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As a New Semester Begins, December Was Filled with Anti-Israel College Events
A student protester parades a Palestinian flag outside the entrance to Hamilton Hall on the campus of Columbia University, in New York, US, April 30, 2024. Photo: Mary Altaffer/Pool via REUTERS
Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) activities in December was characterized by a continuing high number of protests and attacks against Jews and Israelis in the US and globally. Notable incidents included:
- The shooting of two children at a California school by a man who wanted to avenge the “genocide” of Palestinians,
- The firebombing of a Montreal synagogue for the second time,
- Shots fired for the seventh time against a Toronto synagogue,
- An arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue that injured two,
- An arson attempt against a Cape Town (SA) Jewish community center,
- An explosive device thrown at a Melbourne rabbi pushing a baby stroller,
- Burning a car and vandalizing two buildings with anti-Israel messages in Sydney,
- Vandalizing the San Francisco Hillel house with the word Khaybar, a hammer and sickle, and an anarchist symbol,
- A car ramming attack in Laguna Beach (CA),
- The beating of an American Jewish student in Dublin by a mob who demanded to know if he was Jewish,
- An assault on a Jewish student outside the gates of Columbia University,
- Rocks thrown at buses carrying Jewish schoolchildren in London, and
- Vandalizing the home of a Jewish University of Michigan trustee, which included writing the words ‘free Palestine’ on his car and throwing jars of urine through a window.
Protests and attacks against property included:
- Vandalizing buildings across the Vassar College campus,
- A protest at a New York University library that resulting in the arrest of two faculty members, who along with several others were declared persona non grata and barred from campus,
- A protest of an Oberlin College Board of Trustees meeting that was dispersed by police,
- A protest of a University of Wisconsin Board of Regents meeting that resulted in arrests. The university’s SJP chapter faces an investigation and possible suspension,
- The occupation of the Ottawa parliament building by ‘anti-Zionist Jews’ that resulted in arrests,
- A demonstration outside a Toronto area synagogue, which was holding an Israel real estate fair, and
- A protest at the opening of the La Scala opera by anti-government, anti-capitalist, and anti-Israel protestors who dumped manure in front of the building.
The escalating number of antisemitic attacks and violence is also reflected in various statistics:
- Hate crimes against Jews in the Los Angeles area rose 91% in 2023,
- Antisemitic incidents in Texas nearly doubled between 2022 and 2023,
- Antisemitic incidents in Australia rose 400% since 2023,
- Antisemitic incidents on British campuses rose more than 400% from 2022-2023 to 2023-2024, and
- Islamic terror incidents in the US rose sharply in 2024.
The huge escalation of violence in Canada and Australia in particular, attributed in part to large scale Muslim immigration and official hostility towards Israel following October 7, have caused serious alarm including among local politicians.
On campuses the number of protests and arrests dropped dramatically compared to the 2023-2024 academic year. This may be attributed to a loss of momentum by the pro-Palestinian movement and to university restrictions put in place as a result of last year’s violence.
The appearance of greater calm, however, might be misleading. The arrest of two George Mason University students and SJP leaders, Palestinian-American sisters Jena and Noor Chanaa, suspected of vandalizing university property, revealed a cache of guns and ammunition as well as Hezbollah and Hamas materials. A third George Mason University student, Egyptian national Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan, was arrested on charges of planning a terror attack on the Israeli consulate in New York City.
Virginian Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin stated further that SJP “pose[s] a clear and present threat to Jewish students and the Jewish community in Virginia.” Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares launched an investigation of SJP’s supporting organization, American Muslims for Palestine, shortly after October 7th. The prospect of terrorist attacks by students gives further urgency to calls to detain and deport hostile foreign nationals.
Administrations
The sustaining relationship between diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and ideology and campus antisemitism continues to be highlighted. One recent study documented how DEI training increases psychological harm, hostility, and the propensity to agree with extremist language and punitive behaviors.
The situation was demonstrated in a case at the University of Michigan, where a leading DEI administrator was fired for stating at a conference that Jews have “no genetic DNA that would connect them to the land of Israel,” the university was “controlled by wealthy Jews,” and reportedly stating that “Jewish students are all rich. They don’t need us.” She denied making the remarks and plans to sue the university. The firing comes as the university ended the use of diversity statements in faculty hiring, promotion, and tenure decisions and considered ending all its DEI programs.
Both the University of Cincinnati and the University of California resolved cases regarding anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim discrimination with the US Department of Education. The resolutions involved changes to staff training and reporting procedures rather than fundamental changes to campus culture.
Pro-Hamas protestors continue to be disciplined by universities. The University of Georgia and George Mason University suspended their SJP chapters, while the University of Minnesota suspended a number of SJP members and demanded financial restitution for damages they caused during a building takeover. New York University Law School also warned protestors that they may be subject to unspecified disciplinary action.
Students
Fallout from the past year’s anti-Israel protests continues to be felt. Despite a lower number of protests, Hillel International reported approximately the same number of campus incidents in 2024 as in 2023. These included several violent assaults. The prospect of future violence also remains strong.
At the University of Michigan, saga of the activists elected on the platform of shutting down student government in order to support ‘Gaza’ has come to a close. After shutting down funding to all student clubs only to have the administration provide independent funding, the president and vice president of the student government have now been impeached and removed from office. Pro-Palestinian students admit that the officers “look like extremists” and have damaged the cause on campus
The extent to which anti-Israel hate has damaged various aspects of campus life is becoming clear:
- The MIT student newspaper temporarily suspended publishing opinion pieces after being forced to retract a piece from the MIT Coalition for Palestine (C4P) which made false allegations against a faculty member.
- At Sarah Lawrence College, where pro-Hamas activists occupied a building for several weeks stated they were “answering the call of Hamas,” complaints have mounted against the overt antisemitism of ‘performative woke people’ and their repressive campus cancel culture, described as being ‘Sarah Lawrenced.’
- At UCLA a Jewish student has filed a complaint with the student judiciary claiming that all Jewish students had been summarily rejected for staff positions at the demand of the “Cultural Affairs Commissioner” who instructed subordinates to “please do your research when you look at applicants,” as “lots of zionists are applying” and that she would “share a doc of no hire list during retreat.”
Faculty
Faculty continue to be at the forefront of campus antisemitism and support for Hamas. A new study has shown again that institutions with the most active anti-Israel faculty are those with the most incidents directed against Jewish students.
Faculty anti-Israel activity is also now fully bound up with unionized labor. At Rutgers University, a majority of faculty union members associated with two unions, the American Association of University Professors and American Federation of Teachers, voted in favor of a BDS resolution and called for the university to ends its relationship with Tel Aviv University.
By following unionized graduate students in making anti-Israel politics a labor issue, faculty unions attempt to leverage public support for organized labor and minimize the overt bias involved in anti-Israel resolutions.
These efforts mesh with continued efforts to characterize anti-Israel course content and classroom behavior as part of ‘academic freedom.’ Criticism of such content, such as planned course at Cornell University called “Gaza, Indigeneity, Resistance” to be taught by a notable anti-Israel faculty member, including comments by the university president, were characterized as a threat to academic freedom. In another recent example of this subterfuge, it emerged that Columbia University’s most notorious anti-Israel faculty member, Joseph Massad, will be teaching a course on Zionism.
A lawsuit brought against Carnegie Mellon University by an Israeli student provides an inside look at how individual faculty abuse students in the classroom. The suit, which a Federal court has allowed to proceed, alleges that a faculty member described the student’s architectural project “model looked like the wall Israelis use to barricade Palestinians out of Israel,” and that the student’s time “would have been better spent if [she] had instead explored ‘what Jews do to make themselves such a hated group.’”
K-12
After October 7, 2023, the K-12 sphere was revealed as a key environment for anti-Israel bias. Replacing the emphasis on transgender issues with anti-Israel bias appears to be part of the sector’s adaptive strategy to maintain its relevance. Teachers’ unions are central to the process. For example, the Massachusetts Teachers Association declared that Israel was committing ‘genocide’ in December 2023 and has proceeded to undertake training sessions and to provide materials demonizing Israel.
The trend of teachers testifying to one another that Israel is a satanic entity has expanded. At a recent educator’s conference, Massachusetts teachers emphasized Israeli ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ with one participant calling for ‘two perspectives’ regarding the Holocaust. Similarly, at the recent National Association of Independent Schools conference, which represents more than 2,000 private schools, several speakers described Israel as racist and genocidal. Jewish participants reported hostility from other attendees, with many vowing not to return. The association’s president apologized, a move which was condemned by anti-Israel speakers.
The pervasive bias shown by teachers has been institutionalized in classrooms and administrations. Responding to a complaint from Jewish parents, the US Department of Education found that the Philadelphia School District did not adequately address cases of “harassment based on shared ancestry.” The resolution calls for staff training and revised policies. The Department also found that the school district refused to produced requested information.
The author is a contributor to SPME, where a significantly different version of this article first appeared.
The post As a New Semester Begins, December Was Filled with Anti-Israel College Events first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Australia’s Albanese Downplays Netanyahu’s Criticism as Ties Sour
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday played down Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu’s pointed condemnation of his decision to recognize a Palestinian state, saying he treated the leaders of other countries with respect.
“I don’t take these things personally; I engage with people diplomatically. He has had similar things to say about other leaders,” Albanese said during a media briefing.
Netanyahu’s personal attack on Albanese, describing him as a “weak politician,” has further strained relations between the two countries.
Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke told national broadcaster ABC earlier on Wednesday that strength was “not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry.”
“Strength is much better measured by exactly what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has done, which is when there’s a decision that we know Israel won’t like, he goes straight to Benjamin Netanyahu.”
Ties have soured since Australia decided last week to conditionally recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.
“History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews,” Netanyahu said in a post on X on Tuesday.
Albanese told reporters that he had informed Netanyahu about Australia’s decision to support a Palestinian state before his center-left government formally announced the plan.
“At that time, I gave Prime Minister Netanyahu a clear indication of my view and Australia’s view going forward but also a clear indication of the direction in which we were headed,” Albanese said.
“I gave him the opportunity to outline what political solution there was and gave him that opportunity.”
Israel this week revoked the visas of Australian diplomats to the Palestinian Authority after Albanese‘s Labor government canceled the visa of an Israeli lawmaker over remarks the Australian government considered controversial and inflammatory.
Israel has been facing increasing international pressure over its military offensive in the Gaza Strip due to the humanitarian situation in the enclave.
The offensive began nearly two years ago after Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
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Why Israel’s Existence Is Under Fire, But Jordan’s Is Not
French President Emmanuel Macron stands by the Western Wall, in Jerusalem’s Old City, Jan. 22, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Ammar Awad.
In today’s political climate, no country faces more existential scrutiny than Israel. News outlets, social media commentators, and international organizations repeatedly question its legitimacy. But here’s the paradox: No one seems to ask whether Jordan has the right to exist, even though both Israel and Jordan were born from the same colonial mandate.
So why the double standard?
The uncomfortable answer is a toxic mix of modern antisemitism, historical revisionism, and global hypocrisy.
The British Mandate for Palestine, established after World War I, covered an area that included present-day Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories. The land had been part of the Ottoman Empire for centuries before the British took control.
Here’s the relevant history:
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In 1922, Britain arbitrarily cut off 78% of the Mandate to create Transjordan, today’s Jordan, installing the Hashemite monarchy.
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In 1946, Jordan gained full independence with minimal resistance or international drama.
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But when Israel declared independence in 1948, it was instantly attacked by five Arab nations and plunged into decades of conflict and global condemnation.
No one called Jordan’s birth a catastrophe. But Israel’s creation sparked endless accusations, wars, and a global campaign to undermine its legitimacy.
There are 22 Arab states, and approximately 50 Muslim-majority countries. There are countless Christian nations. No one disputes their right to exist based on religious or cultural identity.
But Israel? The only Jewish state in the world? That’s “controversial.”
The term “anti-Zionism” is often used to mask deep-rooted antisemitism. Critics say it’s not about Jews, just about Israel’s policies. Yet they don’t apply the same standard to countries with far worse records on democracy, human rights, or warfare.
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China occupies Tibet and jails Uyghur Muslims in camps. Silence.
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Turkey occupies northern Cyprus. Barely a peep.
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Pakistan was created on religious lines and has fueled decades of regional instability. No “right to exist” debate there.
Only Israel, a thriving democracy with equal rights for Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and more, is constantly forced to justify its existence.
Jordan and the Palestinians
Let’s get honest: The Palestinian narrative is heavily politicized.
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Jordan was carved out of historic “Palestine” and has a Palestinian-majority population.
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From 1948 to 1967, Jordan occupied the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem; no one called for a Palestinian state then.
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Jordan expelled thousands of Palestinians during Black September in 1970. No UN inquiries. No global protests.
So why does the world obsess only over Israel when it comes to Palestinians? The answer is not justice, it’s targeted bias.
The “Nakba” and Its Weaponization
Every war creates refugees. Millions of Europeans were displaced after World War II. Millions of Hindus and Muslims fled during the partition of India and Pakistan. Jewish communities were ethnically cleansed from Arab countries after 1948, and nearly 850,000 lost their homes.
Yet only one refugee narrative, the Nakba — the “catastrophe” of Israel’s creation — has been turned into a political bludgeon used to delegitimize a nation’s very existence.
The Nakba isn’t just about land, it’s about denying Jewish nationhood. It’s about saying Israel’s creation was not just a tragedy, but a crime.
For centuries, Jews were persecuted, expelled, and slaughtered, always the victims. The world grew used to powerless Jews.
But the birth of Israel changed that.
Israel represents Jewish survival, sovereignty, and strength. That offends many, especially those who are more comfortable seeing Jews as victims rather than as a powerful, independent people.
When Israel defends itself, it’s accused of aggression. When other nations do the same, it’s called self-defense. That’s not diplomacy, that’s prejudice.
Israel’s Right to Exist Is Not a Debate
Israel is not a colonial project. It is not a foreign implant. It is the re-establishment of Jewish independence in the Jewish people’s ancestral homeland, a land where Jewish identity, culture, and presence has remained continuously for over 3,000 years. There have always been Jews in this land.
The Jewish people have:
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A historical claim
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A legal claim (via the Balfour Declaration, League of Nations, and the UN)
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A moral claim, especially after surviving the Holocaust and centuries of exile.
Israel does not need permission to exist. Its right to life is self-evident.
Jordan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were all created in the 20th century under controversial, religiously influenced conditions. Yet none face daily challenges to their legitimacy.
Only Israel does.
That says less about Israel and more about the international community, a community that too often tolerates antisemitism disguised as activism.
It’s time to stop holding Israel to impossible standards. Time to stop treating Jewish self-determination as an offense. And time to demand fairness, not favoritism, in international diplomacy.
Because the question isn’t, “Does Israel have the right to exist?”
The real question is, “why do so many people still believe it doesn’t?”
Sabine Sterk is the CEO of Time To Stand Up For Israel.
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Israel Begins First Stages of Planned Gaza City Offensive, Says Military Spokesman
An Israeli soldier stands on a tank on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, Israel, Aug. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israel has entered the first stages of its planned offensive to take control of Gaza City after a clash with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and already has a hold on the outskirts of the city, Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin told reporters on Wednesday.
The announcement came as Israel‘s military called up tens of thousands of reservists on Wednesday in preparation for the operation in Gaza City, the enclave’s biggest urban center, and as the Israeli government considered a new proposal for a ceasefire after nearly two years of war.
However, a military official briefing reporters said reserve soldiers would not report for duty until September, an interval that gives mediators some time to bridge gaps between Hamas and Israel over truce terms.
The official said that as part of planning for a new offensive in the Gaza Strip, there would be five divisions operating in the enclave, but most reservists were not expected to serve in combat in Gaza City.
“We will be moving into a new phase of combat, a gradual, precise, and targeted operation in and around Gaza City, which currently serves as Hamas’ main military and governing stronghold,” the official said.
Israel’s security cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, approved a plan this month to expand the campaign in Gaza with the aim of taking Gaza City, where Israeli forces waged fierce urban warfare with Hamas in the early stages of the war. Israel currently holds about 75 percent of the Gaza Strip.
Many of Israel’s closest Western allies have urged the government to reconsider, expressing concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian terrorists led by Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities near the border, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages including children into Gaza.
Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
Hamas has accepted a proposal put forward by Arab mediators for a 60-day ceasefire that would involve releasing some of the remaining hostages and freeing Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
The Israeli government, which has said all the 50 remaining hostages must be released at once, is studying the proposal. Israeli authorities believe that 20 hostages are still alive.
Many Gazans and foreign leaders fear a storming of Gaza City would cause significant casualties. Israel says it will help civilians leave battle zones before any assault begins.
ISRAELI TROOPS, HAMAS FIGHTERS CLASH
Israeli troops clashed on Wednesday with more than 15 Hamas terrorists who emerged from tunnel shafts and attacked with gunfire and anti-tank missiles near Khan Younis, south of Gaza City, severely wounding one soldier and lightly wounding two others, an Israeli military official said.
In a statement, Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades confirmed carrying out a raid on Israeli troops southeast of Khan Younis and engaging Israeli troops at point-blank range. It said one fighter blew himself up among the soldiers, causing casualties, during an attack that lasted several hours.
Most Gazans have been displaced multiple times during the conflict and forced into densely packed areas along the Mediterranean coast, including in Gaza City in the enclave’s north.
Israeli officials have said evacuation orders would be issued to Gaza City residents before any force moves in.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which oversees Gaza‘s only Catholic Church, located in Gaza City, said it had received reports that neighborhoods near the small parish had started to receive evacuation notices.
Hamas, an Islamist movement that has ruled Gaza for almost two decades, has been severely weakened by the war. The Israeli military says Hamas has been reduced to a guerrilla force.
The Israeli military official who briefed reporters on Wednesday said Hamas had been trying to regroup and re-form in Gaza City in a more organized manner.
Hamas has said it would release all remaining hostages in exchange for an end to war. Israel says it will not end the war before Hamas disarms.
Opinion polls show strong Israeli public support for ending the war if it ensures the release of the hostages, and a rally in Tel Aviv urging the government to pursue such a deal drew a huge crowd on Saturday.