Antisemitism stalks college campuses. It must be ruthlessly stamped out

 Last spring, American college campuses were roiled by anti-Israel protesters who disrupted commencement ceremonies, vandalized university buildings, and shut several universities down.

Apologists for these hoodlums argue that the protesters are outraged by Israel’s actions in Gaza, where thousands of civilians have been killed in the fighting between the Israeli army and Hamas. Protesters have charged Israel with genocide, and they’ve called for universities to divest from all companies doing business with the Jewish state.

These protests died down at the end of last year’s spring semester, but the anti-Israel movement reared its ugly head again on college campuses this fall. Students at the University of Michigan elected a slate of student officers who vow to stop all funding for university student groups until the university divests itself from Israel. At Columbia, vandals threw red paint on a campus statue--symbolizing Palestinian blood.

It’s impossible to discern the motives of individual protesters, but some have expressed antisemitic and racist sentiments, openly praising Hamas and even calling for the destruction of Israel.

Make no mistake. Antisemitism runs rampant at many American universities, and our most elite schools now harbor students and professors who are racists and bigots. We can expect antisemitism to become more virulent and violent during the upcoming academic year.

Antisemitism is not a fringe movement on college campuses. Anti-Jewish bigotry has become embedded in American higher education and threatens to infect our entire society.

During the 1920s and 1930s, antisemitism flourished in the universities of Eastern Europe even before Hitler gained power in Germany. As scholar Ezra Mendelsohn observed, “universities all over East Central Europe were centers of anti-Semitism.” Some Romanian universities were shut down in 1922 due to anti-Jewish violence.

Mendelsohn offered two explanations for antisemitism at European universities prior to the Second World War. In some Eastern European countries, he wrote, “young and impressionable students were attracted to the new militant, anti-pluralist nationalist movements, which combined xenophobia, anti-communism, and antisemitism with an idealistic campaign directed against the compromise-prone, venal political and economic establishment.” 

In addition, he observed that universities were turning out graduates who could not find decent jobs. Thus, the "new intellectuals” of pre-war Eastern Europe were driven to antisemitism by economic insecurity.

America’s college leaders need to face the fact that growing antisemitism among college students and professors will infect all American society if it is not checked. In my view, professors who promote antisemitism should be fired. Students who openly support genocide against Jews and Israel should be expelled, and anyone who uses violence and vandalism to advance racism and bigotry should go to jail.

Columbia's alma mater statue was vandalized

The Met Gala: Half-Naked Influencers Preen While America Creeps Toward Collapse

Half-naked influencers preened at the 2024 Met Gala last night while a thousand anti-Israel protesters raged in the streets. One gala attendee appeared in a dress made of sand. Several men adorned themselves in capes, evoking Count Dracula.

These questions popped into my mind as I reviewed the outlandish Met outfits on the web:

How do these knuckleheads go to the toilet? Tyla, the sand-wearing lady, needed two men to help her up a flight of stairs. She’ll surely need assistance to empty her bladder. It’s a good thing we live in the age of gender-neutral bathrooms.

Were there any MAGA Republicans in the room? I doubt it. I’m guessing that all these clowns are registered Democrats and that many are big donors to Joe Biden's reelection campaign.

And why not? President Biden suffers from dementia, but rich people in New York City are getting richer every day. Bidenomics works just fine for the gala guests.

Are any gala attendees worried about the war in Ukraine? Absolutely not. Most of the billions Congress appropriated for the war with Russia will stay in the United States, and quite a few wealthy Americans are getting a piece of the action. Unleash the dogs of war!

Do any of these pampered nutjobs support Israel in its existential war with Hamas? Doubtful. It’s fashionable now to be a Palestinian supporter in the Gaza conflict, even if you’re Jewish. Don’t believe me? Ask Senators Chuck Schumer or Bernie Sanders.

The glitterati in New York City probably believe the road goes on forever, and the party never ends. But the people living on their Social Security checks in Flyover Country know better. Insanity reigns in the United States, and our enemies are waiting patiently for the right time to destroy us.

 

Tyla needs help getting up the stairs.

Antisemitism at Harvard. Should I Burn hy Harvard Diploma?

 I wish I were a billionaire who had given a pot of money to Harvard University. I would write Harvard a stern public letter rebuking its anemic response to anti-Jewish bigotry by Harvard students. I would vow not to give the university one more dime. A few billionaires have taken that action.

Indeed, there is strong evidence that antisemitism lurks in the shadows on Harvard's musty campus. Adrian Ahkenazy, a Harvard alum, and a  Harvard Jewish Alumni Association co-founder, wrote an op-ed essay in the New York Post a few days ago, noting that there are fewer Jewish students and faculty at Harvard than in years past. "Among many saddening discoveries," he wrote, "we see that Jews have been purged across campus--from the administration and the Board of Supervisors to the faculty and the student body." Jewish students comprise only 5 percent of the Harvard student body, down from more than 20 percent at the turn of the twentieth century.

In an open letter to the Harvard community, Harvard's president implicitly admitted that antisemitism is a problem at the university. President Claudine Gay wrote that Harvard is "seeking to identify external partnerships that will allow Harvard to learn from and work with others on our strategy [to combat antisemitism]." To me, it sounds like Harvard plans to hire some consultants to study anti-Jewish bigotry until people forget about it.

I am not a billionaire and have never given Harvard any money (besides my tuition). How can I effectively express my contempt for Harvard's closet antisemitism?

I have a Harvard doctoral degree, which I could publicly burn as a protest of Harvard's cowardice and closet bigotry. I also purchased a crimson academic gown for my Harvard graduation ceremony in 1993. I could burn that, too.

However, I will not set my diploma or academic regalia ablaze. I don't believe in setting things on fire to express my political convictions. In any event, I don't think anything I might say or do would get Harvard’s attention. After all, I live in Flyover Country.

How do ordinary people censor an elite university trafficking in prestige while marinating in bigotry and moral cowardice? We can begin by deconstructing Harvard's image as the epitome of intellectual and moral superiority.

Many Americans believe that Harvard people are more intelligent and more morally sensitive than the rest of us. Having spent some time at Harvard, I can tell you that legend is untrue. There are some smart people at Harvard, but most Harvardians are no more intelligent than your favorite handyman or plumber.

Perhaps William F. Buckley said it best: “I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University.”