended the event.

“If you understood what he said after that you would get a clearer picture,” Tariq said. “There was not a lot of people there, and it just got taken out of context and misinterpreted.”

Zeb said she believes this is just one in a series of examples that illustrate the university has a bias toward pro-Israel sentiments against pro-Palestine activism.

Although the response by the university as well as the Jewish student population has upset students on both sides, Zeb said. Seeing other non-Arab groups come out and support the events also gave Palestinian students hope for a more tolerant future.

“Since we now have a specific group for Palestinian students and issue, we have gotten a lot of support from other groups like Community Roots and the Students for a Democratic Society,” Zeb said. “It has now grown beyond the typical parameter of the Arab or Muslim kid you would think would support the cause.”

Administrators from Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Education said the university supports all students and should promote events that allow for multicultural discussions.

“We support all of our students and we want all students to have a well-rounded experience,” OMSE Assistant Director Dottie Chicquelo said. “We support Solidarity Week as it is a way to give students a different and more diverse perspective.”

desmarattes@umdbk.com