At a hearing Thursday at the Capitol, Jewish students implored lawmakers to hold more universities accountable for enabling an alarming rise in anti-Semitism. One participant revealed that he contacted the administrators of 40 separate cases but received no response.
Nine undergraduates at elite US universities share harrowing personal stories of harassment, intimidation and assault amid anti-Semitic demonstrations on campus and Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack on Israel He blamed administrators for still ignoring the outpouring of hatred almost five months after the incident.
Harvard Divinity School student Alexander “Shabbos” Kestenbaum told members of the House Education and Labor Committee during a bipartisan roundtable that he has written more than 40 times to the university’s Select Committee on Anti-Semitism regarding discrimination.
Despite filing a complaint against Harvard officials last month, he has yet to receive a response. challenged him to a debate The event, previously reported by the Jewish News Syndicate, took place in a secluded location over the question of whether Jews orchestrated 9/11.
“The same Harvard employee posted a video on social media with a machete and a picture of my face saying he wanted to fight and had a plan,” Kestenbaum said. “I had a private armed guard outside my house for three days. I had the armed guard follow me to Sabbath services to protect me.”
“I immediately reported this matter to Harvard University and the police, and this individual remains employed by Harvard University,” he said. “This is the reality of being Jewish at Harvard in 2024.”
Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.), a Harvard graduate and co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, called the students’ testimony “incredibly horrifying.”
“I can’t help but wonder: Is this the beginning of 1932 Germany all over again? When my grandparents came to this country fleeing horrific pogroms and seeking refuge from anti-Semites? Russia in 1903?” Manning asked.
“All of us in Congress should be asking ourselves: How did we get here and what can we do to stop this?”
Other students were spat at, called slurs like “dirty Jews,” “colonists,” and “murderers,” and told others that “resistance is justified” and “globalize the intifada.” He shared examples of how he stood up to screaming anti-Semitic mobs, sometimes including his own professors. The phrase is widely understood as a call for the genocide of Jews.
Eden Yadeger, a third-year student at Columbia University, said: “It’s a stunning, amazing, amazing, jubilant accomplishment. These are the words my college professor used to describe the most horrific massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. It’s a word,” he said.
Yadegar, a Middle Eastern studies major, added that she is currently unable to complete coursework for her major because the only course offered on Israel is taught by this professor.
Rutgers University sophomore Joe J. Gindi testified that a program coordinator employed by the school yelled “fuck you!” at a Jewish student during a fall campus meeting. Damn you colonists! Damn you Zionists!
“The actions of these employees have effectively denied Jewish students equal access to campus resources, leaving many students like me to feel unable to safely seek help.” Guindy said.
Cooper Union student Jacob Hariri, one of more than a dozen Jewish students who barricaded themselves in the campus library last October to protect themselves from anti-Semitic demonstrations, spoke during a roundtable about his The school said “no disciplinary action has been taken” since then, and police have never stopped him. in addition.
“I was shocked and horrified that the president said this.” [Laura] Mr. Sparks was offered police intervention, but he refused and at one point slipped out the back door to avoid the protesters,” Mr. Hariri said.
Noah Rubin, a student at the University of Pennsylvania, said, “I’ve been told over and over again that the university takes these issues seriously, but they always take no action.” He pointed out that there were warning signs.
“In September, I met with public safety and appealed to them to do more to protect Jewish students,” he said. “I’ve heard that Hillel, the Jewish cultural center, is one of the safest buildings on campus.”
“Just two days later, Mr. Hillel was broken into and destroyed by gunmen screaming, ‘Fuck Jews!'” I realized that I was there.”
Even after high-profile hearings against the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology led to the resignations of two university leaders, Education and Labor Chairman Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina) ) stated that schools “still have not corrected their course.”
“Let me be clear: this is not an issue about policing speech or opinion, even if it is offensive and offensive,” Fox said in his opening remarks. “It is to protect Jewish students from the harassment, intimidation, intimidation, and assault that plague our campuses.”
Kestenbaum and others have already filed a lawsuit against the university for selectively enforcing a code of conduct that prohibits anti-Semitic behavior, but the committee should continue issuing subpoenas for the truth. insisted.
“Harvard has a strong track record of disciplining speech it doesn’t like,” Kestenbaum said. “The only exception is the Jews.”
“You’d be horrified to see what goes on behind the scenes,” he told Manning. “Why, as you said, does Harvard willingly and eagerly accept tens of millions of dollars every year from anti-Western, anti-democratic, anti-Semitic countries? Where does that money go? Is that so?”
Some students on the committee suggested pulling federal funds from the school until administrators follow these policies.
“It’s time to act to ensure that federal funds are not used to spread hatred and discourage Jewish scholars,” said Talia Khan, a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
But Democrats on the committee argued that withholding funding from schools would be “punishing” all students for the misbehavior of some, and that it is being done through the U.S. Department of Education. supported reform.
Bronx Rep. Richie Torres (D) told the Post after the roundtable that he is pushing for third-party monitors for each institution, appointed through the Department of Education.
“I think it has become indisputable that these institutions are systematically anti-Semitic,” Torres said. “They cannot be trusted as police themselves.”
