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Antisemitism at Michigan Colleges Has Reached Frightening Levels
In the past six months, violent antisemitic attacks have grown more common in higher education.
Jewish students at Columbia were attacked by individuals “wielding sticks” outside of their library; students at UC Berkeley were berated for attending an on-campus speaker event; and at Tulane, a student’s nose was broken while he was trying to stop protesters from burning an Israeli flag. Universities across the United States have found themselves in a serious predicament, and if they don’t figure out how to stop this blatant Jew hatred on campus, they will soon find their Jewish student populations dwindling.
A study published by the ADL at the end of November 2023, found that of the 700 college campuses and more than 3,000 students surveyed, students from nearly half of these schools reported at least one antisemitic incident on campus — and seven out of every 10 Jewish students had either experienced or witnessed antisemitism since the beginning of the Fall semester. And the numbers have only grown worse since.
This is a dramatic leap from before the atrocities of October 7, but antisemitism had been rising on campus before that. Jewish students feel scared, abandoned, and unwelcome on campus — and the problem is not getting better.
Perhaps no higher education system has been more affected by this problem than public universities in Michigan, a fact recently highlighted on the national television show Dr. Phil, where a senior at the University of Michigan blamed Israel for Hamas’ actions on October 7, and accused Dr. Phil of Islamophobia for asking whether they condemn the mass murder of Jews.
Just this past week, a student leader at Michigan posted to his Instagram story, “Until my last breath, I will utter death to every single individual who supports the Zionist state. Death and more. Death and worse.”
A few days prior to that, anti-Israel protesters brought the annual Honors Convocation ceremony to an unexpected end, and, in the last few months, these protesters have continuously entered university buildings, spewing hate and disrupting classes. None of these actions have elicited meaningful responses from the administration, even though these all clearly violate the University’s code of conduct.
To determine how Jewish students feel, I interviewed multiple high school seniors and college freshmen in Michigan on this topic. These individuals shared one clear message: Jewish students are worried that they will be victimized by antisemitism, and do not feel supported by their peers or universities.
Julia Feber, a senior at Wylie E. Groves High School in Birmingham, stated that she actually “turned down an acceptance from the University of Michigan” because of the “anti-Israel rhetoric on campus.” Instead, she chose to attend Elon University, which is “publicly pro-Israel” and has a large Jewish population. Julia isn’t alone: one in every 15 Jewish college students (7%) has considered transferring schools because of the anti-Israel climate on campus.
My next interviewee, first-year Michigan State University (MSU) student Minaleah Koffron, has felt a dramatic shift on campus in the wake of Hamas’ attack.
“Post-October 7, [there has been a] completely different climate [on campus] … there’s this narrative that Israel is committing heinous acts under the Zionist agenda, and [because] many college students are morally and fundamentally against atrocities like genocide, they turn the conflict in the Middle East into a highly personal issue … thus, the campus culture is divisive, where some promote a hostile environment toward Zionists and, by extension, Jews.”
Minaleah has experienced antisemitism on campus. “The bathroom next to my Hebrew class had the words ‘F*** off Zionists, you genocidal freaks’ and ‘Children’s blood is on your hands’ written on its wall. In that same building, a sticker was put up that equated Zionism with terrorism.”
Minaleah concluded by saying that “students on campus internalize the messages they see. As anti-Israel messages are increasingly shared by my peers and strewn throughout campus, students’ hate for Israel increases. With it, feelings of safety on campus diminish.”
Andrew Klein, another freshman at Michigan State University, has similar feelings about the culture on campus. He states that “after October 7, campus culture has taken a turn for the worse. It has been disheartening to see students who, a few months ago, could not locate Israel on the map become foreign policy experts, putting anti-Zionist legislation through our student government.”
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire: anti-Zionism and antisemitism are two sides of the same coin. Andrew’s friends have had their mezuzot ripped from their doorposts, and are now afraid to wear kippot or their Star of David necklaces openly on campus. “These anti-Israel groups are fueled off of victories, and sadly, right now, they are getting a lot of them.”
There have been countless “victories” for these anti-Zionist individuals on Michigan State’s campus. The Associated Students of Michigan State University (ASMSU) passed two bills, 60-65 and 60-30, riddled with antisemitic rhetoric. The Faculty Senate also passed a resolution calling on the university to divest from Israel. The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement inspires antisemitic rhetoric and has no place on campus.
In response to Israel’s defensive war against Hamas, American Jews are being harmed all over the country in the name of “Palestine.” Verbal attacks, forced censorship, and dehumanizing language have evolved into public threats, which have led to assaults. We are seeing this play out every day in front of our eyes. When we say “never again,” it falls on deaf ears. The general public needs to wake up and see that Jews don’t feel safe because they are actually under attack. Something must be done before it is too late.
Laela Saulson is a senior at Michigan State University. She is currently a CAMERA fellow, working to combat anti-Israel misinformation on campus.
The post Antisemitism at Michigan Colleges Has Reached Frightening Levels first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netanyahu Says Israel Will Make Own Decisions on Self-Defense After Meeting With Allies to Discuss Iran Attack
Israel’s military displays what they say is an Iranian ballistic missile which they retrieved from the Dead Sea after Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel, at Julis military base, in southern Israel, April 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday that Israel will make its own decisions about how to defend itself after meeting with the British and German foreign ministers to discuss how the Jewish state plans to respond to a recent direct attack by Iran.
“During the meetings, Prime Minister Netanyahu insisted that Israel preserve the right to self-defense,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. “The Prime Minister thanked the Foreign Minister of Great Britain and the Foreign Minister of Germany for their unequivocal support and for the countries’ standing in an unprecedented defense against Iran’s attack on the State of Israel.”
Netanyahu echoed that message in a subsequent meeting of the Israeli cabinet. The premier said that while he appreciated the “suggestions and advice” from David Cameron of the UK and Annalena Baerbock of Germany, Israel would “make our own decisions, and the State of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself.”
The top British and German diplomats traveled to Israel to meet with Netanyahu as part of a coordinated effort to prevent confrontation between Iran and Israel from escalating into a regional conflict.
Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack against the Israeli homeland on Saturday. Israel, with the help of allies including the US and Britain, repelled the massive Iranian drone and missile salvo.
World leaders, especially in the US and Europe, have been urging Israel to show restraint in its response and to de-escalate tensions. The US, European Union, and G7 group of industrialized nations all announced plans to consider additional sanctions on Iran.
From his meetings, however, Cameron said it was “clear that Israel has decided to respond to the Iranian attack. We hope that Jerusalem will act in a way that will cause as little escalation as possible.”
Baerbock argued that escalation “would serve no one, not Israel’s security, not the many dozens of hostages still in the hands of Hamas, not the suffering population of Gaza, not the many people in Iran who are themselves suffering under the regime.” She also told Israel officials that “we won’t tell you how to act, but think about the future of the region. Act wisely.”
Leading up to Saturday’s attack, Iranian officials had promised revenge for an airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria last week that Iran has attributed to Israel. The strike killed seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), a US-designated terrorist organization, including two senior commanders. One of the commanders allegedly helped plan the Hamas terrorist group’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the incident.
The escalating tensions between Iran and Israel risk spreading an already explosive situation in the Middle East amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Iran has been Hamas’ chief international sponsor, providing the Palestinian terror group with weapons, funding, and training.
The post Netanyahu Says Israel Will Make Own Decisions on Self-Defense After Meeting With Allies to Discuss Iran Attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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UN Security Council to Vote Friday on Palestinian UN Membership
PA President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a meeting in Ramallah, in the West Bank August 18, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/Pool
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to vote Friday on a Palestinian request for full UN membership, said diplomats, a move that Israel’s ally the United States is expected to block because it would effectively recognize a Palestinian state.
The 15-member council is due to vote at 3 pm (1900 GMT) Friday on a draft resolution that recommends to the 193-member UN General Assembly that “the State of Palestine be admitted to membership of the United Nations,” diplomats said.
A council resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the US, Britain, France, Russia, or China to pass. Diplomats say the measure could have the support of up to 13 council members, which would force the US to use its veto.
Council member Algeria, which put forward the draft resolution, had requested a vote for Thursday afternoon to coincide with a Security Council meeting on the Middle East, which is due to be attended by several ministers.
The United States has said that establishing an independent Palestinian state should happen through direct negotiations between the parties and not at the United Nations.
“We do not see that doing a resolution in the Security Council will necessarily get us to a place where we can find … a two-state solution moving forward,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Wednesday.
The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a recognition that was granted by the 193-member UN General Assembly in 2012. But an application to become a full UN member needs to be approved by the Security Council and then at least two-thirds of the General Assembly.
The Palestinian push for full UN membership comes six months into a war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas terrorists in Gaza, and as Israel is expanding settlements in the West Bank.
Israel‘s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said earlier this month that “whoever supports recognizing a Palestinian state at such a time not only gives a prize to terror, but also backs unilateral steps which are contradictory to the agreed-upon principle of direct negotiations.”
A Security Council committee on the admission of new members — made up of all 15 council members — met twice last week to discuss the Palestinian application and agreed to a report on the issue on Tuesday.
“Regarding the issue of whether the application met all the criteria for membership … the committee was unable to make a unanimous recommendation to the Security Council,” the report said, adding that “differing views were expressed.”
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Hezbollah Attack Hits Community Center in Northern Israel, Injuring 18
An Israeli soldier looks on at a scene, after it was reported that people were injured, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, near Arab al-Aramashe in northern Israel, April 17, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Avi Ohayon
Fourteen Israeli soldiers and four civilians were injured on Wednesday when Hezbollah fired drones and missiles at northern Israel, escalating tensions along the border between the Jewish state and the Iran-backed terrorist group in Lebanon.
Some of the military projectiles hit a community center in the Bedouin town of Arab al-Aramshe near the Israel-Lebanon border. Soldiers may have been using the building as a gathering space.
The victims were taken to Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. According to the hospital, one was listed in critical condition and four others were seriously wounded, while the remaining victims were moderately and lightly hurt. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that all five victims who were in critical and serious condition were soldiers.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for firing anti-tank guided missiles and explosive-laden drones from Lebanese territory toward northern Israel, saying the attack was in response to the killing of three of its members, including two commanders, in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon a day earlier.
Video posted to social media showed what are called “suicide drones,” which go directly toward the target and blow up as opposed to dropping a payload — hitting the community center. A nearby car was also struck.
Israel said it responded by targeting the launch sites of the attack.
Tensions have been escalating between Israel and Hezbollah for months, fueling concerns that the war in Gaza — the Palestinian enclave ruled by Hamas, another Iran-backed terror group, to Israel’s south — could escalate into a regional conflict.
Tens of thousands of Israelis have been forced to flee their homes in northern Israel due to constant Hezbollah attacks.
Israeli leaders have said that while they do not seek war with Hezbollah and hope for a diplomatic resolution to the escalating tensions, they are prepared to use significant military force to combat the terror group and allow evacuees to return to their homes in northern Israel.
The post Hezbollah Attack Hits Community Center in Northern Israel, Injuring 18 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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