Jerusalem – A group of American Jewish students who have experienced some of the worst anti-Semitism on college campuses in recent months have heard first-hand about the brutal terrorist attack carried out by Hamas terrorists on October 7th. They arrived in Israel on Monday to work together on ways to combat Israeli activities.
“Visiting Israel is important because it’s different to just hear about what happened there and to see it and get a new perspective,” Omar Nativ, 20, a senior at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, told Fox News Digital.
“I feel like we often become desensitized to the news we hear, so this will be a good wake-up call and encourage all visitors to take more action,” the finance professor said.
At Rutgers University, Natib described how Jewish students have faced death threats, been allowed to march freely on campus during school hours, and watched helplessly as final exams were interrupted by sabotage as anti-Israel demonstrators accused the university of “funding genocide,” and tent encampments have been set up on campus to protest against Israel.
Jewish students across the U.S. describe rampant campus anti-Semitism in public hearing: “A wilderness of hate”
Students from the “Take Action for Israel Trip” arrived in Israel on Monday. (Credit: Aliya Schneider)
Similar disruptions and threats against Jewish students have been reported on campuses across the country since October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists crossed into southern Israel from Gaza, killing, raping and kidnapping hundreds of people. .
But in recent months, as Israel continues its military response to flush Iranian-backed Islamist groups from Palestinian territories, protests at U.S. universities have reportedly intensified, with officials venting their anger at Jewish and Israeli students.
“I am trying my best to fight hate in schools and am involved in several Jewish organizations, but I would like to gain more tools to do so,” Natib said. “I believe so after actually visiting many sites,” he added. [of the Oct. 7 massacre] Learning more about the history of what’s going on here helps us understand it all better.”
Protesters demonstrate near Columbia University on February 2, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
During the week-long trip, entitled “Take Action for Israel,” 22 students from Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, Brandeis University, Berkeley, Rutgers University, New York University, University of Western Ontario and the University of Texas will meet with Israeli government officials, hear first-hand testimonies from Israeli survivors, meet with relatives of those still being held hostage by Hamas and visit communities around the Gaza Strip, including the site of the Nova Music Festival on October 7.
Joshua Shain, a biology major at Columbia University, decided to take the trip after experiencing multiple anti-Semitic attacks on campus to confront those who deny the atrocities of October 7th. He said he wanted to collect information.
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The Rutgers University group Students for Justice in Palestine is making the demands after his suspension was lifted and he was placed on probation. (Courtesy of X/@TheStustustudio)
“Everyone, Jewish and non-Jewish, who believes the rape and murder of children is wrong must come together and lend their voice to the denial that these atrocities happened. It happened. I have seen the evidence with my own eyes, and there is nothing I can say that will change what I saw,” the 20-year-old told Fox News Digital.
Shein said there are so many anti-Semitic attacks on campus that “I don’t even know where to start.”
“Since the barbaric atrocities of October 7, my friends and I have been assaulted for wearing the Star of David, insulted by strangers in broad daylight, spat on and burned for bringing in the American flag,” he said, adding that Jewish students have faced death threats, had swastikas painted on their doors and received hateful messages through the university’s online forums.
Columbia University student Joshua Shain and University of Michigan senior Jack Lundstein (left) volunteered in Tel Aviv on Monday. (Credit: Justin Sherman)
“I grew up less than a mile from Columbia’s Morningside campus. My childhood was not free of anti-Semitism, but it’s not that there was no anti-Semitism,” he said. “It’s nothing compared to a big wave,” he said. As a prospective student last year, he said he was told there was “Jewish hatred and anti-Israel racism” at Columbia, but that it was easy to avoid it.
“Unfortunately, that’s no longer true,” Shine said. “It’s no longer possible to hide from and ignore the voices that want to kill Jews.”
Jack Lundstein, a senior at the University of Michigan, said anti-Israel groups had set up a large encampment on campus with giant banners reading “Long Live the Intifada.”
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University of Texas police officers arrested a man during an anti-Israel protest at the University of Texas on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (Jay Janner/American politician)
“Students followed me while I was trying to give interviews outside the camp,” Landstein said. “They put up speakers and flags right behind me to intimidate me, but I’m not going to be intimidated by anti-Semites.”
Lundstein, 21, who is active in Hillel, a Jewish student organization in Michigan, told how she has been cursed and accused of supporting a genocidal state. He said the pro-Palestinian camp’s slogans such as “There’s only one solution: an intifada revolution” and “Make the intifada global” are “targeting Jewish students like me on campus, threatening them with intimidation and hatred.” “These are anti-Semitic comments that create a hostile environment.”
An Israeli woman is kidnapped by Hamas terrorists. (FOX News Digital)
The economics major told Fox News Digital that being in Israel now gives him “the skills I need to return to the University of Michigan in the fall and help the Jewish community combat anti-Semitism and hate on campus.” He said he hopes to be able to acquire the following.
“It is my sincere hope that the University of Michigan administration will work to foster a safe environment for all students and utilize its many resources to foster dialogue,” Lundstein said. “To achieve this, we must eliminate anti-Semitism from our learning environments, and this starts with universities enforcing their policies.”
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Pro-Israel counter-protesters look on as hundreds of anti-Israel agitators demonstrate outside New York University’s Stern School of Business on Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York City. Protesters set up tents in front of the school as requested. A permanent ceasefire between Israel and Gaza. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
At Columbia, Shine said he would like to see university officials “actually enforce the rules on campus,” while Nateef said he would like to see Rutgers University do more to support Jewish professors and students.
“I hope that if another ‘encampment’ occurs in the future, the university authorities will shut it down sooner,” she said. “I know freedom of speech is great, but it’s not okay for students to shout, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ or ‘Intifada worldwide,’ because it’s not just Jewish students. , because it is a threat to all Americans.”
