(RNS) The Hillel at Rutgers University is planning a large rally to counterbalance a protest by Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-gay congregation mainly known for protesting at military funerals.
The Jewish campus life center is organizing the rally for Wednesday (Oct. 28), the same day Westboro church members are planning to protest outside the Hillel building. The rally will bring together a wide coalition of religious and cultural groups on campus.
Westboro members informed university officials earlier this month they were planning to protest at Rutgers, which has the fourth largest Jewish community among college campuses in the country. Hillel leaders originally considered ignoring the protesters.
“Student leaders felt very strongly that we can’t stand idle when a group of anti-Semites are protesting outside our building,” said Rabbi Esther Reed, the Rutgers Hillel’s associate director.
The church, based in Topeka, Kan., and led by Fred Phelps, is most known for its protests against gays, but has increasingly targeted Jewish institutions, criticizing their acceptance of homosexuality. Church followers have picketed funerals of American servicemen killed in Iraq and protested at the funeral of Matthew Shepard, the Wyoming gay college student killed in 1998.
The church also protested outside the Hillel international headquarters in Washington in August, holding signs that read “The Jews Killed Jesus” and “Israel is Doomed.”
Hillel officials have told Rutgers students not to engage with Westboro members and not come to the rally with hateful or offensive signage. Reed said Hillel estimates more than 2,000 people will attend the early-morning rally.