The Columbus City Attorney's office dropped ethnic intimidation charges against two women who protested at an Ohio State University Jewish center last November.
Oumaima Amri, 21, Lena Ahmad Shabeneh, 19, of Hilliard, allegedly vandalized Israeli flags in the lobby of OSU's Hillel student center and shouted anti-Israel statements and threats on Nov. 9. Both women instead pled guilty to misdemeanor criminal trespassing charges after going through a restorative justice process.
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said in a statement that Hillel requested the restorative justice process. Klein said the two defendants did an hours-long listening and learning session with Jewish students from Hillel.
The women also attended a dinner with a local rabbi, and enrolled in a workshop at the center. Lastly, they gave a talk about their experiences to Hillel’s board.
“Hate has no home in Columbus, and as City Attorney, I take bias-fueled crimes very seriously. In every one of these types of cases, I instruct prosecutors to listen to victims in order to pursue the most appropriate outcome,” Klein said. “In this case, Hillel pushed for a response that balanced accountability with opportunities for restorative justice, and working with Hillel officials and defense counsel, we created a rigorous plan that met these demands."
Klein said his office stands with Jewish people and all who have increasingly become targets for violence and hate-fueled rhetoric.
The vandalism happened almost a month after Israel was attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, sparking a deadly war between the country and the terrorist group in Gaza. Over 1,000 Israeli civilians were killed that day. Since then, tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israel's counter offensive.
The tension over the war spilled onto OSU's campus sparking protests for months. Those culminated in April, when OSU police and other law enforcement officers arrested dozens of peaceful protesters on the South Oval.
Those protests started up again this semester. Anti-war demonstrations are expected to happen on Oct. 7 to mark the one-year anniversary of Hamas' attack on Israel.
When the two were first charged, Klein initially said he thought people would "think twice" about acting like this in the future.
For this story, Klein's office did not make him immediately available for comment.
