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Fighting Antisemitism on New York Campuses Requires Sound Policies, Not Empty Platitudes
Protesters gathered at CUNY Chancellor Felix V. Matos Rodriguez’s office under the mantra ‘End Jew Hatred’ to protest growing antisemitism within CUNY and their campuses on Sept. 12, 2023. Photo by Meir Chaimowitz/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect
New York — the state that boasts the largest Jewish population in the United States — is also home to some of the most antisemitic universities in the country.
Published earlier this year, the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) “Campus Antisemitism Report Card” revealed that of the 14 New York-based schools listed, none had received an “A” rating in their ability to provide a safe environment for Jewish students.
In fact, several State University of New York (SUNY’) institutions were marked an “F’,” for failing to blunt the rise of antisemitic activity. Other schools, such as Columbia University and Cornell University, inched towards a passing grade and were categorized as a “D” rated school.
In recent years, the City University of New York (CUNY) has made headlines for its role as academia’s core of anti-Jewish hate.
CUNY professor and department chair Jeffrey Lax noted last year that for the first time, the University will not have Jewish representation among its senior leadership team.
Now, the antisemites embedded among CUNY’s cadre of employees and enrollees are intensifying their efforts to intimidate Jewish students.
For example, earlier this month, a gathering from the school’s Hillel organization was mocked, bullied, and chased into a kosher deli, as masked anti-Israel agitators hurled antisemitic epithets and blocked the restaurant entrance.
That incident is the latest in what amounts to a lengthy and alarming catalog of antisemitic episodes at CUNY.
To quell concerns, New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) commissioned a review of “Antisemitism and Antidiscrimination” policies at the University, with the results of the evaluation released last week.
While acknowledging the rise of Jew-hatred at CUNY, the policy suggestions detailed in the report are flawed and filled with progressive undertones, which include providing mandatory training for campus chief diversity officers.
Most troubling, the independent investigation, conducted by ex-New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, concludes that CUNY need not formally embrace and specify “a definition of antisemitism, let alone any specific definition of antisemitism, in order to ensure that it provides its community with an environment safe from antisemitism and discrimination.”
Expanding on the report’s suggestions, Gov. Hochul recommends using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism as merely a “tool” when investigating anti-Jewish incidents on campus.
The policy proposals set forth by Judge Lippman and sanctioned by Gov. Hochul convey an attempt to disentangle CUNY from its eroding reputation as a radical center of antisemitic activity. But their unwillingness to clearly define antisemitism grants left-wing “intellectuals,” which — in CUNY’s case — consists of students and professors, the space to collaborate and escalate their intimidation of Jews while rebranding New York’s universities as major theaters of antisemitism.
One of New York’s lone Democratic Congressmen inclined to advocate on behalf of CUNY’s Jewish students is Ritchie Torres, who, in a post last week, correctly condemned CUNY officials for telling Jewish students not to hold upcoming Rosh Hashanah celebrations at the school.
While pressure placed by the lawmaker ultimately led CUNY’s Baruch College to put out a statement claiming that the allegations were false, the episode underscores the inclination of administrators to align with terrorist sympathizers who continue to rise in the school’s professional and student ranks.
And the leadership at New York-based schools such as CUNY, Columbia, and Cornell do not punish Jew-hating perpetrators when there’s little impetus from state executives directing them to do so.
Among the pro-Hamas protestors (many of whom advocate for a genocide of Israelis and Zionists), many wear masks and have their identities concealed when harassing or assaulting Jewish students.
Over the summer, New York Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed a law making it illegal for anyone over the age of 16 to wear a mask or face covering, with exceptions outlined for health or religious reasons. Unsurprisingly, the Republican-led County was listed as “America’s Safest County” in a US News and World Report ranking published last month.
For her part, Governor Hochul has softened her initial lackluster support for a partial mask ban, and currently seems settled on the position that criminals committing crimes while masked should simply face stiffer penalties.
Furthermore, the absence of a severe response to antisemitism at New York’s schools extends beyond the aesthetic, with Governor Hochul, to date, also opposing levying any financial penalties on the offending institutions.
Cornell University’s Rusell Rickford took a “voluntary leave” of absence last year after a video surfaced in which he proclaimed that the October 7 massacre in Israel was “exhilarating” and “energizing.”
Despite his odious and completely unacceptable comments, Rickford is now back teaching at the school. The Ivy League institution receives $127 million from the state of New York to help fund the four SUNY schools it operates, according to an analysis conducted by The New York Post.
If Rickford had made those comments about any other group, he clearly would have been fired, and never allowed to work in the state again.
Columbia University, an epicenter of antisemitic activism, is also gifted millions of dollars in New York state and city grants. Still, Governor Hochul, along with other liberal policymakers, has shied away from threatening to withhold financial assistance and use it as leverage against schools plagued by antisemitic violence.
It has to be mentioned that the top 10 US campuses with the highest incidents of anti-Israel activism are in states run by a Democratic governor. Moreover, the FBI’s newly released 2023 Hate Crimes Statistics revealed that American Jews are the most targeted of any religious group, with hate crimes against Jews reaching the highest level “ever recorded by the FBI since it began collecting data in 1991.”
It’s time for New York state officials to use their executive powers and reorient New York’s academic establishments to places committed to upholding safety and civic dialogue.
As home to the highest population of Jews in America, New York’s higher education institutions should be beacons in leading the fight against antisemitism, rather than acting as the gravitational pull towards its growth.
Irit Tratt is an independent writer residing in New York.
The post Fighting Antisemitism on New York Campuses Requires Sound Policies, Not Empty Platitudes first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.