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New York Times Turns Students Who Harassed Jews into Victims
A taxi passes by in front of The New York Times head office, Feb. 7, 2013. Photo: Reuters / Carlo Allegri / File.
In October, after anti-Israel protesters menaced visibly Jewish students at The Cooper Union college library, The New York Times was among the many news outlets to cover the incident. Two months later, on Dec. 18, the newspaper again reported on the disturbance — this time, to recast the agitators who caused Jews to fear for their safety as the situation’s real victims.
What stands out from the incident, the Times tells readers, isn’t the harassment of students, or the disruption of studies — and certainly not the radicalization that has led so many students to align with campus groups that celebrated the Oct. 7 massacre and march against the target of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
Rather, insists reporter Sharon Otterman, “the episode at the library and its aftermath show how a brief moment, free of context or nuance, can be repurposed by partisans in service of broader political rhetoric during a war in which information is an important weapon.”
When a Cooper Union student is quoted lamenting that frightened students were forced “into this awful position,” it wasn’t about the besieged Jews. It was about the protest leaders.
Jewish students at Cooper Union are in the library as protestors pound on the door.
Listen with sound on. pic.twitter.com/pwYRo5KA9X
— Yashar Ali (@yashar) October 25, 2023
The paper’s apologia for those who marched on the library is consistent with how it has treated other anti-Israel extremists since Oct. 7.
The Times recently came to the defense of those tearing down posters of men, women, and children abducted by Hamas, casting the heartless act by profanity-spewing vandals as a “release valve” for the “anguished.” Another recent piece was dedicated to whitewashing the slogan calling for a Palestine “from the river to the sea,” saying it is not necessarily a call for a Palestine from the river to the sea. (That geography requires the elimination of Israel.)
One piece goes so far as to listing ways to wear kaffiyehs, or Middle Eastern head scarfs, included “wrapped around the face” — in the manner of Palestinian terrorists or the pro-violence, anti-Israeli protesters who mimic them — as just another run-of-the-mill way of fashioning the scarf. (It is traditionally worn over the head, not as a disguise.)
In its Cooper Union reprise, the Times craftily slants the report to bolster its preferred narrative. The piece wastes little time before downplaying the incident as follows:
The pro-Palestinian protesters had dispersed just a few minutes later and no one was injured or arrested, but the story seemed to grow more dire the further it traveled. Posts that went viral falsely claimed that the library had been barricaded to protect the students inside from an angry mob, and that the police were afraid to get involved.
It is true that there were no objects were used to “barricade” the library doors. Instead, as the piece acknowledges 15 paragraphs later, “a security guard shut [the library’s] large gray doors and stood outside them.” The effect was the same, leading protesters to later say they were “angry about being kept out,” as the newspaper admits.
And if the college, which acknowledges that the library was closed for 20 minutes, isn’t willing to say it was closed to protect the students inside, there is nonetheless video footage in circulation in which someone can be heard telling a student, “I wouldn’t recommend leaving right now.” (He replies, “I wasn’t planning on it.”)
One of the Jewish students told CBS, “The librarians ran over to us and they were like, ‘We tried to warn you, but we just got notice that they’re coming down.’”
So if viral posts indicated that the library was barricaded to protect students, these claims were incorrect only on the margins.
After suggesting concerns about the Jews in the library were excessive, the newspaper then shifts attention from them, with the first quotation in the article serving to re-frame the story to cast those banging on the library glass as imperiled:
“Off-campus groups are very motivated to weaponize these protests,” said Angus Johnston, a historian of student activism at Hostos Community College in the Bronx. But the stakes of campus activism are now perilous. “What, 20 or 30 years ago, could have been an incident that nobody would find out about unless they were actually there has now become one that can be circulated globally and be a life-changing experience.”
Readers are left to believe Johnston is a dispassionate scholar of activism, though he is far from a neutral observer on this topic. On Oct. 7, as Hamas was mowing down Israeli civilians in their homes an at a music festival, Johnston took to social media to express indignation. Not about Hamas’ rampage — but about those distressed by it. “Lots of folks expressing moral outrage about Palestinian tactics today who I’ve never seen expressing similar outrage about Israeli tactics, ever,” he wrote on X.
If his first sentiment — during an invasion by an antisemitic terror organization known for murderous suicide bombings of city buses and restaurants — is to criticize those upset by the invasion, it should hardly be surprising that his main problem after Jewish students were intimidated by an angry mob was with those alarmed by the angry mob. That’s what The New York Times wanted. So that’s what the newspaper set out to get.
After focusing extensively on the distress of one of the anti-Israel activists, the newspaper continued downplaying the distress of the Jewish students. One sentence did made mention of the students being “visibly worried.” Another noted, “There is nervous laughter, and also concern.” And the reporter shares that a student “asks if the police were there.” But the piece neglects to share that there were six calls to 911 over concerns for the student’s safety. (Elsewhere, the reporter author cited an article that mentions these calls, so she would have been aware of it.)
And when the newspaper did eventually get around to sharing that a pro-Israel student “had felt threatened ‘when there were chants calling for the murder of Jews being chanted at me from my fellow students,’” the reporter immediately follows with doubts:
During the protest outside the school, students chanted various slogans, including the disputed phrase, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” but they denied they were calling for violence.
That others of the “various slogans” more explicitly endorsed violence apparently wasn’t fit to print. “Resistance is justified when people are occupied,” shouted students, who by the time of their October 25 demonstration would have known the murderous, horrifying extent of the “resistance” they were justifying. Another chant called for an intifada, the name given to bouts of deadly anti-Israel violence. The anti-Israel crowd continued its “intifada” calls while besieging the library, the Forward reported.
Instead of giving readers the opportunity to understand what the besieged students might have meant when referencing the threatening chants, the reporter chose to cast doubt on their truthfulness. That, apparently, is what it takes to defend anti-Israel extremists.
Gilead Ini is a Senior Research Analyst at CAMERA, the foremost media watchdog organization focused on coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict, where a version of this article first appeared.
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US Lawmakers Celebrate Assad’s Fall, Stress ‘Vigilance’ in Monitoring Next Steps in Syria
US Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing at the US Capitol, in Washington, DC, May 21, 2024. Photo: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
US lawmakers have celebrated the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria but also cautioned that many of the rebel Islamist groups who helped to oust the longtime president could pose further threats to the United States and its allies in the Middle East.
Assad fled the capital of Damascus on Sunday as a coalition of rebel groups stormed the capital, ending his family’s five-decade rule. The deposed leader, who has been accused of war crimes for his crackdown on rebel forces since 2011, was a partner of Russia and allied with Iran, which for years has used Syrian territory to send weapons to its terrorist proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.
However, many Western observers have expressed concern that the leading Syrian rebel faction, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is a group formerly allied with Al Qaeda and which is designated a terrorist organization by the US, European Union, Turkey, and the UN.
Following Assad’s fall, US lawmakers were quick to call for both optimism and vigilance.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, posted on X/Twitter that he hopes for a “better future for the Syrian people” following the fall of Assad, but warned about the potential threat of the terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS) in the region.
“As we bid good riddance to Assad, and hope for a better future for the Syrian people, we must remain vigilant regarding the threat of ISIS and continue to support our partners the Syrian Kurds. This is not a time to let our guard down,” Van Hollen said.
On Sunday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the successful bombing of ISIS camps and fighters in central Syria, saying that the operation was carried out to “disrupt, degrade, and defeat” the terrorist group and prevent it from capitalizing on the fall of the Assad regime.
Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, expressed optimism at the new “opportunity” that Assad’s departure represents. However, he added that Syria must adopt a democratic process to select its next leader.
“While it is a time for opportunity, it is also a potentially dangerous time for the region,” Risch said in a statement. “Moving forward, it is imperative the Syrian people choose their next government and Assad faces long-overdue justice for his war crimes.”
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, called for a “peaceful transition” of power in Syria and warned the country’s new leaders to “avoid the chaos that often follows the fall of a tyrant.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) stated that the US must remain “vigilant” in protecting its allies and citizens across the region.
“While it’s welcome news to see the humiliation of Russia and Iran and the end of Assad’s tyranny in Syria, we must be vigilant about protecting our citizens, interests, and allies in the region,” hewrote on X/Twitter. “Distrust but verify the intentions of anyone that might come to power.”
A US State Department spokesperson said on Monday that the Biden administration was seeking ways to engage with Syrian rebel groups and was reaching out to partners in the region such as Turkey to help launch informal diplomacy.
The post US Lawmakers Celebrate Assad’s Fall, Stress ‘Vigilance’ in Monitoring Next Steps in Syria first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Antisemitic Intimidation’: Pro-Hamas Vandals Strike Jewish University of Michigan Official’s Home, Car
Vandalized car belonging to the wife of University of Michigan regents members Jordan Acker. Photo: Screenshot
Pro-Hamas activists at the University of Michigan vandalized the car and home of a Jewish member of the school’s board of regents early Monday morning.
“Divest. Free Palestine,” said the message the group graffitied on a Chevrolet Traverse owned by the wife of Jordan Acker, a Jewish lawyer who describes himself as a center-left Zionist and supporter of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Next to it the vandals spray-painted an inverted triangle, which has become a common symbol at pro-Hamas rallies. The Palestinian terrorist group, which rules Gaza, has used inverted red triangles in its propaganda videos to indicate Israeli targets about to be attacked. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), “the red triangle is now used to represent Hamas itself and glorify its use of violence.”
Additionally, Acker confirmed with The Algemeiner on Tuesday, the protesters breached his property and threw what he believes were glass bottles filled with urine through his window.
“In the morning, I woke up to the sound of what appeared to be broken glass, and at first I thought one of my kids dropped a glass, but about 30 seconds later, the police rang the doorbell, and I came downstairs to find shattered glass all over our dining room and my wife’s car spray painted with pro-Palestine and pro-Hamas messages,” he said. “I was targeted because I am Jewish.”
The incident follows a semester of escalations by the pro-Hamas movement on the University of Michigan’s campus. In August, a group which calls itself the “Tahrir Coalition” roiled the campus with a demonstration aimed at sabotaging one of its biggest fall events. Some 45 students and non-students deluged the Diag section of campus for two hours, resulting in mass arrests by local law enforcement.
Weeks later, six people perpetrated a “Nazi like” assault on a Jewish student near the campus, kicking and spitting on him. Amid these developments, an anti-Zionist party which captured control of the student government during spring elections voted to defund student clubs, an ultimately unsuccessful measure its members hoped would force the university to boycott and divest from Israel.
More recently, the university, reportedly initiated disciplinary proceedings against one of its most outspoken and controversial anti-Israel groups, Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), the result of which may be a suspension of up to four years.
Acker told The Algemeiner that he has tried to be a responsible and nuanced participant in the campus’ charged discussion about Israel and the future of the Palestinian people, conceding valid points to pro-Palestinian partisans for the sake of intellectual integrity and tempering polarization. However, doing so has not reduced the contempt anti-Zionists on campus harbor against him, and he believes they targeted his place of residence for seeing him as, above all, a Jew.
“I do believe that Palestinian rights are important, but I’m not willing to call for the destruction of Israel” Acker explained.
“I think they know there is nuance, but I don’t think they care. They’re focused on conformity with the idea that Israel should be driven into the sea, and as long as my answer is ‘absolutely not under any circumstances,’ they will continue to treat me as [an Itamar Ben-Gvir] supporter,” he added, referring to Israel’s far-right minister of national security.
Acker then noted that the vast majority of American Jews are to the left of the mainstream pro-Israel movement in America, which is largely supported by the Christian Evangelical community, and that the decision to protest — for example, outside reform “liberal” synagogues in his community — reveals that antisemitism is the primary motivation of most anti-Zionists.
“I had a conversation with a university professor who is deeply involved in this, and I asked him why his group did not protest at Evangelical churches. He looked at me kind of askew and asked, ‘What do you mean?’ I said, well look, there is no group in this country that is more empathetic and sympathetic to Palestinians and their rights than mainstream American Jewry,” Acker recounted. “The answer on this is pretty clear. There’s a substantial proportion of this protest movement, especially now, that is dedicated not to making Palestinian lives better but simply to harassing Jews.”
He continued, “There’s a group that protests outside a very liberal Ann Arbor synagogue every Saturday, without exception, and this has gone on for years. When I think about the people who attend a liberal synagogue, I know that they probably have very two-state solution, pro-Palestinian rights views. And yet, you know, they find the need to protest Jews on the holiest day of the week, right? It has nothing to do with Israel and everything to do with trying to make Jews feel uncomfortable in public spaces.”
The University of Michigan condemned the attack on Acker’s home and personal property as antisemitic in a statement published on its website on Tuesday.
“The vandalism of Regent Jordan Acker’s home early this morning is a clear act of antisemitic intimidation,” the statement read. “The University of Michigan condemns these criminal acts in the strongest possible terms. They are abhorrent, and, unfortunately, just the latest in a number of incidents where individuals have been harassed because of their work on behalf of the university. This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. We call on our community to come together in solidarity and to firmly reject all forms of bigotry and violence.”
This is not the first time that pro-Hamas activists on college campuses have vandalized property in the name of anti-Zionism.
In September, at the University of British Columbia (UBC), a pro-Hamas group placed a shocking antisemitic display targeting Jews and law enforcement on the gate leading to the private residence of university president Benoit-Antoine Bacon. “Pigs off campus,” said the large banner which People’s University for Gaza at UBC (PUG) tacked to the property. Next to it, the group staked on the finials of the structure the severed head of a pig.
In October, when Jews around the world mourned on the anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, a Harvard University student group called on pro-Hamas activists to “Bring the war home” and proceeded to vandalize a campus administrative building. The group members, who described themselves as “anonymous,” later said in a statement, “We are committed to bringing the war home and answering the call to open up a new front here in the belly of the beast.”
Princeton University also saw a shocking vandalism for which an anonymous student group claimed responsibility in the same week. Targeting the building which houses the Princeton University Investment Company (PRINCO), it involved splattering red paint on the entrance door and graffitiing the perimeter of the building with the slogan “$4genocide.”
At Cornell University, in August, ant-Zionists vandalized an administrative building, graffitiing “Israel Bombs, Cornell pays” and “Blood is on your hands” on Day Hall. They also shattered the glazings of its front doors.
“We had to accept that the only way to make ourselves heard is by targeting the only thing the university administration really cares about: property,” the student culprits told the Cornell Daily Sun during an interview granted in exchange for a guarantee of anonymity.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ‘Antisemitic Intimidation’: Pro-Hamas Vandals Strike Jewish University of Michigan Official’s Home, Car first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Floyd Mayweather Announces New Initiative to Gift Israeli Orphans on Their Birthdays
Floyd Mayweather Jr. gestures during a press conference, ahead of exhibition fight with John Gotti III, in Mexico City, Mexico, August 23, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Henry Romero
Retired boxing legend Floyd Mayweather has announced a new initiative to help Israeli orphans celebrate their birthdays.
As part of the Mayweather Israel Initiative, the former undefeated boxing champion will gift every orphan in Israel birthday presents over the next year, and the gifts will be delivered by a truck Mayweather sponsored called the Floyd Mobile. Mayweather’s initiative was first announced on Sunday at an event in Israel hosted by Chessed V’Rachamim, also known as Standing Together, not long before he shared the news on social media.
“Over the next year, every orphan in Israel will be visited by the Floyd Mobile and receive special birthday gifts,” he wrote in an Instagram post on Monday. “To all the widows and orphans: keep your heads held high as we honor the cherished memories of those who have passed.”
Mayweather concluded his social media post by thanking Rabbi Shai Graucher, the founder of Chessed V’Rachamim. The organization has provided support to soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces and those impacted by the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attack that took place in southern Israel last year, including monetary assistance, provisions for soldiers, and packages of essentials and toys to displaced families.
Mayweather has made a number of contributions to help Israeli civilians and wounded soldiers since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. He visited teenagers whose families were murdered in the Hamas-led massacre, and in early October, Mayweather pledged $100,000 to United Hatzalah of Israel to help the emergency medical service organization purchase 100 bulletproof vests to keep its volunteers safe. At an event in late November for injured IDF soldiers, whom he recently visited, he talked about his unwavering support for the Jewish state.
“When I stood behind Israel … I felt I did what was right,” Mayweather said. “I take my hat off to the soldiers. Those warriors in Israel — I’m behind you guys, 100 percent. Since the war has started, I’ve been to Israel four, five times. And I will be back … It’s all about peace. I’m all about peace, love, and happiness.”
The post Floyd Mayweather Announces New Initiative to Gift Israeli Orphans on Their Birthdays first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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