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Jewish students assaulted and Hillel targeted at Ohio State, prompting state to beef up police presence
(JTA) – The governor of Ohio ordered extra law enforcement patrols around Ohio State University campus last week after a 24-hour period in which two Jewish students were reported assaulted and student activists attempted to steal Israeli flags from the campus Hillel.
The heightened tensions at one of the country’s largest universities are the latest example of how activism around Israel has intensified on college campuses amid the country’s ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Donors, Jewish groups and politicians have pushed institutions of higher education to take more forceful action to deter antisemitism and protect Jewish students, as Jews have been threatened or assaulted on campuses including Cornell, Columbia, and the University of Massachusetts.
The assault of the Jewish students occurred early on Friday morning, according to the Columbus Jewish News. Two people leaving a bar engaged in a “verbal altercation” with “two Middle Eastern males” who punched them in the face, Columbus police told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, adding that the suspects fled on foot while the victims took an Uber to the hospital.
The suspects had reportedly uttered the words “K–e Zionist” and asked the victims what their religion was. “Both victims believe this to be a hate crime,” Columbus Police Department spokesperson Sergeant Joe Albert told JTA in a statement. Albert did not indicate whether the police department would be prosecuting it as a hate crime.
Hours earlier, on Thursday, OSU Hillel reported that two female students had entered the building and stolen several small Israeli flags. When Hillel staff confronted them, they raced out of the building yelling “F–k you,” “You support genocide” and “Free Palestine,” Columbus police told JTA.
The staff alerted law enforcement and has a video recording of the students responsible, OSU Hillel CEO Naomi Lamb said in a statement posted to social media Friday. Lamb added that she would push the school’s administration “to clearly and unequivocally condemn this attack on the center of Jewish life at OSU.”
“We continue to be here for our students, and their physical and emotional safety remains top priority,” she said.
Lamb did not immediately return JTA requests for comment.
In an email to the campus community later on Friday, acting OSU President Peter Mohler condemned both incidents. Mohler wrote that they “directly targeted our Jewish community” and indicated the university would be treating them as hate crimes.
“I want to be direct and clear — the university has no tolerance for acts of hatred or violence. Antisemitism is despicable and has no place in our community,” Mohler wrote. “The university will pursue all action possible against anyone committing hate crimes on or near our campus.”
Ohio GOP Governor Mike DeWine said in his own statement about the incidents that he was ordering the extra police patrols to campus.
“Two antisemitic incidents have occurred in the past 24 hours against Ohio State students,” he said in the statement. “We will not tolerate hate and violence on our college campuses or anywhere in Ohio. These are despicable acts, and as Governor, I will ensure that the State continues our efforts to protect all Ohio students.”
OSU was also the site of recent protests, both in-person and online, over a campus art museum’s handling of an ongoing exhibit showcasing the work of a Palestinian artist who appeared to celebrate Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
The museum recently announced it would leave up the exhibit by Jumana Manna, despite calls from some Jewish artists to take it down. But the museum canceled a planned panel discussion featuring Manna, which prompted protests by pro-Palestinian students and faculty. Like the building housing OSU Hillel, the museum is funded by Les Wexner, a major Jewish philanthropist from the Columbus area.
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The post Jewish students assaulted and Hillel targeted at Ohio State, prompting state to beef up police presence appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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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.