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At NY’s Cooper Union college, a mob of anti-Israel protestors forced a small group of religious Jewish students barricade themselves in the school’s library as enraged activists pounded on the doors. A librarian suggested they “go hide in the attic,” bringing back memories all too reminiscent of the Holocaust.
Sophomore Taylor Roslyn Lent recalled: “I definitely did feel threatened when there were chants calling for the murder of Jews being chanted at me from my fellow students. I felt full of fear.” A senior who didn’t want to be identified out of concern for their safety: “When they started banging on the door, my heart started pounding. I was crying. I think if the doors weren’t locked – I don’t know what would have happened.” The university’s president described the rally as a “peaceful protest.”
Students on campus are openly embracing Hamas’s terrorist propaganda. The Yale Daily News student newspaper ‘corrected’ an op-ed written by sophomore Sahar Tartak: “This column has been edited to remove unsubstantiated claims that Hamas raped women and beheaded men.” Forensic evidence showed signs of violent rape to the point of broken bones. Journalist Bari Weiss responded: “This is Holocaust denial in real time.” Jewish rape victims on campus are feeling very isolated because they are witnessing justifications for rape against Israeli Jews.
The University of California Ethnic Studies Faculty Council sent a letter to university officials falsely slandered Israel and denied that the 10/7 atrocities committed by Hamas were terrorist attacks. Dozens of Columbia University and Barnard College faculty justified the barbaric Hamas terrorism as a legitimate “military response.”
The ADL reports that there have been more than 100 anti-Israel rallies on American university campuses since 10/7; at least 27 included expressions of support for terrorism. About 70 campuses witnessed students walk out of class to oppose Israel; at least 11 of those included support for terrorism. The ADL and Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law urged presidents of nearly 200 universities and colleges to “investigate the activities of Students for Justice in Palestine for potential violations of the prohibition against materially supporting a foreign terrorist organization.”
At the same time, there is growing national support for Jews on campus. The Biden administration announced it is tracking threats, working with campus law enforcement officials and actively engaging with universities to address their needs to protect Jewish students. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is also expediting Title VI Civil Rights discrimination complaints against Jews on campus.
Hunting for Jews
A man broke into an LA Jewish family’s home, shouting “Kill Jews” and “Free Palestine.” Australians drove cars through Sydney, rolled down their windows and demanded, “Where are the Jews?” Angry mobs swarmed a Russian airport searching for Jews on a plane arriving from Israel, ordering passengers to show their passports.
Chants of “Gas the Jews” were heard outside the Sydney Opera House and in years past on the streets of NY. A few years ago, anti-Jewish, pro-Palestinian protestors questioned LA diners on the street if they were Jews before assaulting them.
For Jews, these ‘Jew-hunts’ are painful flashbacks to Nazi Germany. ‘Hunt for Jews’ – Judenjagd in German – were German-conducted searches starting in 1942 for Jews who were in hiding in Nazi-occupied Poland. Now, Jewish people around the world are increasingly fearful for their safety – including in America.
Saturday is the day of rest for Jews but now it is exploited as a day of unrest as rallies against the Jewish state spread across America and the world. The 10/7 surprise attacks were also on Shabbat when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and intentionally massacred more than 1,400 civilians and abducted nearly 250 Israelis and foreign visitors. Many women, children and infants were herded into the backs of trucks and tossed on the back of motorcycles to be held hostage in Gaza.
A shocked Israel responded to the atrocities with a targeted mission to eliminate Hamas military leadership and infrastructure. Hamas has methodically used hospitals, schools and other civilian structures to hide its caches of weapons, ammunition and fuel along with the humanitarian supplies intended for its citizens that are diverted for its own fighters. The Israeli Defense Forces, widely regarded as the world’s most moral military, has been compelled to attack military infrastructure – most often embedded in residential areas, unfortunately causing unwanted civilian casualties.
Worldwide Anti-Israel Rallies Stir More Hate
An anti-Israel march of 7,000 Hamas supporters shut down the Brooklyn Bridge during Shabbat – in a city known for its large Jewish population; Jews were told to avoid the area. Scheduling rallies on the Jewish day of rest and on Jewish holidays is a well-known tactic used to minimize counter-protests by Jews. The so-called pro-Palestinian activists led the rally with a banner mourning the martyred terrorists, justifying the 10/7 attacks and calling for the genocidal destruction of the Jewish state. The day before, hundreds shut down Grand Central Station during a rush-hour protest.
Pro-Hamas sentiment is shocking European Jews and rekindling fears about their future in Europe; 100,000 marched across London Bridge on Shabbat. There have been several cases of British residents tearing down posters of kidnapped Israelis and even drawing Hitler mustaches on the faces of the women and children hostages. Extremist imams in the UK are using their pulpits to openly attack Jews.
The German government vehemently condemned the country’s recent surge of anti-Jewish violence, warning that it risks transporting the country back to its “most horrific times,” as the birthplace of Naziism and the perpetrators of Jewish genocide. As ISIS calls for attacks on Jews around the world, other notable attacks include: an anonymous caller declared that “bombs would blow up in 20 different Jewish schools” in the Paris area; a Turkish bookstore declared “Jews not allowed” on an entrance sign; and a Pakistani senator tweeted a picture of Hitler, stating that “the world knows why he did what he did.” Even in China, the term “anti-Jew” is surging across social media.
American Jews were reminded of how hateful words and incitement can lead to violence as they remembered the deadliest terror attack against U.S. Jews on October 27. The 5th anniversary of the Tree of Life Synagogue attack in Pittsburgh serves as a vivid reminder that the safety of Jews in America can change very quickly.
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