“I want a jew to approach us tomorrow,” one Western University student said in a covert student group chat. “Violence was never the answer (but) with them maybe.”

University and college campuses across North America have increasingly become battlegrounds where Biblical values, freedom of thought, and open dialogue are under siege. In many cases, the rejection of these foundational principles has given rise to a deeply rooted hostility toward Israel and the Jewish people, often masked in “political activism” and pro-Palestinian advocacy.

Western University, where I have been a student and Jewish ally for the past two years, has recently come under scrutiny due to the discovery of explicit antisemitic hate uncovered by several Jewish students who originally infiltrated the open group chat of the university-sanctioned Palestinian Cultural Club.

On October 7, 2023, as Jews and Israelis in southern Israel were being brutally murdered and taken hostage, the group chat turned from merely cultural (Ramadan celebrations and club elections) to celebratory. According to the National Post, one of the first references to the attack in the group chat explained: “Everyone this is a time where we all stand united.” The comment was not followed by horror or rebuke, but rather by a wave of heart emojis and Palestinian flags.

The conversations that followed, and have been maintained for almost two years, are shocking to read. Referencing the Israeli hostages shortly after October 7th, one student explained: “They’re probably being treated better than how they were treated in their own homes.”

On October 17, 2023, another student wrote: “They don’t know that h4mas is literally OUR military. and they just defend but somehow they are the problem??”

Throughout the chat, Jews were often called “yahood” and were referenced in context to antisemitic conspiracy theories. “The yahood (Jews) own everything,” a student wrote on Oct. 15. “That’s how they control everyone. Money.”

“The government are slaves to these jews,” another one wrote.

Western University’s president, Alan Shepard, was called a “zionist pig.” Later, another student asked about Shepard, “Just out of curiosity, does anyone know Alan (Shepard’s) house location. I heard it’s public information.”

The discussion came up later in the group chat about how to get the Jewish people out of “Palestine.” Sending them “back into the diaspora” was brought up as a logical conclusion. One student recommended sending the Jews to Jupiter, to which another student responded, “Mars is suitable for them, let them burn a little.” Another voice concluded, “But speaking of burning, the sun’s a pretty good spot. We gotta make them hate their life, not let them burn.”

The chat contained several antisemitic memes, and references to Hitler were also abundant. According to the National Post, a cartoon of Hitler with a banner displaying “#1 Victory Royale!” was posted by a student.

The number 6 million was displayed beneath a depiction of a skull in an unashamed reference to the Holocaust. An altered photo of Hitler, shaping his hands into a heart, was then posted by that same student.

The discussions did not stop at the glorification of the Holocaust or the “Jews to Mars” solution. Instead, students went on to discuss “being careful of Zionists,” and some even mentioned carrying weapons. “I got a knife, but it doesn’t sound like a good idea to carry it around,” one wrote. Another responded, “(J)ust be careful if you guys want to carry that stuff. lol have oranges in your bag so your excuse for the knife is to cut oranges.”

The threats became more focused when a member of the group offered to “fix the brains” of a Zionist business student on campus. According to the National Post, “One student threatened, ‘I’m a geology major, I got some pretty rocks that I can use to ‘fix’ her brains. Just gotta work on my aim.’ A computer science major agreed, ‘Get me a bow and an arrow-shaped rock. I gotchu.’”

Jokingly or seriously, shipments of rifles, shotguns, and rocks were discussed after one student expressed his desire to “pop some Israelis.” The students went on to discuss taking over different buildings on campus.

If these beliefs are simmering beneath the surface, what’s keeping them from rising to the forefront? It’s not the horror of saying “Jews should burn” that holds them back; it’s the fear of what might happen if someone hears them say it. Though sadly today, many people agree with them — and voices like these aren’t needing to stay very hidden. That should be the most alarming part of all — and a wake-up call for every university that claims an atmosphere meant to foster constructive dialogue and open-minded education.

Since October 7th, the Palestinian Club on campus has organized multiple protests, where students marched through campus waving Palestinian flags, wearing keffiyehs, and chanting slogans like “Free Palestine,” “Stop the genocide,” and even “Save our Martyrs” following the Israeli strike on Hezbollah officials in September 2024.

But in light of the exposed messages from many of the same students involved in these demonstrations, the true intent and disturbing motivations behind these slogans, at least for some participants, becomes clear; and it is frightening. Beneath the banner of “Free Palestine” and these protests often lies a deep-seated antisemitism.

As a Christian ally of the Jewish people, what I’ve witnessed on campus deeply concerns me — but it does not surprise me. The persistent, unexplainable hatred toward the Jewish people throughout history is not merely political or cultural; it is, without question, a spiritual battle.

In Genesis 12, God chose Abraham and set the Jewish people apart for a divine purpose in His plan. He declared that, “whoever blesses Israel will be blessed, and whoever curses Israel will be cursed (Gen 12:2-3).” God promised to preserve His people, even as the world reviles that promise and repeatedly seeks to destroy them (Zech 2:8; Jer 31:35-36).

While individuals who identify themselves as “pro-Palestinian” may not share the violent intentions expressed by these students at Western, any movement that supports a terrorist organization and seeks to blame the Jewish people for their self-defense is a movement that harbors deeply rooted antisemitic hatred — something people should not want to be aligned with.

As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks succinctly put it, “In the Middle Ages, Jews were hated because of their religion. In the 19th and 20th centuries, they were hated because of their race. Today, they are hated because of their nation-state, Israel. Anti-Zionism is the new antisemitism.”

The recent assassination of conservative commentator and devout Christian, Charlie Kirk, underscores the deeply alarming state of college campuses across North America.

Antisemitic hatred — often disguised as “activism” — has become a widespread and growing issue in these institutions. Many Jewish students now understandably feel unsafe, as leftist ideologies continue to distort moral clarity and silence dissent. Charlie Kirk was a man who took a stand for what he believed in, and recognized that real ideological change must begin on college campuses if it is ever to transform a nation.

Tiauna Lodewyk is a Business student at Western University, Canada, and an Evangelical Christian actively involved in pro-Israel advocacy on campus and in the Christian community.