Hamas’s war on Israel has unleashed other outbreaks of antisemitism.
The war that Hamas launched against Israel has unleashed other outbreaks of antisemitism around the world. We’ve observed large-scale celebrations of the murder of Israeli citizens, with crowds chanting „gas the Jews,“ and even governments, such as Iran, celebrating this slaughter in the name of Islam.
One place where these outbreaks are particularly conspicuous is on American university campuses. There are demonstrations and statements saying these attacks were justified, that the Hamas terrorist invasion was an „act of liberation,“ and that Israel is entirely responsible for what has happened.
This war is revealing the depth of antisemitism in American higher education.
Thirty-one student organizations at Harvard made a joint statement condemning Israel and denouncing its „colonial retaliation.“ Students at Columbia asserted that the weight of responsibility for the war lies with Israel. Similar sentiments have come from Northwestern University, Yale, Portland State, City College and Hunter College in New York, Boston University and Stanford. No doubt others will follow. Such groups say the attacks were justified because of the Israeli occupation and so they blame the Israelis themselves for being raped, murdered, and taken hostage. These protests are often not just anti-Israel, but anti-Jew.
This reminds me of a conversation I had in Israel this past April. I was traveling with a group of Jewish friends, most of whom were politically progressive. We were having lunch together along the shore of the Sea of Galilee when one of them said, „I don’t understand why our children, after going to American colleges, turn out to be so hostile toward Israel. Why are our universities like this?“
At this point in the conversation I spoke up.
