Liberty University Students Gather for Worship as Anti-Israel Protests Rage

Liberty University
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Elizabeth Weibel

Students at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, gathered on the campus lawn on Wednesday evening to worship and praise God, as anti-Israel protests have sprouted up on college campuses around the nation.

What appeared to be thousands of students gathered on the university’s Academic Lawn outside of the student union for a campus praise and worship event that “lasted well into the night,” according to the university website.

The worship event at the private Christian university comes during a time when anti-Israel encampments, rallies, and protests have erupted across university and college campuses — such as Columbia University, Yale University, the University of Southern California, Northwestern University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Since the start of the anti-Israel protests and encampments on campuses, students at various universities have been arrested, several students have been suspended, and graduation ceremonies have been canceled.

“While so many campuses are erupting in anger, hatred, and violence, it is refreshing to see the students at Liberty University reflecting the love of Christ as we are commanded to do by Scripture,” Liberty University Chancellor Jonathan Falwell said during the event.

“Jesus clearly tells us to love, and it is so telling that in higher education today, it seems as if some of the only places where love is being displaced are from the campuses of Christian universities, like Liberty University,” Falwell added.

Several people responded to the event at Liberty University by comparing the university to what they were seeing on other campuses.

“While many of our top universities across the country are consumed by protests and division, thousands of @LibertyU students gather for worship and praise,” Virginia State Delegate Wendell Walker (R) wrote in a post on X.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) said he was “inspired” by the university for “showing the nation” that there is “no place” for hate and antisemitism in the state.

Christian musician Sean Feucht praised the university for holding such an event, writing in a post on X:

Imagine if more campuses across America followed @LibertyU’s lead in hosting massive outdoor worship and prayer rallies contradicting the violence, anarchy, jew-hatred, and chaos rising on universities today! We must bring GOD back into institutions of higher education! He is the ANSWER and HOPE to turn things around!

Since Hamas — a U.S.-designated Islamic terror group — attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, by land, sea, and air, leaving 1,200 Israelis dead and more than 200 people taken as hostages, there has been an increase in pro-Palestinian protests across the United States, calling for a ceasefire in the war against Israel and Hamas and for the U.S. to “stop arming Israel.”

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Bradley Jaye/Breitbart News

In the aftermath of the attack, Israel has launched a self-defense operation in Gaza, the Hamas-controlled territory.

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