RSS
Protestors Bring Violence, Vandalism, and More to College Campuses
Law enforcement clash with pro-Hamas demonstrators at the University of Michigan on Aug. 28, 2024. Photo: Brendan Gutenschwager/X
Violent anti-Israel protests continued in September, as new FBI statistics show that Jews were the most frequent targets of hate crimes in the US in 2023.
In Australia, pro-Hamas demonstrators including Students for Palestine, Extinction Rebellion, and Disrupt Wars fought with police outside a Melbourne arms fair; they also attacked police horses with acid and rocks, resulting in multiple injuries and arrests.
Thousands of protestors marched through Lower Manhattan in what organizers called “Flood NYC for Gaza,” waving Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian, and Syrian flags. The White House condemned the appearance of Hamas flags.
Other anti-Israel protests took place in New York City, in one case ostensibly in connection with the shooting of a knife wielding criminal on a subway platform, and with the arrival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before his address to the United Nations.
In London and Edinburgh Barclays Bank branches were vandalized as was a Berlin Holocaust memorial with the words “Jews are committing genocide.”
In response to an April protest that shut down Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and delayed travelers, a public interest law firm filed a class action lawsuit against a variety of anti-Israel organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. BDS funders such as the Tides Center, its Community Justice Exchange, National Students for Justice in Palestine, American Muslims for Palestine, AJP Education Foundation, Inc., and the WESPAC Foundation, were included in the lawsuit.
On campus, the semester opened with a variety of anti-Israel protests and vandalism at schools across the country.
The most serious incident was an assault on a Jewish student at the University of Michigan, who was approached by a group, asked whether he was a Jew, and then beaten. T
The university president condemned the incident, but no suspects have been apprehended. A series of other assaults on Jewish students and a Jewish fraternity at the school occurred, but their motives are unclear. Two Jewish students were also attacked near the University of Pittsburgh campus.
Student anti-Israel protests were also held in Chicago and Bay Area universities, Columbia University, McGill University, and elsewhere. A number of protestors at the University of Michigan were arrested and will be prosecuted by the state.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) accused Democratic State Attorney General Dana Nessel of doing so because she is Jewish.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer initially declined to support the Attorney General’s decision, but later reversed course — and a group of House Democrats did so, apparently without naming Tlaib.
Elsewhere the Drexel University Chabad house was vandalized with “free Palestine” propaganda, while a mezuzah was torn down at Harvard from the door of a Jewish student.
Overall the ADL reports a 2,000% increase in antisemitic incidents on California campuses alone.
In a significant incident, members of the Baruch College Hillel were harassed by SJP members outside a midtown Manhattan restaurant, who shouted “Back to Brooklyn, out the Middle East” and “Where’s Hersh you ugly ass b***h?”
At Harvard University, Jewish and Israel-related events are now patrolled frequently by university police.
Across the country, vandalism of university property has become routine:
Pro-Hamas students vandalized a statue of Benjamin Franklin at the University of Pennsylvania, stating it was “a symbol of imperial violence and colonialism.”
A lawn at McGill University, which had been destroyed by anti-Israel protestors in the spring, was again torn up.
The ROTC building at the University of North Carolina was vandalized, and a Palestinian flag was raised.
George Washington University trustees’ homes were vandalized by the Student Coalition for Palestine.
Various landmarks at Georgetown University were vandalized, including with the Hamas triangle symbol.
A building at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities was vandalized with slogans including “Zionists off campus,” “Intifada is here,” and “glory to the resistance.”
Direct student harassment of Jewish faculty also renewed in September, including at the UC Berkeley law school, where students handed out flyers condemning a ‘Zionist’ professor outside of his class.
At MIT, pro-Hamas students harassed a talk by an Israeli professor and stole food provided for the event.
Students also resumed harassment of administrators, as at Pomona College, where dozens of protestors screamed outside the president’s house late at night.
Students arrested during a sit-in at Wesleyan University, whose president had written an op-ed praising campus protests, held a protest outside of his house. The Cornell University “Coalition for Mutual Liberation” disrupted a job fair and chanted “We will work, we will fight. No more jobs in genocide” and “F*** you Boeing.”
Anti-Israel students and faculty at the University of Minnesota marched in protest against that institution’s recently announced neutrality policy.
As has long been the case Students for Justice in Palestine is taking the lead in organizing anti-Israel and pro-Hamas protests on campus:
The National SJP announced a Week of Rage would begin on October 7.
The Rutgers University SJP chapter protested its suspension in front of an administration building, stating menacingly that it was “Strike Three” for the university.
At William and Mary College, the SJP chapter led a walkout and chanted “intifada revolution” and “we don’t want two states, take us back to ‘48.”
At the University of Minnesota, SJP protestors along with students from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), UMN Divest, and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) disrupted the inauguration of the school’s new president.
The Columbia University Apartheid Divest coalition released a statement praising the Houthi missile attack on Israel, noting the support for the attack from Hamas, the PFLP, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and ending with “Glory to the resistance.”
Student governments also remain at the center of organizing campuses against Israel. At the University of Michigan, the student government voted again to hold the budget for various student groups hostage until the administration adopts BDS.
The UCLA student government also passed a resolution demanding the administration revoke its ban on encampments. The University of California at Santa Cruz voted to adopt a BDS policy with its own funds but delayed implementation when it discovered the move would violate state and Federal laws. In contrast, the McGill University Student Union revoked the club status of the Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights group. The Cornell University SJP chapter was also denied recognition by the administration, as was the University of Illinois SJP chapter.
These positive steps were counterbalanced, however, by the restoration of the University of Wisconsin’s and Harvard’s pro-Hamas student groups.
Columbia University’s new president, Katrina Armstrong, also apologized to anti-Israel students who were “hurt” after New York police were forced to clear spaces they occupied during the spring semester. The refusal of New York University’s anti-Israel groups to participate in anti-discrimination and anti-harassment training sets up a confrontation with the administration.
After protests aimed against campus Hillel by SJP members, Baruch College attempted to block a campus Rosh Hashanah celebration. The Hillel director stated “We were told by the administration that the campus can’t guarantee the safety of Jewish students because of other agitators who want to hurt, intimidate or harass them.” The decision was reversed only after political pressure, including from Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY). The university denied the allegation.
After criticism, University of Maryland administrators denied the school’s SJP permission to erect an October 7th “commemoration of martyrs” on the school’s main plaza. CAIR and Palestine Legal have sued the university, claiming First Amendment rights have been violated.
Faculty members continue to take leading roles in anti-Israel protests, typically claiming they are there to protect their students and “defend free speech.”
A new report highlights the growing role of Faculty for Justice in Palestine chapters in organizing campus protests. It notes that campuses with chapters were far more likely to have faculty helping students write statements and cosponsor events, in addition to producing anti-Israel and pro-Hamas statements from academic departments.
At Columbia, the second investigative report on antisemitism detailing incidents on campus was also met with hostility by faculty who claimed it was poorly researched and, more importantly, that the effort was in “bad faith” and “conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism.”
For their part, University of Pennsylvania faculty joined anti-Israel students protesting outside the presidential debate held in Philadelphia last month.
The deep embedding of anti-Israel bias by faculty into courses through the selection of topics or readings remains difficult to perceive or counter. Challenges to overtly political and one-sided courses are invariably met with charges of censorship and that “academic freedom” is being defied.
The participation of faculty in straightforward indoctrination sessions held outside the classroom was exemplified by the “The People’s Conference For Palestinian Solidarity” at the University of Geulph, which included sessions aimed at high schoolers.
In another example, a faculty member at Wilfred Laurier University offered students extra credit for attending a pro-Hamas protest and drove students to the rally.
The sheer loathing for Israel embodied by some faculty was reflected in the appearance at Brown University’s Center for Middle East Studies of United Nations special rapporteur and global antisemite Francesca Albanese. She reiterated her stance that the October 7 massacre was “legitimate resistance,” that Israel is a “military dictatorship,” and that Israeli operations are “genocidal.”
K-12 Students
One of the most notable developments in the new school year is lawfare from CAIR and its partners directed against antisemitism training.
The San Francisco Unified School District was forced to reschedule antisemitism training for teachers after anti-Israel groups including CAIR, and Jewish Voice for Peace Bay Area (JVP), as well as the BDS supporting union, United Educators of San Francisco, objected to the involvement of the ADL, American Jewish Committee, and the local Jewish community.
Evidence also continues to emerge of teachers conspiring to evade oversight and directly indoctrinate students against Israel.
Video emerged of Los Angeles teachers discussing methods to bring “pro-Palestine” content into lessons, transport students to rallies, and avoid getting fired.
Teachers also continue to manipulate students into participating in anti-Israel activities.
In Toronto, middle school students were forced to participate in a march for “Palestine” after being told they were going to “observe” an event having to do with Canada’s First Nations.
Jewish students were also told to wear blue in order to identify themselves as “colonizers.” A Jewish student who expressed discomfort was told, “You’ll get over it” by a teacher.
The author is a contributor to SPME, where a significantly different version of this article was first published.
The post Protestors Bring Violence, Vandalism, and More to College Campuses first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Trump Withholds Another $450 Million From Harvard University Coffers
US President Donald Trump attends a press conference in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, May 12, 2025. Photo: Nathan Howard via Reuters Connect.
The Trump administration has impounded another $450 million in taxpayer funded research grants and contracts previously awarded to Harvard University, citing the school’s history of fostering anti-Zionist extremism and practicing racial preferences in admissions and hiring.
“Harvard University has repeatedly failed to confront the pervasive race discrimination and antisemitic harassment plaguing its campus,” the multi-agency Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, created by US President Donald Trump in February, said in a statement. “This is just the latest chapter in Harvard’s long standing policy and practice of discriminating on the basis of race as recognized by the Supreme Court in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, where the court rebuked Harvard for its unlawful race discrimination in admissions.”
The task force went on, coupling the issue of racial preferences with anti-Zionism in higher education, which conservative activists have said is necessary for reforming what they describe as a hub for far-left radicals who name both Israel and Western civilization as targets for subversion and deposition.
It said, “Harvard’s campus, once a symbol of academic prestige, has become a breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination. This is not leadership; it is cowardice. And it’s not academic freedom; it’s institutional disenfranchisement. There is a dark problem on Harvard’s campus, and by prioritizing appeasement over accountability, institutional leaders have forfeited the school’s claim to taxpayer support.”
Harvard University continues to draw criticism over its campus culture.
Earlier this month, a new “preliminary” report published by nonprofit watchdog NGO Monitor said the institution has ties to anti-Zionist nongovernmental organizations and other entities acting as proxy organizations for terrorist groups that warrant scrutiny and reproach.
Titled, “Advocacy NGOs in Academic Frameworks: Harvard University Case Study,” the report presents copious evidence that Harvard’s academic centers, including Harvard Law School, have come under the influence of Al-Haq and Addameer — two groups identified by the Israeli government as agents and propaganda manufacturers for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally designated terrorist organization. The NGOs, the report added, influence research and institutional culture, tilting the ideological balance of the campus toward anti-Zionism.
“The report demonstrates the major contribution from prominent advocacy NGOs to the atmosphere of propaganda and antisemitism at Harvard, particularly through frameworks claiming human rights agendas,” Professor Gerald Steinberg, who authored the report alongside Dr. Adi Schwartz, said in a statement. “The close cooperation between prominent NGOs and Harvard academic programs warrants urgent scrutiny. The blurred lines between scholarship and advocacy threaten academic integrity and risk further inflaming campus tensions.”
In April, the Trump administration impounded $2.26 billion in Harvard’s federal funds following the institution’s refusing to agree to a wishlist of policy reforms that Republican lawmakers have long argued will make higher education more meritocratic and less welcoming to anti-Zionists and far-left extremists. Contained in a letter the administration sent to Harvard interim president Alan Garber — who subsequently released it to the public — the policies called for “viewpoint diversity in hiring and admissions,” the “discontinuation of [diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives],” and “reducing forms of governance bloat.” They also implore Harvard to begin “reforming programs with egregious records of antisemitism” and to recalibrate its approach to “student discipline.”
Since then, Harvard has admitted to being irresponsive to the concerns of Jewish students and the public.
Several weeks after sparring with the Trump administration, as well as suing it in federal court, Harvard released its long anticipated report on campus antisemitism which said that one source of the problem is the institution’s past refusal to afford Jews the same protections against discrimination enjoyed by other minority groups. Garber apologized for the inconsistent application of policy.
“I am sorry for the moments when we failed to meet the high expectations we rightfully set for our community. The grave, extensive impact of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel and its aftermath had serious repercussions on campus,” Garber said in a statement which accompanied the report. “Harvard cannot — and will not — abide bigotry. We will continue to provide for the safety and security of all members of our community and safeguard their freedom from harassment. We will redouble our efforts to ensure that the university is a place where ideas are welcomed, entertained, and contested in the spirt of seeking truth; where argument proceeds without sacrificing dignity; and where mutual respect is the norm.”
Harvard’s contrition has not changed Trump’s opinion about the institution. After the report’s release he announced plans to revoke Harvard University’s tax exempt status, which it enjoys as a nonprofit entity.
“It’s what they deserve,” Trump said.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Trump Withholds Another $450 Million From Harvard University Coffers first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Trump Vows ‘Most Destructive Force’ Iran Won’t Get Nuclear Weapon as Tehran Defends Enrichment Program
US President Donald Trump attends the Saudi-US Investment Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday denounced Iran as the “most destructive force” in the Middle East, accusing Tehran of fueling regional instability and vowing that Washington would never allow the country to acquire a nuclear weapon.
During his visit to Saudi Arabia, Trump also accused Iran of causing “unthinkable suffering in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, Yemen, and beyond,” just two days after US and Iranian officials held a fourth round of nuclear talks in Oman.
Trump’s comments came as Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, described the recent round of talks between the adversaries as productive, but criticized Washington’s new sanctions as undermining the ongoing diplomacy.
“In recent days, they [the Trump administration] issued sanctions on Iran; this is completely incompatible with the process of negotiations,” the Iranian diplomat said. “This will definitely affect our positions.”
This week, the US imposed sanctions on an Iranian oil smuggling network accused of facilitating billions of dollars in crude oil sales to China.
As part of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran — which aims to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon — Washington has been targeting Tehran’s oil industry with mounting sanctions.
The fourth round of nuclear talks between Iranian and US officials concluded in Oman on Sunday, with additional negotiations scheduled as Tehran continues to publicly insist on advancing its uranium enrichment.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian declared in Tehran on Tuesday that Iran “will not retreat from its inalienable right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.”
Earlier this month, Iran accused the Trump administration of “contradictory behavior and provocative statements” following remarks by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who warned the country of severe consequences for supporting Yemen’s Houthi militia, an internationally designated terrorist organization.
The Iran-backed group, which controls northern Yemen, has been targeting ships in the Red Sea since November 2023, disrupting global trade, while justifying the attacks as acts of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
In April, Tehran and Washington held their first official nuclear negotiation since the US withdrew from a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal that had imposed temporary limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief.
The first and third rounds of talks were held in Oman, while the second round took place in Rome at the residence of the Omani ambassador.
Tehran has previously rejected halting its uranium enrichment program, insisting that the country’s right to enrich uranium is non-negotiable, despite Washington’s threats of military action, additional sanctions, and tariffs if an agreement is not reached to curb Iran’s nuclear activities.
However, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said that any deal with Iran must require the complete dismantling of its “nuclear enrichment and weaponization program.” Witkoff’s comments came after he received criticism for suggesting the Islamic Republic would be allowed to maintain its nuclear program in a limited capacity.
Trump indicated last Wednesday during a radio interview that he is seeking to “blow up” Iran’s nuclear centrifuges “nicely” through an agreement with Tehran but is also prepared to do so “viciously” in an attack if necessary. That same day, however, when asked by a reporter in the White House whether his administration would allow Iran to maintain an enrichment program as long as it doesn’t enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels, Trump said his team had not decided. “We haven’t made that decision yet,” Trump said. “We will, but we haven’t made that decision.”
Despite Iran’s claims that its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes rather than weapons development, Western states have said there is no “credible civilian justification” for the country’s recent nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”
The post Trump Vows ‘Most Destructive Force’ Iran Won’t Get Nuclear Weapon as Tehran Defends Enrichment Program first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
New York City Mayor Establishes First-of-Its-Kind Office to Combat Antisemitism
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announcing the formation of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism at a press conference at City Hall on May 13, 2025. Photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced at a press conference on Tuesday morning the creation of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, the first office of its kind to be established in a major city in the US.
The first task of the new mayoral office will be to immediately establish an inter-agency taskforce that will focus on tacking “all forms of antisemitism,” which include monitoring court cases and outcomes in the justice system, cooperating with the New York City Law Department on cases to bring or join, and advising on executive orders to issue and legislation to propose to address antisemitism. The office will also liaise with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to take action against antisemitism, and it will have the authority to ensure that city-funded entities, taxpayer-funded organizations, and city agencies do not promote antisemitism.
“Anything funded by the city, there are rules and regulations of how you can contract with the city and behave when you contract with the city, and we’re going to make sure that is taken care of in the proper way,” Moshe Davis, the inaugural executive director of the Office to Combat Antisemitism, told The Algemeiner. He explained that the new office will make sure “that these [city-funded] agencies are not doing the wrong thing and if they are, and we have the legal ability, we are going to make sure they are not going to be able to continue doing that.”
“By establishing the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, our administration is taking immediate and concrete steps to address antisemitism at every level of city life,” Davis added during the press conference.
Adams made the announcement about the new initiative amid an unprecedented uptick in antisemitism in New York City and across the nation. In 2024, the NYPD reported that 54 percent of all hate crimes in New York City were against Jewish New Yorkers. During the first quarter of 2025, that number rose to 62 percent.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League’s latest Audit of Antisemitic Incidents revealed a record number of 9,354 antisemitic incidents across the US in 2024. The highest number of incidents were in New York.
New York City has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, and Jews make up 10 percent of the population, according to the mayor. New York has 960,000 Jewish residents.
Adams said it is “imperative” to address the increase in antisemitism in New York City.
“We can’t move on with business as usual when we have a population in your city that is overwhelmingly being targeted merely because of their religion or way of life,” Adams said on Tuesday at the press conference. He added that the new Office to Combat Antisemitism will help “send a very clear message in this city that antisemitism cannot live and most importantly cannot grow – cannot grow on our college campuses, cannot grow in our schools, in our work environments … And let’s be honest, it’s not a Jewish issue. Any hate on a group is an issue that we should address. This administration will not remain silent while our Jewish brothers and sisters are targeted.”
“As we continue to see the rising tide of antisemitism here at home, and across the country, this moment calls for decisive action,” the mayor further said in a released statement. “The Office to Combat Antisemitism … will tackle antisemitism in all of its forms, working across city agencies to ensure Jewish New Yorkers are protected and can thrive here in the five boroughs. Antisemitism is an attack not only on Jewish New Yorkers, but on the very idea of New York City as a place where people from all backgrounds can live together.”
Davis’s first course of action as the executive director of the new office will be to form a commission of Jewish leaders from across the city to oversee and advise on the office’s work. The mayor described Davis in a press statement as “a tireless advocate on behalf of Jewish New Yorkers, and he is exactly the right person to lead and build this office.”
Davis joined the Adams administration in November 2022 as Jewish liaison in the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs. He formerly managed the city’s first Jewish Advisory Council, which the mayor established in June 2023.
“Combating antisemitism requires a sledgehammer approach: coordinated, unapologetic, and immediate,” Davis said. “Mayor Adams has been a modern-day Maccabee, standing up for the Jewish community, and, with the establishment of this office, he is strengthening his resolve to ensure Jewish New Yorkers thrive in our city. I look forward to working closely with Mayor Eric Adams and First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro to continue our forceful response against anti-Jewish hate and discrimination.”
Davis was previously the rabbinic leader at the Manhattan Jewish Experience, a program for young Jewish professionals. He also founded New York Jews in Politics, an initiative that connects Jewish professionals who work in government, advocacy, and nonprofit sectors, and received his ordination from the Rabbinical Council of Jerusalem. As executive director of the Office to Combat Antisemitism, he will report directly to First Deputy Mayor Mastro.
“We are a city that will not tolerate antisemitism,” Mastro said at the press conference on Tuesday.
“The rise in antisemitism in our city, in our country, and around the world is both alarming and intolerable,” Mastro added in a released statement. “Today, Mayor Adams is taking a stand — that in the city with the largest Jewish population in the world — antisemitism is unacceptable, and we have to do more to address it. So, New York City will lead the way as the first major city in America to establish an office dedicated solely to combatting antisemitism.”
New York City also has an Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, which was launched in 2019 and is still active, and the NYPD has a Hate Crime Task Force that addresses bias-motivated threats, harassment, discrimination, and violence throughout New York.
The post New York City Mayor Establishes First-of-Its-Kind Office to Combat Antisemitism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.