Antisemitism Sweeps College Campuses: ‘They Were Chanting: Long Live the Intifada’
The Biden White House on Monday denounced a wave of antisemitism on college campuses and announced a series of actions to address it, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre labeling the uptick in threats against Jewish people “alarming.”
The Anti-Defamation League said in a report last week that antisemitic incidents across the United States had increased significantly since the Hamas attack on Israel, with 312 antisemitic incidents recorded between Oct. 7 and Oct. 23 — a 388 percent increase compared to the same timeframe last year. Much of the increase had taken place on college and university campuses, ADL said.
The report was released prior to a string of new incidents, including online death threats against Cornell University’s Center for Jewish Living.
“The Biden-Harris administration is taking multiple actions to address this alarming rise,” Jean-Pierre said. “President Biden has been clear: We can’t stand by and stand silent in the face of hate. We must, without equivocation, denounce antisemitism. We must also, without equivocation, denounce Islamophobia.”
Senior administration officials, she said, are meeting with Jewish leaders and universities to “discuss the threat of antisemitism on campuses and what the administration is doing to act.”
The Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department, she said, “have taken steps to ensure campus law enforcement is included in engagements with state and local law enforcement” and “have taken numerous steps to provide outreach and support directly to campuses.” The Department of Education, she said, is “expediting the process of making it easier for students and others who experience antisemitism, Islamophobia, or other discrimination to file a complaint” under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
A series of threatening messages to the Jewish community and to the Jewish center were posted on Cornell’s Greekrank forums over the weekend, including one promising to bring a rifle to campus and shoot Jewish people. Cornell University President Martha Pollack released a statement saying law enforcement was investigating the threat and that the university “will not tolerate antisemitism.” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul visited the school Monday for a roundtable discussion about antisemitic threats, saying the students “deserve to have the support of an entire campus and indeed the entire state to help them get through these difficult times.”
The Cornell incident was only the latest example of antisemitism and anti-Israel messages on college campuses.
At George Washington University, opponents of Israel projected messages on the library at night reading, “Divestment from Zionist genocide now,” “Free Palestine From the River to the Sea” and “Glory to our martyrs.”
At Cooper Union, a private college in New York City, Jewish students took cover inside the library as pro-Palestinian students chanted outside and banged on the locked library doors. Security escorted the students to a safer place, one student told CBS News.
“They were chanting: Long live the Intifada,” another student said.
At Columbia University, a swastika was found drawn in a restroom of a school building.
At American University, swastikas and a Nazi slogan were found in a bathroom and dorm rooms of two Jewish students, according to Insider Higher Ed.
The White House previously issued a statement expressing concern about the incidents.
“Amidst the rise in poisonous, antisemitic rhetoric and hate crimes that President Biden has fought against for years, there is an extremely disturbing pattern of antisemitic messages being conveyed on college campuses,” Andrew Bates, White House deputy press secretary, said in a statement. “Just over the past week, we’ve seen protests and statements on college campuses that call for the annihilation of the state of Israel; for genocide against the Jewish people. Jewish students have even had to barricade themselves inside buildings. These grotesque sentiments and actions shock the conscience and turn the stomach. They also recall our commitment that can’t be forgotten: ‘never again.’”
Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Spencer Platt / Staff
Video Courtesy: CBS Evening News via YouTube
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Salem Web Network and Salem Media Group.
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