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‘Hamas, We Love You!’ A List of the Chants, Statements From Columbia University’s ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’
Anti-Israel protesters outside Columbia University in Manhattan, New York City, April 22, 2024. Photo: USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect
Anti-Israel activists at Columbia University in New York set up a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” in the middle of campus last week.
Protests accompanying the encampment — both on and off campus, including students and others from the surrounding community — have included pro-Hamas and antisemitic rhetoric.
In an effort to end the encampment, which was breaking school rules, the university’s president, Minouche Shafik, called in the New York City Police Department.
“I took this extraordinary step because these are extraordinary circumstances,” she said. “The individuals who established the encampment violated a long list of rules and policies. Through direct conversations and in writing, the university provided multiple notices of these violations.”
However, Shafik continued, “all of these attempts to resolve the situation were rejected by the students involved.”
Jewish students were advised to leave campus for their safety by Columbia’s orthodox rabbi, although other Jewish organizations have disagreed with that advice.
The pro-Hamas and antisemitic chants and statements made by those in connection with the encampment have even drawn comment from the White House: “While every American has the right to peaceful protest, calls for violence and physical intimidation targeting Jewish students and the Jewish community are blatantly antisemitic, unconscionable, and dangerous — they have absolutely no place on any college campus, or anywhere in the United States of America.”
Here is a comprehensive list of the chants and statements that produced such a response.
A protester stood in front of pro-Israel students who were waving Israeli and American flags with a sign reading, “Al-Qassam’s next targets,” referring to the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization.
A man yelled at two Jews, “Never forget the 7th of October. That will happen not one more time, not five more times, not 10 … 100 … 1,000 … 10,000 … The 7th of October is going to be every day for you.”
A crowd chanted, “Al-Qassam, you make us proud; kill another soldier now!”
Demonstrators yelled “Jews, Jews” in Arabic and others were saying “Go back to Poland.”
A group of demonstrators off-campus chanted, “We say justice, you say how? Burn Tel Aviv to the ground!”
“Hamas we love you. We support your rockets too!”
“Red, black, green, and white, we support Hamas’ fight!”
“It is right to rebel, Al-Qassam, give them hell!”
More absolute insanity out of @Columbia tonight.
“Al-Qassam you make us proud! Take another soldier out!”
“We say justice, you say how? Burn Tel Aviv to the ground!”
“Hamas we love you. We support your rockets too!”
“Red, black, green, and white, we support Hamas’ fight!”
“It… pic.twitter.com/er1kSyEX5z
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) April 21, 2024
A person in the encampment said, during a speech, “Let it be known that it was the Al-Aqsa Flood [Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel] that put the global intifada back on the table again. And it is the sacrificial spirit of the Palestinian freedom fighters that will guide every struggle on every corner of the earth to victory.”
She continued, “Remember that militancy breeds resistance. Thousands upon thousands of students around the world have been moved to rebel because of your militancy.”
Members of the encampment created a “human wall” after a leader yelled, “Zionists have entered the camp!” The leader then directed the people there to take “one step forward … push them out of the camp.”
When asked if he condemns Hamas, a Columbia student responded, “I don’t need to condemn anybody. I condemn you motherf—ker!”
Another student led the following chants: “From the river to the sea, Palestine is Arab!” and “Resistance [Hamas] is justified!”
During a high-intensity protest, people chanted, “There is only one solution, intifada revolution!”
Students chanted, “Say it loud and say it clear: “We don’t want no Zionists.”
People gathered and protested around a “By any means necessary” banner.
An individual anti-Israel protester screamed, “We are all Hamas, pig! Long live Hamas.”
An individual said to Laura Loomer, a far-right activist, “Kill All Zionists” and told her he “loves Hamas” because “they kill Zionists.”
To a police officer named Ahmed, a protester outside Columbia yelled, “Traitor to his people! Get the f—k out of here, have some shame. Don’t f—king show your face here again you piece of s—t. Your mom is a wh—e.”
A poster outside the encampment reads, “Admitted students — enroll in revolution.”
A speaker told Columbia students during a speech, “Don’t work, don’t go to class, don’t research. Act out your Marxist and post-colonial ideas!”
A poster in the encampment read, “A message to the scum of nations and pigs of the Earth: Paradise lies in the shadow of swords. Glory to those who make the occupier feel bitterness.”
Anti-Israel encampments also popped up at other universities. Here is a list of some incidents from Yale University.
Students danced to a song with the lyrics “F—k Israel, Israel a b—ch; B—ch we out here mobbin’ on some Palestine s—t; free Palestine b—ch, Israel gon’ die b—ch; n—ga it’s they land why you out here tryna’ rob it; bulls—t prophets, y’all just want the profit.”
Students chanted “Viva, viva, Palestinia” while tearing down the American flag from a pole, cheering when it hit the ground.
A student poked a pro-Israel student/journalist in the eye with a flag. She had to get treated at the hospital.
It is unclear if and when university administrators will take action to end these encampments, which they have said violate school rules, and punish those involved.
Send information about additional incidents to jelbaum@algemeiner.com.
The post ‘Hamas, We Love You!’ A List of the Chants, Statements From Columbia University’s ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students
Haredi Jewish men look at the scene of an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem, Israel, on Nov. 23, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad
Israel’s military said it would issue 54,000 call-up notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students following a Supreme Court ruling mandating their conscription and amid growing pressure from reservists stretched by extended deployments.
The Supreme Court ruling last year overturned a decades-old exemption for ultra-Orthodox students, a policy established when the community comprised a far smaller segment of the population than the 13 percent it represents today.
Military service is compulsory for most Israeli Jews from the age of 18, lasting 24-32 months, with additional reserve duty in subsequent years. Members of Israel’s 21 percent Arab population are mostly exempt, though some do serve.
A statement by the military spokesperson confirmed the orders on Sunday just as local media reported legislative efforts by two ultra-Orthodox parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to craft a compromise.
The exemption issue has grown more contentious as Israel’s armed forces in recent years have faced strains from simultaneous engagements with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, and Iran.
Ultra-Orthodox leaders in Netanyahu’s brittle coalition have voiced concerns that integrating seminary students into military units alongside secular Israelis, including women, could jeopardize their religious identity.
The military statement promised to ensure conditions that respect the ultra-Orthodox way of life and to develop additional programs to support their integration into the military. It said the notices would go out this month.
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Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel’s new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a “grave mistake” that he said would benefit the terrorist group Hamas.
Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel’s military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his “next steps” but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.
Smotrich’s comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.
“… the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas,” Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as “logistical support for the enemy during wartime”.
The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.
The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to U.N. estimates.
Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.
PRESSURE
Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.
The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.
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Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue
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 police have charged a man in connection with an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshippers in the building, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the nation’s Jewish community.
There were no injuries to the 20 people inside the East Melbourne Synagogue, who fled from the fire on Friday night. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in the capital of Victoria state.
Australia has experienced several antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.
Counter-terrorism detectives late on Saturday arrested the 34-year-old resident of Sydney, capital of neighboring New South Wales, charging him with offenses including criminal damage by fire, police said.
“The man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire before fleeing the scene,” police said in a statement.
The suspect, whom the authorities declined to identify, was remanded in custody after his case was heard at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday and no application was made for bail, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Authorities are investigating whether the synagogue fire was linked to a disturbance on Friday night at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne, in which one person was arrested for hindering police.
The restaurant was extensively damaged, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for Australia’s Jews.
It said the fire at the synagogue, one of Melbourne’s oldest, was set as those inside sat down to Sabbath dinner.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog went on X to “condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together”.
“This is not the first such attack in Australia in recent months. But it must be the last,” Herzog said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incidents as “severe hate crimes” that he viewed “with utmost gravity.” “The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community,” Netanyahu said on X.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late on Saturday described the alleged arson, which comes seven months after another synagogue in Melbourne was targeted by arsonists, as shocking and said those responsible should face the law’s full force.
“My Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort,” Albanese posted on X.
Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by antisemitic vandalism and arson. The incidents included a fake plan by organized crime to attack a Sydney synagogue using a caravan of explosives in order to divert police resources, police said in March.
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