By Matthew Polyak

This article was written before Harvard president Claudine Gay’s formal resignation on Jan 2, 2023.

On December 5th, 2023, the Presidents of three prestigious universities were questioned at Capitol Hill regarding rising antisemitism on their college campuses following the terrorist group Hamas’ massacre of innocent Israelis on October 7th, 2023. This hearing would expose how colleges around the United States have failed to protect their Jewish students. 

New York Republican Representative Elise Stefanik conducted the “Holding Campus Leaders Accountable and Confronting Antisemitism” hearing on behalf of the Committee on Education & the Workforce, where she was joined by Harvard University President Claudine Gay, MIT University President Sally Kornbluth, and UPenn President Elizabeth Magill.

An exchange would go viral between Harvard’s Gay and Representative Stefanik. Stefanik asked Gay whether calling for the genocide of Jews would violate Harvard’s rules on bullying and harassment.

“It can be, depending on the context,” Gay would go on to say.

Stefanik fired back: “What’s the context?”

“Targeted as an individual; targeted at an individual,” responded Gay.

Stefanik then said: “It’s targeted at Jewish students. Targeted at Jewish individuals. Do you understand your testimony is dehumanizing them? Do you understand that dehumanization is a part of antisemitism?”

How could one say that spewing antisemitic rhetoric would only violate harassment policies depending on “the context?” Are these universities now suddenly beacons of free speech? That would be very odd, considering Harvard ranks as one of the most restrictive schools in the country in terms of freedom of speech. Any individual who would say something deplorable against any other group of people would instantly be suspended. So does the rule not apply when it’s against Jews? Cleary to America’s most prestigious colleges, the answer would be yes. These university officials need to resign.

Our country’s universities have seen an enormous uptick in antisemitism following the October 7th massacre. These masked individuals hold up Palestinian flags while chanting genocidal slogans, such as “From the river to the sea” and “Intifada Revolution.” Some of these so-called “protestors” have even gone as far as to assault Jewish students and terrorize them with threats. 

They yell that Antisemitism is different from anti-Zionism. Anyone who believes such has no understanding of the issue at all. Antizionists call for the destruction of Israel. Can you guess what Antisemites call for as well?

To move on, Kidnapped From Israel is an organization that creates posters to spread information about those who were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7th and who are still held captive. Students all over the country have been seen tearing them down while yelling disgusting phrases at those who record them.

According to studies conducted by the Anti-Defamation League, 73% of Jewish college students had experienced or witnessed some form of antisemitism during the 2023/24 school year. A majority of all students—Jewish and not Jewish—feel like their campus officials and administrators have not done enough to protect Jewish students. Many Jewish students do not feel physically safe on campus.

Examples of such are everywhere. Palestinian protests at MIT, for example, blocked Jewish students from entering and attending their classes, with multiple students reporting that they felt afraid to walk to class. These protestors claimed their right to free speech was violated when they were eventually removed hours after the protest began. Sorry to burst your bubble, but violent antisemitic threats are indeed not protected under the First Amendment.

In addition, the student-led group “Students for Justice in Palestine” (SJP) declared a “day of resistance” after the massacre with demonstrations occurring across the group’s 200 chapters at various colleges. The group also called the slaughter of innocent Jews on October 7th a “historic win for the Palestinian resistance” on their website.

Groups of students like SJP who justify violence against Jews for the so-called liberation of the fictitiously occupied Gaza are terrorists—and it is time we recognize that. These barbarians do nothing but destroy and deface buildings/monuments while terrorizing Jewish students.

Such disgusting behavior was even ongoing before the October 7th massacre. The University of Pennsylvania hosted a “Palestine Writes Literature Festival” in late September. The group was already known for spewing vile hate towards Jews, according to the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law. The university’s Hillel building was vandalized—with a swastika also painted in one of the classrooms.

Many of these protestors consist of students on visas from other countries. Any foreign exchange student who is studying here on a student visa that displays support for terrorism should be immediately deported and stripped of their visa.

Also, why do these terrorist sympathizers feel the need to cover their faces? Simply put, these cowards know that what they are doing is bad and immoral. Anyone who would go around their campus spewing Hitlerian ideas would hide their identity. And those who don’t mask themselves should be fired from their jobs and exposed.

I question the motives of our nation’s college campuses. Why do they feel the need to protect the safety of other students but not Jewish students? Which colleges can Jews go to where they will be safe? Unfortunately, the list is small. 

Ultimately, these people don’t just want to see Israel destroyed. Their main agenda calls for the destruction of the West. They hate Israel because Israel is the only country with Western values in the Middle East.

Their ideology calls for all non-followers to be destroyed. Christians, Atheists, Jews, non-radical Muslims—it doesn’t matter who you are. It is a system of oppressors and the oppressed. The West are the oppressors and the rest are the oppressed. This race-based ideology is destructive and if pursued will destroy the West.

It matters to every American. They will label you, an average American, as the oppressor. They want to destroy the Judeo-Christian values that define the West. Hamas is your problem too—and don’t think that you would be safe. God forbid they had their way with the Jews, you would be next on the chopping block.

“The fact is that these thugs are issuing genocidal chants. And doing it on the streets of New York. How did it come to this?”

British author Douglas Murray described this best in his article in the New York Post.

“When an American patriot showed up at Wednesday’s Christmas ceremony with an American flag, a protester tried to tear the flag from his hands and others shouted, “Allahu Akhbar.” The attack in October was a tragedy for Israel. But it has also highlighted a looming tragedy in our own countries. Because it never was just about Israel. It’s about all of us.” 

To conclude, These groups of people want to terrorize other students into submitting to their anti-western agenda, and we must stand up to them and continue to fight alongside our Jewish friends—because saving the West starts with our generation.

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Sources

• insidehighered.com
• reuters.com
• adl.org
• kidnappedfromisrael.com
• foxnews.com
• cnn.com
• apnews.com
• nbcnews.com
• dailywire.com
• nationalsjp.org
• nypost.com
• thecollegefix.com