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AEPi: Brotherhood as a Shield Against Campus Hate

The AEPi chapter at Stanford. Photo: Stanford.edu

The night was cold and tense. A group of Jewish students huddled together outside their campus Hillel, clutching backpacks and phones, waiting for the chants to die down. Across the quad, a crowd surged and shouted, voices rising in anger: “From the river to the sea….” It was loud, aggressive, and deeply personal. Inside the building, someone had just taped over a mezuzah. Social media was aflame with threats and photos of students’ names and faces. The administration sent a carefully worded email urging “dialogue,” but Jewish students knew what it really meant: you’re on your own tonight.

This scene is not from a single campus, nor is it isolated. It is a composite of what Jewish students have faced across the country over the past two years, and is a story that I have been told countless times.

The fact of the matter today is that October 7 did not create campus antisemitism, but it stripped away any illusion that hostility toward Jews was sporadic or manageable. In the weeks following Hamas’ brutal attacks on Israel, Jewish students experienced not only anger but organized efforts to intimidate and silence them. College, a place meant for exploration and growth along with viewpoint diversity, became for many young Jews a place of fear, retreat, and calculation. They were forced to figure out when to speak up, when to hide, and when to walk quickly in the other direction.

University leaders, caught between competing pressures, have largely been reactive. After a crisis, they issue statements, create task forces, and hope the problem subsides. National Jewish organizations provide important advocacy from afar, but they are often too distant and too slow to respond to fast-moving campus dynamics. The result is a dangerous vacuum, one in which Jewish students feel abandoned and vulnerable.

Into that vacuum has stepped an unexpected but powerful actor: Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi), the international Jewish fraternity. Long known for promoting Jewish leadership and philanthropy, AEPi has developed something more ambitious: a comprehensive plan to confront campus antisemitism head-on.

It is not simply another task force or symbolic statement. It is a living system that empowers students, engages administrators, and builds networks of allies. At a time when so many institutions seem paralyzed, AEPi offers clarity, action, and hope.

A New Model for a New Challenge

The brilliance of AEPi’s approach lies in its refusal to wait. Most campus responses to antisemitism are reactive: they begin after damage has already been done. AEPi’s plan is different. It begins with the students themselves and builds outward, creating a network that connects local action to national coordination. It rests on three pillars: leadership development, community building, and proactive advocacy.

The first and most foundational pillar is leadership. Jewish students are too often cast only as victims to be protected by others. AEPi rejects this passivity. Its chapters operate as training grounds where students learn to organize, negotiate, and lead. Brothers are taught to plan events, run meetings with university officials, and navigate moments of crisis. A public Shabbat dinner isn’t just a meal, for instance. Rather, it is an act of visibility and courage. When a chapter hosts “Shabbat Across AEPi,” bringing together hundreds of students in a visible celebration of Jewish life, it sends a clear message: we are here, and we will not hide.

These experiences prepare young Jews to lead far beyond the walls of their fraternity houses. In my own writing, I’ve argued that fraternities can serve as vital mediating institutions. When done well, they provide structure, mentorship, and purpose — things that many young adults desperately need but rarely find in today’s higher education landscape. AEPi is a case study in this potential. Its chapters don’t just offer friendship or social activities. They cultivate citizens who understand that leadership is not about privilege, but about responsibility.

Building Bridges, Breaking Isolation

Antisemitism thrives in ignorance. When non-Jewish students have little meaningful contact with Jewish peers, they are more vulnerable to caricatures and conspiracy theories. AEPi tackles this directly by making outreach a central part of its mission. Its chapters host thousands of events each year that bring together students of all backgrounds: cultural exchanges, interfaith dialogues, philanthropy drives, and service projects.

These aren’t box-checking diversity or outreach programs. They are sustained, face-to-face encounters that foster trust and understanding. A non-Jewish student who helps plan a Passover meal or joins a community service event alongside AEPi brothers sees Jews not as abstract symbols in a political debate, but as friends and peers. That personal connection is one of the most powerful antidotes to hatred.

The scale of this outreach is remarkable. According to AEPi’s own reporting, its chapters created nearly three million individual “touchpoints” with students last year through engagement efforts. These numbers are more than statistics: they represent countless small moments of human connection that slowly transform campus culture.

Preventing the Next Crisis

The third pillar of AEPi’s strategy is what makes it truly novel: proactive advocacy. Too often, administrators are blindsided by crises and scramble to respond once headlines hit. AEPi flips this dynamic by emphasizing preparation and early intervention.

Before the academic year begins, AEPi sends advocacy letters to hundreds of college presidents, diversity offices, and campus security teams. These letters don’t just call for dialogue. They outline concrete steps universities can take: adopt the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, enforce codes of conduct fairly across all groups, monitor for harassment, and visibly affirm Jewish students’ right to safety and belonging.

This groundwork matters. When tensions escalate, administrators already know whom to call and what steps to take. In the days after October 7, as campuses erupted, AEPi provided private briefings and real-time intelligence to university leaders. In one case, a chapter learned that outside agitators planned to infiltrate a protest near a Jewish student center. With that advance warning, administrators deployed security and defused the situation before it turned violent. The incident never made headlines because the crisis was prevented rather than merely managed.

This kind of quiet, behind-the-scenes engagement is invaluable. It builds trust, establishes clear lines of communication, and demonstrates that Jewish students are not simply petitioners begging for protection. They are partners in creating safe, pluralistic campus environments.

Why This Model Matters

To see why AEPi’s model is so powerful, consider what it replaces. The old model of campus engagement was fragmented and reactive. Universities would issue statements after an incident, form committees, and hope for the best. National Jewish organizations would provide legal help or public advocacy, often at a distance. Students were left to navigate a hostile environment largely on their own.

AEPi bridges these divides. It empowers students at the grassroots level while connecting them to parents, alumni, administrators, and national organizations. Everyone has a role, and the pieces work together. It is operational, not performative.

The stakes could not be higher. A 2021 survey of Jewish students in Greek life found that 65 percent had experienced or witnessed antisemitism on campus, and half reported hiding their Jewish identity at some point to avoid harassment. These numbers reveal more than a safety issue. They speak to a profound crisis of belonging. When young adults feel they must erase themselves to fit in, the university has failed at its most basic purpose.

Leadership as the Missing Ingredient

The deeper truth here is about leadership. Campuses today are awash in expression but starved for formation. Students are encouraged to “speak their truth,” but they are rarely taught how to organize others, resolve conflicts, or build enduring institutions. In this vacuum, the loudest and most extreme voices dominate.

Fraternities, when structured well, fill this gap. They teach accountability and mutual responsibility. They train young adults to govern themselves and to serve others. These mediating institutions are essential to rebuilding trust and civic life.

AEPi is doing this work for Jewish students at a moment of acute need. Its toolkit is not just about defending Jewish life today. It is about cultivating the leaders who will sustain Jewish communities and contribute to the broader civic fabric for decades to come.

Scaling the Blueprint

For all its success, AEPi cannot do this alone. Its approach should be a template for others. Hillel, Chabad, and independent Jewish student groups can adapt its leadership training for all Jewish students, not just fraternity members. National organizations should integrate AEPi’s early-warning strategies into their own reporting systems.

Universities must move beyond symbolism. They should formalize the kinds of proactive partnerships AEPi has pioneered, and treat Jewish student safety as a core responsibility. Alumni and donors can provide the resources and accountability needed to sustain these efforts. And non-Jewish allies — students, faculty, administrators — should be systematically engaged and trained, not just thanked for attending a vigil once a year.

In a world where a viral TikTok can shape perceptions more quickly than any campus event, digital advocacy must also become a priority. Jewish leaders need the tools to counter misinformation online and to tell their own stories with clarity and confidence.

A Vision for Renewal

Campus antisemitism will not disappear on its own. It will only be defeated by organized, principled leadership; the kind AEPi has demonstrated. Jewish life on campus must no longer be defined by fear and retreat. With courage, preparation, and solidarity, it can instead be marked by pride, resilience, and unshakable belonging.

Fraternities are often caricatured as outdated or insular. AEPi proves the opposite. When rooted in mission and values, they can be among the most powerful engines of civic formation we have. AEPi has taken the bonds of brotherhood and turned them into a shield. Now it falls to the rest of us — students, parents, administrators, allies, public intellectuals — to take up that shield and build the future that our campuses so desperately need.

Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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London Police Arrest Dozens at Protest Against Ban on Palestine Action

Protesters hold signs, during a mass demonstration organised by Defend our Juries, against the British government’s ban on Palestine Action, at Trafalgar Square in London, Britain, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Toby Melville

London police arrested dozens of protesters for supporting a banned pro-Palestinian group at a demonstration on Saturday which went ahead despite requests to call it off after a deadly attack at a synagogue in Manchester.

Two people were killed in the attack in the northwestern English city on Thursday and police shot dead the assailant, a British man of Syrian descent who counter-terrorism police said may have been inspired by extremist Islamist ideology.

Organizers refused requests by the police and government to call off Saturday’s demonstration, which had been announced before the attack, to protest against the banning of pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws.

STARMER CALLS FOR CALM

Calling for calm on X on Saturday morning, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “I urge anyone thinking about protesting this weekend to recognize and respect the grief of British Jews.”

“This is a moment of mourning. It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain. It is a time to stand together,” he said.

Police arrested protesters in Trafalgar Square in central London as they wrote slogans on placards declaring support for Palestine Action, which was proscribed in July after members broke into an airbase and damaged military planes.

Hundreds gathered for the protest, applauding and cheering those arrested as they were carried through the crowd by police without resisting. Onlookers chanted “shame on you” at officers.

“I’m disgusted by the police actually, they shouldn’t be arresting non-violent protesters here,” said protester Angie Zelter. “We have a right to protest and Palestine Action is not a violent organization, should never have been proscribed in the first place.”

Six people were arrested separately after unfurling a Palestine Action banner on Westminster Bridge outside parliament.

SERIES OF PROTESTS

The demonstration is the latest in a series of protests, during which hundreds have been arrested for defying the ban which makes it an offense to show support for Palestine Action.

Police said Saturday’s protests would draw resources away from security they have tightened around synagogues and mosques following Thursday’s attack.

Defend Our Juries, which organized Saturday’s protest, has condemned the attack on the Jewish community in Manchester, and urged police to focus on that, not policing the demonstration.

Thursday’s attack followed incidents of antisemitic and Islamophobic hate in Britain this summer, and pro-Palestinian marchers have taken to the streets to denounce Israel, drawing criticism from some members of the Jewish community.

Jewish and Muslim communities in Britain have expressed fears for their safety.

Israel has waged war on Hamas in Gaza since the Palestinian militant group attacked Israel two years ago. US President Donald Trump has urged Israel to stop its bombardment after Hamas said it was ready to release hostages and agreed to some aspects of a plan to halt the war.

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Group of 137 Gaza Flotilla Activists Arrive in Turkey

FILE PHOTO: People gather on a boat from a flotilla that had been carrying aid to Gaza until it was intercepted by Israel, docked in the port of Larnaca, Cyprus October 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo

Some 137 activists detained by Israel for taking part in a flotilla seeking to deliver aid to Gaza arrived in Istanbul on Saturday after being deported, according to Reuters reporters at the airport.

The individuals included 36 Turkish nationals, as well as citizens from the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Switzerland, Tunisia and Jordan, ministry sources added.

The Turkish Airlines flight landed at Istanbul Airport.

MORE THAN 450 ACTIVISTS DETAINED

Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said 26 Italians were on board, with another 15 still held in Israel and set to be expelled over the next few days – along with activists from other nations.

Israel has faced international condemnation after its military intercepted all of about 40 boats in a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza and detained more than 450 activists.

“I have once again given instructions to the Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv to ensure that the remaining compatriots are treated with respect for their rights”, Tajani wrote on X.

A first group of Italians from the flotilla – four parliamentarians – arrived in Rome on Friday.

“Those who were acting legally were the people aboard those boats; those who acted illegally were those who prevented them from reaching Gaza,” Arturo Scotto, one of the Italian lawmakers who took part in the mission, told a press conference in Rome.

“We were brutally stopped … brutally taken hostage”, said Benedetta Scuderi, another Italian parliamentarian.

ZIP-TIED ON THEIR KNEES FOR HOURS

Israel’s foreign ministry wrote on X that all detained activists were “safe and in good health,” adding it was keen to complete the deportations “as quickly as possible.”

In a separate X post, it accused some flotilla members of “deliberately obstructing” the deportation process, without providing evidence. Reuters was unable to independently verify the allegation.

According to Adalah, an Israeli group offering legal assistance to flotilla members, some of them were denied access to lawyers, and denied access to water and medications, as well as the use of toilets.

Activists were also “forced to kneel with their hands zip-tied for at least five hours, after some participants chanted ‘Free Palestine,’” Adalah said.

Israel denied the allegations. “All of Adalah’s claims are complete lies. Of course, all detainees … were given access to water, food, and restrooms; they were not denied access to legal counsel, and all their legal rights were fully upheld,” a foreign ministry spokesperson told Reuters.

The flotilla, which set sail in late August, marked the latest attempt by activists to challenge the Israeli naval blockade of the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, where Israel has been waging a war since Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel in October 2023.

Israeli officials repeatedly denounced the mission as a stunt and warned it against violating a “lawful naval blockade.”

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‘Make Zionists Afraid’: Pro-Hamas Agitators in Germany Vandalize Gov’t Buildings, Intimidate Local Business

Anti-Israel protesters march in Germany, March 26, 2025. Photo: Sebastian Willnow/dpa via Reuters Connect

Pro-Hamas agitators in Germany carried out a series of antisemitic attacks this week, vandalizing government offices and targeting a Berlin bar with death threats and intimidation.

On Tuesday, an antisemitic flyer began circulating in Berlin, targeting the owners of Bajszel, a local bar in the city’s southeastern Neukölln neighborhood, with threats of violence and death, German media reported.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, the local bar — which hosts cultural programs and political events dedicated to fighting antisemitism — has been repeatedly targeted, with customers and staff threatened as “Jewish child killers” and the establishment repeatedly vandalized.

In this latest targeted incident, unknown individuals plastered flyers on the bar’s facade bearing the headline “Make Zionists Afraid.” Designed like a wanted poster, the handout showed photos of the three owners, each stamped with an inverted red triangle, which Hamas has used in its propaganda videos to indicate Israeli targets about to be attacked. The symbol has become a demonstration of support for the Palestinian terrorist group amid the war in Gaza.

The flyer accused the owners of “openly expressing their support for the colonial state of Israel” through the events they host at their bar.

“Anyone who sides with the perpetrators of genocide should feel unsafe everywhere. We want these three to be silenced forever and serve as a warning to all Zionists in Berlin and Neukölln,” the flyer read, referring to the bar’s owners.

The handout also included the antisemitic phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — a popular slogan among anti-Israel activists that has been widely interpreted as a genocidal call for the destruction of the Jewish state, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

Local authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the incident, but no arrests have been made so far.

Volker Beck, president of the German-Israeli Society, strongly condemned the attack, calling on law enforcement to act swiftly and urging immediate protection for the bar’s owners.

“Supporting Israel … should never put anyone’s life in danger. The antisemitic death threats against Bajszel in Berlin-Neukölln are completely unacceptable,” Beck said in a statement.

“Threatening people … with death for openly expressing their loyalty to Israel is a form of everyday terrorism that cannot be tolerated,” he continued.

In a separate incident on Thursday, the office of Germany’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Württemberg-Hohenzollern, a southwestern region of the country, was vandalized with antisemitic slogans. This marks one of the latest in a string of attacks by anti-Israel protesters targeting CDU offices nationwide.

Unknown perpetrators covered the office facade in red paint, scrawling messages such as “Accomplice,” “Stop the Genocide,” and “Flotilla Sumud.”

On Wednesday, the CDU building in Göttingen, a central German city, was vandalized, with several windows smashed and antisemitic slogans scrawled across the facade.

The perpetrators spray-painted slogans on the walls, including “Free Palestine,” “From the River to the Sea,” “Kill Zionists,” and “FCK CDU.”

Anti-Israel demonstrators even vandalized the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin-Mitte, covering the facade with red paint and scrawling antisemitic slogans.

Shortly after this incident, a pro-Palestinian demonstration was held outside the Foreign Ministry, where protesters chanted slogans such as “Free Palestine,” “Genocide,” and “All of Berlin hates the police.”

According to local authorities, an investigation has been launched into these latest incidents, and four activists have been arrested in connection with them.

Carina Hermann, chair of CDU’s municipal association, strongly condemned the recent wave of violence and vandalism, calling for immediate measures to ensure public safety.

“With broken windows, political slogans, and destroyed locks, the goal is to silence opposing voices and intimidate them with all the force possible,” Hermann said in a statement. “This is no longer a simple protest; it is a direct attack by extremists who have no regard for democracy or free discourse.”

In recent weeks, CDU offices in Hanover, Oldenburg, and other cities have also been vandalized. In Göttingen, additional buildings — including those of the Social Democratic Party of Germany — have been defaced.

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