Opinion | Undeniable: Abhorrent Anti-Semitism and Misinformation Has Found NYU
Over the last few weeks, with increasing demonstrations against Israel, students across college campuses have seen startling instances of anti-semitism. In fact, despite the prevalent Jewish population at New York University, the school’s administration has been more than hesitant to address dangerous rhetoric and acts against Jewish students.
Last Wednesday at Washington Square Park, an individual held a poster that called for “keeping the world clean” with a Jewish star in the trash. Later that day, New York University responded in the comment section of Standwithus, a prominent Jewish Instagram account, agreeing that the student held a vile anti-semitic sign but, nonetheless, did not attend the university.
“The signs the individuals in Washington Square Park are holding are antisemitic, repugnant, and a disgrace; they are, in a word, vile.
However, they are not NYU students. The NY Post has identified them not as NYU students, but as New York City high school students who traveled to Washington Square (a public park, not NYU’s property) to participate in the protest. I believe the high school they attend or the NYC school system may have issued a statement about the matter acknowledging this.
To be clear, antisemitism violates the University’s rules, and violators are subject to university conduct proceedings.”
The response felt mostly inadequate, as the protester was clearly welcomed by thousands of NYU students and embraced as a hero of justice. The university’s statement also rejected responsibility, suggesting that Washington Square Park is legally public property. At the same time, NYU’s official website states “Though Washington Square Park is not owned by NYU, it is the heart of campus. A number of University buildings are along the park perimeter. Many NYU students, faculty and staff spend their lunch breaks and study breaks here.” Anti-semitism that is welcomed by students or guests at the ‘heart’ of any campus is a serious issue that requires official university condemnation and discipline.
A student-protester holds an anti-Semitic sign at Washington Square Park (Courtesy of SSI)
Currently, there are no university inquiries into the various NYU students who embraced, supported, or included this individual. Instead, NYU prefers a naive understanding that a student of another institution held the sign, and therefore anti-Semitism was not promoted by its student body.
As we know from various accounts, this is far from true. Several viral videos captured students at the university tearing down posters of Jewish hostages in Gaza. Afterward, many of these individuals tried to evade the scene and avoid the obvious shame associated with degrading the poster of a kidnapped child.
At the University of Binghamton, one misguided protester explained that the posters did not help the Palestinian cause, because they gave reason to be empathetic toward Israelis or Jews. Apparently, empathy toward innocent hostages is against the morality code of some “Free Palestine” protesters.
Ripped posters of hostages outside NYU Stern on West 4th Street (Courtesy of SSI)
One particular student conveyed his fears to The NYU Review, describing how peers were hiding their yarmulkes and Jewish star necklaces to avoid being identified by anti-Israel protesters. In one case, a student’s decision to display his Judaism led to a hateful attack from an anti-Israel protestor. When putting on his phylacteries, the Jewish prayer device known as teffillin, a protester poured coffee on him, blaming Jews for the war in Israel.
Jewish students attacked with coffee while putting on phylacteries or tefillin. (Courtesy of SSI)
One of the table’s organizers explained his goal of encouraging Jewish prayer, which is obviously independent of Israeli politics. Nonetheless, praying students were still targeted by those who aimed to single out Jewish students.
At the same time, supporters of the Palestinian cause have been distributing offensive handouts calling for an end to the “Israeli genocide in Gaza.” This insanity can be easily debunked as the Palestinian population has grown from 1.9 million in 1993 to 4.9 million in 2023 (Per the United Nations). In contrast, the 1938 global Jewish population peaked at 16.6 million before cratering to less than 10 million after the Holocaust.
Another informant who wished to remain anonymous reported how a classmate called the Hamas terror group, ‘freedom fighters’ and then was shockingly embraced by the professor, who called the statement intellectually interesting. In another troubling case, a student revealed how an entire NYU class denied the impacts of Hamas’ terror attack, insisting that Israel fabricated the events to justify its military response. The professor was noted to be mostly silent as the Jewish student reportedly broke out in tears trying to explain the atrocities committed by Hamas.
Apparently, the same college campuses that insist on progressive democratic causes, are also the lone supporters of anti-Jewish and anti-American terrorist groups.
According to the United Nations, Hamas is an internationally recognized terrorist group whose founding explicitly outlined a plan to murder all Jews. As of November 1st, 2023, the only countries who openly sympathize with Hamas are North Korea, Russia, China, and Iran. As any evaluation of history might conclude, these countries do not hold the standard of morality.
Article 7 of the Hamas Charter was presented in 1989.
It’s now as clear as ever before, that moral clarity cannot be expected on campuses that ridiculously declare Israel an apartheid state, despite Arabs serving in its Knesset (Israel’s legislative body), Arabs voting in Israeli elections, and Arabs serving as judges in the Israeli Supreme Court. Just a few years ago, Arab politicians actually collaborated on a coalition government to govern Israel.
Arab women in Israel’s Knesset, a reality unheard across the Middle East (Courtesy of the Times of Israel)
A reality like this is undoubtedly non-existent in an apartheid state. In fact, Kenneth Meshoe, a member of the South African parliament, has said that calling Israel an apartheid state is wrong, insidious, and offensive to her family's history. He goes on to say that proclamations like this reflect an obvious hatred for the only Jewish state.
Protesters believe that using words like genocide and apartheid brings attention to their cause, but instead clearly pinpoints a ridiculous lack of understanding of the Israeli conflict itself. Further put, as students continue to publicize false and inflammatory assertions about Israel, thousands of Jewish students are scared to be themselves.
