RSS
Northwestern University Still Teems With Antisemitism, Parents and Students Say

Pro-Hamas protesters at the Deering Meadow section of Northwestern University’s campus in Evanston, Illinois, United States, on April 25, 2024. Photo: Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect.
Antisemitism remains palpable and severe at Northwestern University over one year after President Michael Schill signed the “Deering Meadow Agreement” which granted pro-Hamas demonstrators a windfall of concessions they had demanded in exchange for ending an unauthorized encampment, parents and students told The Algemeiner in a series of interviews.
The 2023-2024 academic year was unlike any seen in the history of American higher education since the 1960s. Following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, colleges across the US erupted with effusions of antisemitic activity, which included calling for the destruction of Israel, cheering Hamas’s sexual assaulting of women as an instrument of war, and several incidents of assault and harassment targeting Jews on campus.
This held true at Northwestern University, where the Jewish experience was remade by the forces of anti-Zionism and the administrators who allegedly yielded to it. On April 25, 2024, the Northwestern Divestment Coalition (NDC) — a group of pro-Hamas activists linked to National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) — commandeered the Deering Meadow section of campus and established what they called the “Northwester Liberated Zone.” For five days, over 1,000 students, professors, and non-Northwestern-affiliated persons fulminated against the world’s lone Jewish state.
The encampment dwellers argued that Israel is committing a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza as retaliation for the Oct. 7 attacks while questioning the severity of Hamas’s atrocities — or denying them altogether. Northwestern University, they added, is complicit for holding investments in armaments and aerospace manufacturers which do business with Israel, a fact which they said necessitated that the school “boycott” and “divest” from the Jewish state.
“There were signs everywhere,” Lisa Fields, who was on campus at the time and founded the Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern (CAAN), told The Algemeiner. Fields is the parent of a Northwestern student whose emotional phone call during the middle of the demonstration prompted her to fly from her home in New York City to the university’s campus in Evanston, Illinois. What she saw there disturbed her.
“There was a Hitler sign and another depicting Schill with horns, just to mention some of the antisemitic tropes on display there,” Fields recounted. “The protesters were loud, aggressive, and banging on things. It was impossible to walk through the campus. None of the student attending class could focus because you could hear everything inside the classrooms.”
Northwestern University police attempted to uproot the protesters, who had pitched tents on the Deering Meadow, after Schill placed an “interim addendum” in the code of conduct which proscribed setting up the temporary shelters on school property. They were unsuccessful, however, as the protesters, faculty included, formed a “human blockade” to block their advance into the space. An impasse followed for the next four days in which NDC raised $12,000 and students staged “artistic performances,” delivered speeches, and appealed to the public for more money and support.
Meanwhile, Schill and a group of NDC delegates were busy hammering out a settlement which would end the demonstration and restore a semblance of normalcy to campus. By the morning of April 29, they reached what would infamously be remembered as the “Deering Meadow Agreement” — a first of its kind accord which became a model for 42 other schools who emulated it. It committed Northwestern University to establishing a scholarship for Palestinian undergraduates, contacting potential employers of students who caused recent campus disruptions to insist on their being hired, hiring two Palestinian professors, and creating a segregated dormitory hall to be occupied exclusively by Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) and Muslim students. The university — after days of hearing the activists shout phrases such as “Kill the Jews!” — also agreed to form a new investment committee in which anti-Zionists students and faculty wield an outsized voice.
Not a year later, Northwestern claimed to have turned a corner. On March 31, amid US President Donald Trump’s confiscations of federal funds from higher education institutions deemed soft on antisemitism or excessively “woke,” the university issued a progress report containing a checklist of policies it said were enacted in response to Schill being upbraided by members of Congress over his handling of the Deering Meadow crisis.
Among other things, the university said that it had adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, a reference tool which aids officials in determining what constitutes antisemitism, and began holding “mandatory antisemitism training” sessions which “all students, faculty, and staff” must attend. The so-called progress report’s most controversial assertion boasted that antisemitic incidents on the campus have fallen by 88 percent.
Geri Cohen, another Northwestern parent and member of CAAN, had heard it all before in a meeting with Schill that was held during move-in weekend 2024, the first time Cohen would drop off her daughter, who was then an incoming freshmen, at the university. During the meeting, she and other parents, many of whom are also CAAN members, were regaled with speeches proclaiming Northwestern’s regard for its Jewish community and its foolproof plans to prevent another surge of pro-Hamas activity.
According to Cohen, however, Schill was most comfortable engaging with parents when they refrained from asking tough questions. Cohen did not, and her inquiries perturbed him, as they proceeded from the premise that the Deering Meadow Agreement canceled out any policies the university might enact to plausibly claim that it is combating antisemitism.
“He is a profound legal mind, so he knew exactly what I was asking, and he was defensive about the line of questioning,” Cohen told The Algemeiner. “He just pointed to the mandatory antisemitism training, offering a veneer of a reasonable explanation which fell short of saying anything real. I pushed him a little bit, asking follow up questions when he insisted that there is no issue, but he deftly avoided being cornered.”
Schill’s equivocations, Cohen said, primed her for news that was revealed earlier this month by the Washington Free Beacon. Per the Deering Meadow Agreement, Northwestern University hired at least one Palestinian professor, Mkhaimar Abusada — but, as reported by the Free Beacon, Abusada holds ties to both Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) through his memberships in two groups which cooperate with the US-designated terrorist organizations and award their fighters leadership positions.
“At the end of the day, we all knew that they made the deal and that they were hiring these professors,” Cohen said, commenting on the report. “I’m not surprised whatsoever about who they hire, what they believe, who funds them, what other organizations to which they are linked — all of that was already in my head when I decided to let my daughter make her own decision about where she was going to go in this world.”
Fields concurred.
“The problems at Northwestern are deep. Deep and institutional,” she said. “And what makes it so interesting a case study in campus antisemitism is that it isn’t a calm campus like Vanderbilt, but it also did not see the fires which raged at Columbia, Harvard, and UCLA. But what happened there was unique and worse because of the precedent that was set and the lesson Northwestern taught the community when it decided to surrender to the radical people who took over the Deering Meadow everything they wanted. And Schill would do it again. He is proud of that deal.”
Northwestern University students also tell a story that is at odds with what the institution believes about itself.
“The university has done a great job covering up the actions of its students, and that is my perspective as a Christian and a student leader. I personally have not seen a reduction in antisemitic incidents,” pre-law student Jeanine Yuen told The Algemeiner. “One example I can think of is a Jewish student who was punished for peacefully counter-protesting a pro-Palestinian walkout and picket on the anniversary of Oct. 7. The university said he violated time and place policies, but none of the pro-Palestinian protesters who did so too were punished, and the university blamed the inconsistency on its being unable to identify the protesters, who were masked.”
Additionally, according to a new Spring Campus Poll conducted by The Daily Northwestern, the school’s official campus newspaper, 58 percent of Jewish students reported being subjected to antisemitism or knowing someone who has. An even higher 63.1 percent said antisemitism remains a “somewhat or very serious problem.” Only weeks earlier, during the Jewish holiday of Passover, someone graffitied Kregse Hall and University Hall with hateful speech calling for “Death to Israel” and an “Intifada,” alluding to two prolonged periods of Palestinian terrorism during which hundreds of Israeli Jews were murdered. The vandals also spray-painted an inverted triangle, a symbol used to express support for the terrorist group Hamas and its atrocities.
In April, the Trump administration expressed its skepticism of a quick turnaround at Northwestern by impounding $790 million of its federal funds. As of the publication of this article, they have not been given back.
“We have received 98 stop-word orders, mostly for Department of Defense-funded research projects, in addition to 51 grant terminations that were mostly received prior to the news of the funding freeze. In addition, we have not received payments for National Institutes of Health grants since March. These now appear to be frozen,” Schill said in a May 1 statement addressing the government’s funding cuts. “This is deeply troubling, and we are working in many ways to advocate on behalf of the university and to resolve the situation.”
Northwestern University did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Northwestern University Still Teems With Antisemitism, Parents and Students Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
‘Child Killers’: Jewish Activists Doused With Red Paint in Germany While Hanging Up Hostage Posters
i24 News – Masked attackers doused with red paint and shoved German Jewish activists hanging up posters of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza in Frankfurt on Friday. The assailants shouted “child killers” and “free Palestine.”
Sacha Stawski, a German-Jewish activist who heads the media watchdog NGO Honestly Concerned, who’s spent decades combating antisemitism, spoke to local media about the incident.
“We attached posters with photos of the 50 hostages still in Hamas’s captivity to a fence in the Frankfurt Grüneburgpark,” Stawski told the Bild outlet. “We were branded ‘child killers,’ and I constantly heard ‘Free Palestine,’ and ‘genocide’ calls.”
The paint also poured over my glasses, making it difficult for me to identify the perpetrator,” he added.
Germany’s ambassador to Israel condemned the incident.
The small pro-hostage rally took place near an anarchist encampment housing several anti-Israel organizations. Stawski said this was announced to the camp organizers.
Meanwhile a German government spokesman said on Friday that Berlin currently has no plans to recognize a Palestinian state because that would undermine any efforts to reach a negotiated solution with Israel.
RSS
Hegseth Fires Head of Intel Agency Whose Assessment of Damage from Iran Strikes Angered Trump

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on US President Donald Trump’s budget request for the Department of Defense, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
i24 News – US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired a general whose agency’s initial intelligence assessment of damage to Iranian nuclear sites from US strikes sparked the ire of President Donald Trump.
Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse will no longer serve as head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, US media reported, citing sources speaking on condition of anonymity.
The sacking is the latest upheaval in military leadership and in the country’s intelligence agencies, and comes a few months after details of the preliminary assessment leaked to the media.
The assessment found that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back only a few months by the bombings, contradicting assertions from Trump and from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Republican president, who had pronounced the Iranian program “completely and fully obliterated,” rejected the report.
n June, Israel launched a devastating bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, missile production and military leadership, saying the operation was necessary to prevent the mullah regime from realizing its oft-stated plan to annihilate the Jewish state.
During the ensuing 12-day war, the US joined in, striking key Iranian nuclear sites.
Following the June strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, Hegseth lambasted the press for focusing on the preliminary assessment but did not offer any direct evidence of the destruction of the facilities.
“You want to call it destroyed, you want to call it defeated, you want to call it obliterated — choose your word. This was a historically successful attack,” Hegseth said at a news conference at the time.
RSS
Amid Rising Antisemitism, American Jews Make Aliyah to Israel Seeking Safety, Community, Impact

Olim gather at JFK Airport in New York, preparing to board Nefesh B’Nefesh’s 65th charter flight to Israel. Photo: The Algemeiner
NEW YORK/TEL AVIV — Confronted with rising antisemitism and unease in the United States, a growing number of American Jews are choosing to make aliyah, embracing the risks of war in the Middle East for the chance to build new lives and foster meaningful communities.
On Wednesday, 225 new olim arrived in Tel Aviv on the first charter aliyah flight since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Aliyah refers to the process of Jews immigrating to Israel, and olim refers to those who make this journey.
Nefesh B’Nefesh (NBN) — a nonprofit that promotes and facilitates aliyah from the US and Canada — brought its 65th charter flight from New York, which The Algemeiner joined.
Founded in 2002, NBN helps olim become fully integrated members of Israeli society, simplifying the aliyah process and providing essential resources and guidance.
In partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth, and the Jewish National Fund, NBN has helped nearly 100,000 olim build thriving new lives in Israel.
Shawn Fink is one of the 225 people who embarked on the life-changing journey earlier this week, leaving Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife, Liz, and their son.
For Fink and his family, making aliyah was driven not only by their love for Israel and desire to build a new community, but also by the escalating threats and uncertainties facing Jewish communities abroad since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
“Mostly, we were frustrated with the direction the United States is taking, and the rise in antisemitism was a major concern for us,” Fink told The Algemeiner.
Like many countries around the world, the US has seen an alarming rise in antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment since the Oct. 7 atrocities.
According to the latest data issued by the FBI, hate crimes perpetrated against Jews increased by 5.8 percent in 2024 to 1,938, the largest total recorded in over 30 years of the federal agency’s counting them.
A striking 69 percent of all religion-based hate crimes that were reported to the FBI in 2024 targeted Jews, who constitute just 2 percent of the US population, with 2,041 out of 2,942 total such incidents being antisemitic in nature. Muslims were targeted the next highest amount as the victims of 256 offenses, or about 9 percent of the total.
Fink explained that the increasing costs of living a Jewish life in the US — from education to kosher food — weighed heavily on his family’s decision to make the move to Israel.
While they first considered making aliyah five years ago, Fink and his family had to put the plans on hold for personal reasons — returning to the idea only in the past few months when the timing finally worked in their favor.
“We started planning it seriously in November and began the entire process with Nefesh B’Nefesh,” Fink told The Algemeiner. “It’s been a nonstop whirlwind ever since.”
For them, the current war did not stop their plans, but it did influence the cities they explored for their new home.
“The war really reinforced for us the importance of supporting Israel and our community,” Fink said. “By making aliyah, we felt we could do even more to help.”
Even though it is difficult to leave behind family and close friends, they look forward to reconnecting with friends in Israel, making new connections, and building a vibrant new community.
“Making aliyah in less than six months has been a whirlwind. I’d encourage anyone considering it to give themselves at least twice as much time, double the budget, and be prepared for plenty of unexpected starts and stops along the way,” Fink told The Algemeiner.
Nefesh B’Nefesh provides assistance to families throughout their entire aliyah journey, offering guidance before relocating and continued support once in Israel.
The Israeli government also complements these efforts with resources and financial incentives to help newcomers settle and ease their transition into their new lives.
“Once the ticket is finally in your hand and you’re waiting to board the plane, you realize that all the challenges and obstacles along the way were worth it,” Fink said.
Veronica Zaragovia was also one of the 225 olim who joined the flight earlier this week.
Similarly to Fink and his family, Zaragovia decided to make aliyah, driven not just by her love for Israel, but also by the increasing challenges of being Jewish abroad and the hope of making a meaningful impact by serving her community.
From Florida, she embarked on the journey alone, excited for all the new opportunities and possibilities that awaited her in her new home.
“I want to take pride in being Jewish and in Israel — that’s why I’m making aliyah,” she told The Algemeiner, reflecting on the move she has been planning for the past two years.
“It’s a huge concern for me that in some places in the US, I can’t — or maybe shouldn’t — wear my Star of David necklace,” she said. “I don’t feel that Jews can be fully safe anywhere in the country. The rise in antisemitism has been truly shocking and deeply concerning.”
Zaragovia, who worked as a journalist in the US, said her love for storytelling and uncovering the truth played a key role in her decision to make this move.
“After Oct. 7, I felt that the way my colleagues and other journalists were covering Israel was wrong and unfair,” she said.
“As someone whose career is built on facts and truth, I didn’t see that reflected in their reporting. That’s why I decided to make a difference by being there myself,” she continued.
Rather than deterring her decision to make a change, Zaragovia explained that the current war only reinforced it.
“It became clear that I needed to go, be there with my people, and make a difference through my work,” she said. “I couldn’t have done this without Nefesh B’Nefesh. They’ve been incredible, guiding me every step of the way from start to finish.”