In the past few weeks, we have witnessed an unabated explosion of Jew-hatred at some of the top American universities, including Columbia, Yale, New York University, and others.
This is not Tehran or Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, but New York and New Haven. In some cases, the situation today resembles 1930's Nazi Germany and Austria, where Jewish students were prevented from entering universities. But those blocking the way aren't your white supremacists of the past. Today's bigots are privileged, woke trust-fund kids and Hamas wannabes who can barely even point to Gaza on a map.
And they are getting noticed by some of the worst people in the world. The Popular Front for Liberation in Palestine, another U.S.-designated terror group involved in the Oct. 7 massacre that killed 1,200 in Israel, has expressed "unwavering support" for the protesting students.
In short, exclusive universities across America have become a second front for Hamas, with explicit calls for violence in some places, while at Columbia, keffiyeh-clad genocide fanboys taunt Jewish students: "Never forget the 7th of October. The 7th of October is going to be every day."
The protests are not about the expression of free speech or an exchange of ideas. Instead, it's about threatening and harassing Jewish students simply because of who they are, while expressing direct support for terror and violence.
The situation at Columbia has become so intolerable that even a leading rabbi on campus has urged Jewish students to "return home" for their own safety. We saw this visceral hatred with our own eyes when, during a visit to Columbia this week, a Jewish student asked for a hat to hide his kippah.
This is an inevitable result of the absence of leadership by university administrators.
When universities continue to permit anti-Jewish hatred under the guise of anti-Zionism; indulge hate groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and cannot even answer whether calling for genocide against Jews is against university policy, what did they think was going to happen?
In a statement ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover, President Joe Biden said "this blatant antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous—and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country."
Condemnations of the protests and expressions of solidarity with Jewish students are certainly welcome, and in fact necessary, but in the absence of urgent action, they are hollow and meaningless.
The following, therefore, is a 10-point action plan to restore order and protect Jewish students:
We are at an inflection point where universities must decide whether they want to remain respected places of higher learning for all or become no-go zones for Jewish students. The decision is theirs.
Arsen Ostrovsky is a human rights attorney and CEO of The International Legal Forum, a global network of lawyers, combating antisemitism and terror. You can follow him on 'X' at @Ostrov_A. Amjad Taha is a political strategist from the United Arab Emirates. You can follow him on 'X' at @amjadt25.
The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
It's Time to Act Against Antisemitic Behavior on Campus
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26.04.2024
In the past few weeks, we have witnessed an unabated explosion of Jew-hatred at some of the top American universities, including Columbia, Yale, New York University, and others.
This is not Tehran or Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, but New York and New Haven. In some cases, the situation today resembles 1930's Nazi Germany and Austria, where Jewish students were prevented from entering universities. But those blocking the way aren't your white supremacists of the past. Today's bigots are privileged, woke trust-fund kids and Hamas wannabes who can barely even point to Gaza on a map.
And they are getting noticed by some of the worst people in the world. The Popular Front for Liberation in Palestine, another U.S.-designated terror group involved in the Oct. 7 massacre that killed 1,200 in Israel, has expressed "unwavering support" for the protesting students.
In........
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