A pro-Palestinian student organization at Northwestern University has reported that the medical school deleted photos of Arab students, some of whom were wearing traditional keffiyehs, from various social media sites.

This past weekend, the university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine posted on Instagram, stating that images from a school event earlier this year featured medical students in keffiyehs, which symbolize support for the Palestinian cause. These images were removed from Flickr, a popular photo-sharing site.

The organization further noted that the Feinberg School of Medicine took down photos of Arab students from its official Instagram account. They have since sent an open letter to university officials asking for a public apology and an inquiry into the matter.

“After spending ten months witnessing the ongoing violence against their people, Palestinian medical students and their families should not have to hide their accomplishments from their own school,” the group expressed online.

University spokesperson Hilary Hurd Anyaso stated that the decision to delete the photos was to protect students from doxing. The school did not specify if any students had faced doxing or threats tied to the images. Anyaso emphasized that the action was taken due to “ongoing concerns for the safety and welfare of the students depicted.”

“Ensuring student safety remains our top priority at Feinberg and Northwestern,” Anyaso affirmed. “We take pride in Feinberg’s dedication to diversity and inclusivity.”

As discussions around the Israel-Hamas conflict intensify on college campuses, many Arab and Muslim students report feeling more vulnerable. Last November, three Palestinian college students were shot in Burlington, Vermont, during a Thanksgiving gathering, disturbing an already tense situation. One student was left paralyzed from the waist down. The victim’s mother speculated that the attack may have been a hate crime.

During the fall, “doxxing trucks,” which displayed names and photos of pro-Palestinian student demonstrators, drove around campuses at numerous colleges. Many institutions have taken steps to safeguard these students amid accusations of antisemitism.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy organization, reported that it received the most discrimination complaints in its 30-year history in 2023, with about one in ten related to higher education.

Jewish students have also experienced a rise in antisemitic incidents following the attacks by Hamas on October 7, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which is dedicated to protecting Jewish civil rights.