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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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Syria’s Sharaa Says Talks With Israel Could Yield Results ‘In Coming Days’
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks at the opening ceremony of the 62nd Damascus International Fair, the first edition held since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, in Damascus, Syria, Aug. 27, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Wednesday that ongoing negotiations with Israel to reach a security pact could lead to results “in the coming days.”
He told reporters in Damascus the security pact was a “necessity” and that it would need to respect Syria’s airspace and territorial unity and be monitored by the United Nations.
Syria and Israel are in talks to reach an agreement that Damascus hopes will secure a halt to Israeli airstrikes and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria.
Reuters reported this week that Washington was pressuring Syria to reach a deal before world leaders gather next week for the UN General Assembly in New York.
But Sharaa, in a briefing with journalists including Reuters ahead of his expected trip to New York to attend the meeting, denied the US was putting any pressure on Syria and said instead that it was playing a mediating role.
He said Israel had carried out more than 1,000 strikes on Syria and conducted more than 400 ground incursions since Dec. 8, when the rebel offensive he led toppled former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
Sharaa said Israel’s actions were contradicting the stated American policy of a stable and unified Syria, which he said was “very dangerous.”
He said Damascus was seeking a deal similar to a 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria that created a demilitarized zone between the two countries.
He said Syria sought the withdrawal of Israeli troops but that Israel wanted to remain at strategic locations it seized after Dec. 8, including Mount Hermon. Israeli ministers have publicly said Israel intends to keep control of the sites.
He said if the security pact succeeds, other agreements could be reached. He did not provide details, but said a peace agreement or normalization deal like the US-mediated Abraham Accords, under which several Muslim-majority countries agreed to normalize diplomatic ties with Israel, was not currently on the table.
He also said it was too early to discuss the fate of the Golan Heights because it was “a big deal.”
Reuters reported this week that Israel had ruled out handing back the zone, which Donald Trump unilaterally recognized as Israeli during his first term as US president.
“It’s a difficult case – you have negotiations between a Damascene and a Jew,” Sharaa told reporters, smiling.
SECURITY PACT DERAILED IN JULY
Sharaa also said Syria and Israel had been just “four to five days” away from reaching the basis of a security pact in July, but that developments in the southern province of Sweida had derailed those discussions.
Syrian troops were deployed to Sweida in July to quell fighting between Druze armed factions and Bedouin fighters. But the violence worsened, with Syrian forces accused of execution-style killings and Israel striking southern Syria, the defense ministry in Damascus and near the presidential palace.
Sharaa on Wednesday described the strikes near the presidential palace as “not a message, but a declaration of war,” and said Syria had still refrained from responding militarily to preserve the negotiations.
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Anti-Israel Activists Gear Up to ‘Flood’ UN General Assembly
US Capitol Police and NYPD officers clash with anti-Israel demonstrators, on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Anti-Israel groups are planning a wave of raucous protests in New York City during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) over the next several days, prompting concerns that the demonstrations could descend into antisemitic rhetoric and intimidation.
A coalition of anti-Israel activists is organizing the protests in and around UN headquarters to coincide with speeches from Middle Eastern leaders and appearances by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The demonstrations are expected to draw large crowds and feature prominent pro-Palestinian voices, some of whom have been criticized for trafficking in antisemitic tropes, in addition to calling for the destruction of Israe.
Organizers of the demonstrations have promoted the coordinated events on social media as an opportunity to pressure world leaders to hold Israel accountable for its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, with some messaging framed in sharply hostile terms.
On Sunday, for example, activists shouted at Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.
“Zionism is terrorism. All you guys are terrorists committing ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza and Palestine. Shame on you, Zionist animals,” they shouted.
BREAKING: PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTORS CONFRONT “ISRAELI” AMBASSADOR DANNY DANON AT THE UNITED NATIONS
1/5 pic.twitter.com/4G1VYEMGzV
— Within Our Lifetime (@WOLPalestine) September 14, 2025
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), warned on its website that the scale and tone of the planned demonstrations risk crossing the line from political protest into hate speech, arguing that anti-Israel activists are attempting to hijack the UN gathering to spread antisemitism and delegitimize the Jewish state’s right to exist.
Outside the UN last week, masked protesters belonging to the activist group INDECLINE kicked a realistic replica of Netanyahu’s decapitated head as though it were a soccer ball.
US activist group plays soccer with Bibi’s mock decapitated HEAD right outside NYC UN HQ
Peep shot at 00:40
Footage posted by INDECLINE collective just as UN General Assembly about to kick off
‘Following the game, ball was donated to Palestinian Genocide Museum’ pic.twitter.com/TQ84sgZhKr
— RT (@RT_com) September 9, 2025
Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a radical anti-Israel activist group, has vowed to “flood” the UNGA on behalf of the pro-Palestine movement.
WOL, one of the most prolific anti-Israel activist groups, came under immense fire after it organized a protest against an exhibition to honor the victims of the Oct. 7 massacre at the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel. During the event, the group chanted “resistance is justified when people are occupied!” and “Israel, go to hell!”
“We will be there to confront them with the truth: Their silence and inaction enable genocide. The world cannot continue as if Gaza does not exist,” WOL said of its planned demonstrations in New York. “This is the time to make our voices impossible to ignore. Come to New York by any means necessary, to stand, to march, to demand the UN act and end the siege.”
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), two other anti-Israel organizations that have helped organize widespread demonstrations against the Jewish state during the war in Gaza, also announced they are planning a march from Times Square to the UN headquarters on Friday.
“The time is now for each and every UN member state to uphold their duty under international law: sanction Israel and end the genocide,” the groups said in a statement.
JVP, an organization that purports to fight for “Palestinian liberation,” has positioned itself as a staunch adversary of the Jewish state. The group argued in a 2021 booklet that Jews should not write Hebrew liturgy because hearing the language would be “deeply traumatizing” to Palestinians. JVP has repeatedly defended the Oct. 7 massacre of roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel by Hamas as a justified “resistance.” Chapters of the organization have urged other self-described “progressives” to throw their support behind Hamas and other terrorist groups against Israel
Similarly, PYM, another radical anti-Israel group, has repeatedly defended terrorism and violence against the Jewish state. PYM has organized many anti-Israel protests in the two years following the Oct. 7 attacks in the Jewish state. Recently, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) called for a federal investigation into the organization after Aisha Nizar, one of the group’s leaders, urged supporters to sabotage the US supply chain for the F-35 fighter jet, one of the most advanced US military assets and a critical component of Israel’s defense.
The UN General Assembly has historically been a flashpoint for heated debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Previous gatherings have seen dueling demonstrations outside the Manhattan venue, with pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups both seeking to influence the international spotlight.
While warning about the demonstrations, CAM noted it recently launched a new mobile app, Report It, that allows users worldwide to quickly and securely report antisemitic incidents in real time.
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Nina Davidson Presses Universities to Back Words With Action as Jewish Students Return to Campus Amid Antisemitism Crisis
Nina Davidson on The Algemeiner’s ‘J100’ podcast. Photo: Screenshot
Philanthropist Nina Davidson, who served on the board of Barnard College, has called on universities to pair tough rhetoric on combatting antisemitism with enforcement as Jewish students returned to campuses for the new academic year.
“Years ago, The Algemeiner had published a list ranking the most antisemitic colleges in the country. And number one was Columbia,” Davidson recalled on a recent episode of The Algemeiner‘s “J100” podcast. “As a board member and as someone who was representing the institution, it really upset me … At the board meeting, I brought it up and I said, ‘What are we going to do about this?’”
Host David Cohen, chief executive officer of The Algemeiner, explained he had revisited Davidson’s remarks while she was being honored for her work at The Algemeiner‘s 8th annual J100 gala, held in October 2021, noting their continued relevance.
“It could have been the same speech in 2025,” he said, underscoring how longstanding concerns about campus antisemitism, while having intensified in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, are not new.
Davidson argued that universities already possess the tools to protect students – codes of conduct, time-place-manner rules, and consequences for threats or targeted harassment – but too often fail to apply them evenly. “Statements are not enough,” she said, arguing that institutions need to enforce their rules and set a precedent that there will be consequences for individuals who refuse to follow them.
She also said that stakeholders – alumni, parents, and donors – are reassessing their relationships with schools that, in their view, have not safeguarded Jewish students. While supportive of open debate, Davidson distinguished between protest and intimidation, calling for leadership that protects expression while ensuring campus safety.
The episode surveyed specific pressure points that administrators will face this fall: repeat anti-Israel encampments, disruptions of Jewish programming, and the challenge of distinguishing political speech from conduct that violates university rules. “Unless schools draw those lines now,” Davidson warned, “they’ll be scrambling once the next crisis hits.”
Cohen closed by framing the discussion as a test of institutional credibility, asking whether universities will “turn policy into protection” in real time. Davidson agreed, pointing to students who “need to know the rules aren’t just on paper.”
The full conversation is available on The Algemeiner’s “J100” podcast.