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Universities Must Be Forced to Address Antisemitism
University of California, Santa Barbara student body president Tessa Veksler on Feb. 26, 2024. Photo: Instagram
JNS.org – “Never would I have imagined that I’d need to fight for my right to exist on campus,” laments Shabbos Kestenbaum, a student at Harvard University who is suing the school because “antisemitism is out of control.”
Jewish students have suffered an unrelenting explosion of hate on American higher education campuses—so far with little relief. They have endured antisemitic rhetoric, intimidation, cancellation and violence. But those charged with keeping campuses safe—whether administrators who govern student and faculty behavior or federal agencies responsible for ensuring that schools adhere to civil rights protections—are failing in their jobs.
Many Jewish students have complained to their colleges’ administrators about the injustices. But instead of responding with measures to ensure Jewish students’ safety—like stopping pro-Hamas protestors from hijacking campuses or expelling militants who incite Jew-hatred— administrators have largely shown indifference. In some cases, college authorities have made things worse for Jewish students by appeasing the riotous, pro-Hamas mobs who have been primary perpetrators of Jew-hatred on campus.
Snubbed by college administrators, Jewish students and their supporters have appealed for federal protection, filing Title VI complaints with the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR), the body tasked with enforcing protections under the Civil Rights Act. Unfortunately, the OCR, which has the power to levy severe financial punishments against colleges that neglect students’ Title VI rights, has so far rewarded negligent universities with little more than slaps on the wrist.
Until college and university boards of trustees begin hiring administrators committed to Jewish students’ safety—and until the OCR begins seriously punishing antisemitic perpetrators—we can expect no respite. Safe to say, colleges and universities run by arrogant, apathetic administrators will not change until their jobs and schools’ survival are threatened.
College/university administrators don’t take antisemitism seriously. Their reactions to Jewish students raising concerns about Jew-hatred range from indifference to outright hostility. For example, when Mohammed Al-Kurd, who the Anti-Defamation League says has a record of “unvarnished, vicious antisemitism,” came to speak at Harvard, Shabbos Kestenbaum and other Jewish students complained to administrators.
Rather than cancel Al-Kurd’s appearance, which would have been the appropriate action, the administrators ignored the students’ complaints. “Harvard’s silence was deafening,” Kestenbaum wrote in Newsweek. Kestenbaum said he “repeatedly” expressed concerns to administrators about the antisemitism he experienced, but as his lawsuit alleges, “evidence of uncontrolled discrimination and harassment fell on deaf ears.”
Administrators at Columbia University reacted to Jewish students’ complaints about antisemitism even more cynically. In fact, during an alumni event, several administrators exchanged text messages mocking Jewish students, calling them “privileged” and “difficult to listen to.”
When Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) asked the presidents of Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania if calling for genocide against Jews violated their schools’ codes of conduct, none could say “yes.” The presidents of Harvard and UPenn have since resigned. Good riddance.
Some college/university administrators have outrageously granted concessions to pro-Hamas students. For instance, Northwestern University agreed to contact potential employers of students who caused campus disruptions to insist they be hired, create a segregated dormitory hall exclusively for Middle Eastern, North African and Muslim students, and form a new investment committee in which anti-Zionists could wield undue influence. Brown University agreed to hold a referendum on divestment from Israel in October.
Similar appeasements were announced at other colleges and universities, including Rutgers, Johns Hopkins, the University of Minnesota and the University of California Riverside.
So far, OCR has failed to take concrete action against antisemitism on campus. This is evident in recent decisions involving the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Michigan. CUNY was ordered to conduct more investigations into Title VI complaints and report further developments to Washington, provide more employee and campus security officer training, and issue “climate surveys” to students.
The University of Michigan also committed to a “climate survey,” as well as to reviewing its case files for each report of discrimination covered by Title VI during the 2023-2024 school year and reporting to the OCR on its responses to reports of discrimination for the next two school years.
Neither institution was penalized financially, even though the Department of Education has the power to withhold federal funds, which most colleges and universities depend on. There are now 149 pending investigations into campus antisemitism at OCR. If these investigations yield toothless results similar to those of CUNY and Michigan, it is highly unlikely that colleges and universities will improve how they deal with antisemitism.
Putting an end to skyrocketing antisemitism on campus involves three things.
First, donors and governments at every level should withhold funds from colleges that fail to hire administrators who will take antisemitism as seriously as they take pronoun offenses or racism directed at people of color.
Second, the OCR must mete out serious consequences to Title VI violators in the form of funding cuts. This may require legislation that specifically mandates withdrawing funding from offending parties. A bill recently introduced by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.)—the University Accountability Act—may be ideal, as it is designed to financially penalize institutions that don’t crack down on antisemitism.
Third, if OCR won’t act, Jewish students and their supporters should turn to the courts. Lori Lowenthal Marcus, the legal director of the Deborah Project, a public-interest Jewish law firm, argues that the CUNY settlement demonstrates the futility of going to OCR and that going to court is more likely to produce “a clearly delineated and productive result,” such as punitive and compensatory fines. As of late May, at least 14 colleges and universities are facing lawsuits over their handling of antisemitism on campus since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.
As long as college administrators are allowed to ignore antisemitism on campus and as long as OCR and other government institutions fall short in punishing Jew-hatred, antisemitism will continue to plague Jewish students.
The post Universities Must Be Forced to Address Antisemitism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Toronto man arrested after allegedly shooting at Orthodox Jews outside a synagogue
(JTA) — Police in Toronto have arrested a man they say shot at “visibly identifiable members of the Jewish community” on two occasions a week apart.
Ruslan Novruzov, 18, is charged with assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose in conjunction with the shootings, which took place on April 30 and Thursday, one week later.
In both incidents, people experienced minor injuries, according to the Toronto police. The shooting on Thursday targeted three people standing outside of Congregation Chasidei Bobov, an Orthodox synagogue.
Following the shootings, the Toronto police tracked a blue Lexus to a residence in a suburb about 15 miles north of the shootings, where they said they searched both a home and a car and seized evidence including two “gel-blaster imitation firearms.”
The shootings and arrest add to a string of recent incidents targeting Jews and Jewish institutions in the Toronto area. A different 18-year-old man was charged last week in connection with two synagogue shootings that took place on March 6, but other incidents remain unsolved. No major injuries or damage has been reported, but the incidents have swelled anxiety within the city’s Jewish communities.
“We recognize that Jewish residents have been living with a heightened sense of fear due to repeated incidents targeting their community, and this only adds to that, which is unacceptable,” Acting Deputy Chief Joe Matthews said in a statement following Novruzov’s arrest. “While the weapons used were imitation firearms, the impacts are very real. These are criminal acts that we allege were meant to intimidate and cause fear.”
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Canada’s main Jewish advocacy group, expressed gratitude to the police for acting quickly.
“These incidents must continue to be treated with the seriousness they deserve, and those responsible must be held fully accountable,” it said on X. ”It’s long past time for governments and authorities to confront the serious threats driving violent attacks before we face a tragic loss of life.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Toronto man arrested after allegedly shooting at Orthodox Jews outside a synagogue appeared first on The Forward.
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Netanyahu on ‘60 Minutes’: Fight with Hezbollah should be seen as separate from Iran war
(JTA) — In an appearance on U.S. television on Sunday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that Israel should continue fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon even if the war in Iran concludes.
Netanyahu spoke with Major Garrett on CBS’ “60 Minutes” as President Donald Trump continues to negotiate to end the Iran war that he and Netanyahu jointly began in February. When Trump declared a ceasefire with Iran on April 7, Netanyahu initially insisted that the deal did not require Israel to stop fighting Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy based in Lebanon. The Iranians insisted that it did, and Trump soon weighed in on social media to say that Israel was “prohibited” from attacking inside Lebanon.
In the weeks since, Israel and Hezbollah have continued to fight, but at a decreased intensity. Now, with Trump seemingly not eager to resume fighting with Iran even as the Iranians have not acceded to his demands at the negotiating table, Netanyahu said the conflicts should be decoupled.
“Is it possible, Mr. Prime Minister, that the war with Iran could end but the war with Hezbollah could continue? That these would be separate and divergent fields,” Garrett asked.
“They should be,” Netanyahu answered. “What Iran would like to do is to say, ‘No, you know, if we achieve a ceasefire here, we want a ceasefire there.’”
“Will you accept that?” Garrett asked. After Netanyahu said he would not, Garrett went on: “Even if President Trump asks you to?”
Netanyahu replied, “Look, he understands what I’m saying.”
Trump’s critics on both sides of the aisle have alleged that Netanyahu pushed him into entering the war. But Netanyahu said that belief is wrong. He called reporting by The New York Times about what he told Trump during a Feb. 11 White House meeting “incorrect,” saying that he had never told Trump that regime change in Iran was an assured outcome of a shared attack.
Netanyahu also insisted to Garrett that declining public support for Israel in the United States was a product of online campaigns designed to spread misinformation.
“Do you believe that’s the only explanation, or is it possible that some Americans have come to a different sense of Israel because of the last two or three years?” Garrett pressed.
“What they see is so many falsifications and vilifications that are unfounded, but they don’t know because they just get you know, the last reel in the movie. They don’t see the entire movie,” Netanyahu said.
The Israeli government recently allocated $730 million for public diplomacy, including online campaigns, designed to boost public opinion about Israel. The allocation quadrupled what was set aside last year for that purpose.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Netanyahu on ‘60 Minutes’: Fight with Hezbollah should be seen as separate from Iran war appeared first on The Forward.
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Labour politician is booed as thousands rally against antisemitism in London
(JTA) — Thousands of British Jews, as well as politicians from multiple parties, rallied in London outside the prime minister’s residence on Sunday to call for more aggressive action against antisemitism following a string of violent attacks.
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative party leader whose response to a heckler making light of threats against Jews went viral last week, spoke forcefully in defense of U.K. Jewry, to applause.
“I stand for a Britain where Jews can go to school freely without worrying about security,” she said. “I stand for a Britain where you can worship freely and not worry about who is coming to attack you. I stand for the celebration of Jewish culture and Jewish people. And I stand for a Britain that will always fight for you, that will always support you.”
The Labour Party representative dispatched by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, meanwhile, drew boos from an audience frustrated by what many British Jews view as an inadequate response from the government.
“I hear your anger, I hear your pain,” said Pat McFadden, the secretary of state for work and pensions. “I stand against antisemitism, I stand with you.” As he spoke, rally organizers at times interrupted to exhort the crowd to quiet down.
Gideon Falter, head of the nonprofit Campaign Against Antisemitism, called in his speech for a ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, which he called “hate marches,” as well as a ban on groups associated with antisemitic violence. He said U.K. Jews were facing a “Britifada,” a play on the word intifada.
He referred to a number of the most prominent recent incidents, including a stabbing in the Orthodox neighborhood of Golders Green earlier this month and an attack on a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur in which two congregants were killed.
“Jews stabbed. That’s the Britifada! Murder on Yom Kippur. That’s the Britifada! Synagogues ablaze. That’s the Britifada! Hatzola ambulances pelted with rocks and torched. That’s the Britifada! Jewish children nearly mown down in a car ramming. That’s the Britifada!” Falter said. “The attacks are coming thick and fast. Because Britain has become radicalized.”
The Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies of British Jews organized the rally, titled “Standing Strong: Extinguish Antisemitism,” and were joined by dozens of Jewish groups. It took place outside 10 Downing Street in central London and featured video appearances from Jews around the world as well as from Boy George, the pop singer who has emerged as an advocate against antisemitism.
The rally also drew attention because of who was and was not invited.
Ahead of the rally, thousands of people signed a petition calling for Nigel Farage, who heads the right-wing Reform party, which made significant gains in local elections on Thursday, to be disinvited, given his “division, scapegoating, racism and inflammatory rhetoric” and allegations of antisemitism during his school years. (Farage dismissed the allegations when they emerged in 2024, saying that he could not remember all instances of “playground banter” from his childhood but that he had never sought to be intentionally hurtful.)
Farage did not appear at the rally, but his deputy, Richard Tice, did. He called for penalties against universities that are seen as encouraging antisemitism.
Zack Polanski, the Jewish leader of the left-wing Green party, which made gains in the local elections despite an antisemitism scandal involving dozens of candidates, was not invited to speak.
Saul Taylor of United Synagogue, the British Orthodox umbrella group, called out Polanski during his speech, alluding to both Polanski’s criticism of the Metropolitan Police’s handling of the arrest of the alleged Golders Green attacker and his party’s pro-Palestinian platform. “The constant vilification of Israel has fueled the flames of antisemitism across our nation,” Taylor said.
Taylor said the previous week had “probably been the most movement from the government we have seen in a long time” but that the pressure should remain. Last week, after an emergency meeting at 10 Downing Street, the Metropolitan Police announced a 100-member special force to protect Jewish communities. On Sunday, the police said they had charged a man with racially or religiously motivated assault and harassment after he attacked three Jews in Enfield.
At least one liberal Jewish group opted not to participate in the rally after initially signing on. The New Israel Fund UK announced ahead of the rally that it was backing out after political figures were invited to participate.
Other liberal Jews did take the stage. Rabbis Charley Baginsky and Josh Levy of Progressive Judaism, the U.K. equivalent of the Reform movement, who were booed off the stage at an August 2025 rally for the release of the Israeli hostages after calling for an end to the war in Gaza, exhorted attendees to ensure that England is not “shaped by suspicion, anger and permanent division.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Labour politician is booed as thousands rally against antisemitism in London appeared first on The Forward.