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These Outrageous Antisemitic Incidents Occurred Across the US in July
US Capitol Police and NYPD officers clash with anti-Israel demonstrators, on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Many of the anti-Israel protests in July were centered on the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the US. A variety of American Palestinian groups urged Netanyahu to be “arrested.” Prior to Netanyahu’s speech before Congress, some 200 protestors were arrested in the Capitol Rotunda. Mobs also besieged the hotel where he was staying, with Palestinian Youth Movement infiltrators filming themselves releasing maggot and insects, and pulling fire alarms overnight.
Prior to the speech, thousands of protestors mobbed Washington, D.C., burning American flags and waving Hamas flags, assaulting police, and vandalizing monuments with graffiti including “Hamas is coming.”
Classic antisemitic imagery, including Netanyahu depicted as a demon with horns and fangs dripping blood, were common. Police, including many brought in from other cities, used tear gas to disperse the crowds, but US Park Police later reported that less than three dozen members were deployed to protect monuments. Those arrested were later released, and many charges were dropped.
The riots were condemned from across the political spectrum, including the White House.
Other pro-Hamas protest activities during the month included:
July 4th disruptions in major cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston, which featured burning the American flag.
Vandalizing a Seattle Holocaust museum with the words “Genocide in Gaza.” Local police declared the act was not a hate crime.
A planned protest outside a Michigan Holocaust museum and demands that the museum condemn Israel.
Protestors who unfurled pro-Hamas banners from the roof of the Australian parliament building.
The Royal Palace on Dam Square in Amsterdam being vandalized by pro-Hamas activists with red paint, which they stated “symbolizes the blood of the Palestinians that is currently flowing through the streets of Gaza.”
Emailed bomb threats “in the name of Palestine” forced the evacuation of the Pennsylvania Capitol Complex.
An Israeli owned factory in New York City was attacked along with two in Britain with alleged connections to Israel. A non-Jewish owned diner on Long Island with hostage posters in the windows was also vandalized.
Attacks on synagogues and Jewish institutions were routine in July:
Protests outside a New York City synagogue hosting an Israeli real estate fair.
A Pittsburgh synagogue and the Jewish Federation headquarters were vandalized.
A Los Angeles synagogue was vandalized twice in one week.
Vandalizing a Sydney synagogue with a banner reading “sanction Israel.”
A thwarted plot to destroy an Athens synagogue resulted in arrests. This followed attacks on a Chabad house and an Israeli owned hotel.
Two Toronto synagogues were attacked, and a school and a school bus were burned.
Elsewhere, a variety of symbols associated with Jews continue to be appropriated for the Hamas cause. One especially obscene example was an Anne Frank statue in Amsterdam that was vandalized with the word “Gaza.”
In Bergen, Norway, a mural of Anne Frank wearing a keffiyah sparked controversy. The anonymous artist claimed that “The killings of the innocent women and children in Gaza must stop now. I feel sure that Anne Frank … would support me in this demand.”
Students
Reports indicate that anti-Israel students are investing heavily in summer training activities. A number of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) summer camps sponsored by the National Students for Justice in Palestine have been noted, including at the University of Massachusetts, Smith College, and San Francisco State University.
Threats against universities and Jewish students also escalated in July. Unionized student workers associated with the United Auto Workers at Columbia University voted to endorse BDS, and threaten to strike if its demands are not met.
At New York University, the administration condemned the People’s Solidarity Coalition aka the People’s Front, which had issued a statement embracing “armed struggle” as part of its efforts to “dismantle NYU’s involvement in settler-colonial occupation, genocide and imperial wars. We localize the Palestinian liberation struggle within the imperialist University, and take up the fight against NYU’s global empire, which collaborates in the interests of Zionist colonialism and U.S. imperialism.”
In another example, the University of Wisconsin Madison SJP chapter threatened that “We will no longer normalize genocidal extremists walking on our campus. … ANY organization or entity that supports Israel is not welcome at UWM. This includes the local extremist groups such as Hillel, Jewish Federation, etc.”
The larger revolutionary framework of anti-Israel and anti-American protests was described in a posting by the University of Illinois Chicago SJP, which stated “Inshallah amerikkka and israel will fall within our life time. Death to all police and colonial empires.”
The repercussions of the post-October 7 campus unrest continue to reverberate for university administrations. One report indicates that the protests cost the University of California system $29 million, with UCLA alone incurring $10 million in security and $400,000 in cleanup expenses.
Several universities have quietly announced that divestment from Israel is not being considered, including the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California system. The University of Minnesota regents proposed to sidestep the issue with an “investment neutrality” policy, while the University of Edinburgh has postponed consideration indefinitely. The London School of Economics stated that divestment was effectively impossible.
Disciplinary action against pro-Hamas protestors continues to emerge:
At Northwestern University, three employees and one graduate student were arrested for obstructing police, who were attempting to break up an encampment. Charges were then dropped by the Cook County prosecutor.
Two additional protestors at the University of Illinois were charged, bringing the total to five.
Pro-Hamas students at the University of Texas were suspended for two years.
At Harvard University, suspended students were reinstated after faculty complaints, and their diplomas were conferred.
A variety of pro-Hamas student groups at George Washington University were reportedly being sanctioned.
In Britain, the universities of Nottingham and Birmingham obtained court orders disbanding campus encampments.
The University of Melbourne has reportedly threatened to expel pro-Hamas protestors after disciplinary proceeding. The protestors complained that “surveillance technology” had been used to identify them.
Other universities continue to make a variety of concessions to protestors:
After negotiations with the pro-Hamas elements encampment, the University of Wisconsin-Madison apparently agreed to cut ties with two Israeli companies and to condemn the “plausible genocide” by Gazans.
The University of Liège announced that it was conceding to student demands to confirm it had no collaborations with Israeli universities, that it would request a review by the European Council on Israeli participation in European-wide projects, and that it was rejecting a series of donations and collaboration with specific companies.
University of Toronto encampment participants were provided with amnesty by the university as a condition for vacating the campus.
The University of Windsor agreed encampment demands to accept more “scholars at risk” and students from Gaza, “enhanced anti-racism initiatives,” and to greater investment transparency.
Cambridge University agreed to review its investments as part of an agreement with the pro-Hamas encampment. It also confirmed it did not have investments in specific Israeli companies.
University administrations continue to adopt a variety of measures to ensure the fall semester will be quiet. The University of California Regents voted to ban political statements by academic departments. The move comes after numerous departments posted anti-Israel statements on their websites, particularly after October 7.
Restrictions on protests were also instituted by the Indiana University regents, and have been proposed at Harvard University, including a ban on overnight camping. Most substantively, a Federal court has ordered UCLA to develop a plan to protect Jewish students from the discrimination and harassment that underpinned the 20224 encampments.
But while antisemitism task forces, invariably paired with “Islamophobia” task forces, have provided useful documentation of campus harassment and intimidation, their mostly modest recommendations have been ignored.
Efforts to “educate” staff members regarding antisemitism within the existing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) mechanisms that dominate campuses have thus far been unsuccessful.
Faculty
As faculty prepare for the fall semester, a number of developments point to the continued domination of campus politics and discourse by the anti-Israel movement. Unions remain key mechanisms for anti-Israel forces to maintain control:
A petition circulated at Rutgers University calls on the faculty to demand the school’s American Association of University Professors-American Federation of Teachers members call for divestment and for cutting ties with Tel Aviv University.
Six Jewish faculty at the City University of New York (CUNY) have sent a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the US Court of Appeals asking to hear their case against the Professional Staff Congress.
A series of resolutions proposed at the American Federation of Teachers convention demanding an end to US military aid to Israel and protect pro-Palestinian protestors were removed from consideration by the leadership as “unconstitutional.”
A series of resolutions were proposed to the National Education Association convention supporting BDS, demanding the end of US military aid to Israel, and supporting teaching about the “Nakba.” The convention and consideration of the resolutions was halted by a strike of union staff.
The isolation of Israeli academia at the hands of international colleagues continues to expand. New reports indicate that the number of foreign students applying to study at leading Israeli universities has declined precipitously since October 7, and many international faculty are planning on leaving. The declines are especially critical in the hard sciences and life sciences, with local academics warning that Israel may become a closed scientific monoculture on par with China or Iran. Most analysts cite the impact of the BDS movement and fear of having a record of Israeli collaboration. Other reports cite a growing wave of Israeli academics leaving the country for overseas positions. Most, however, cite domestic politics, the security situation, and the high cost of living.
More positively, an open letter signed by some 3,000 academics denounced Israel boycotts.
The author is a contributor to SPME, where a version of this article was first published.
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Harvard Faculty Oppose Deal With Trump, Distancing From Hamas Apologists: Crimson Poll
Harvard University president Alan Garber attending the 373rd Commencement Exercises at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, May 23, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
A recently published Harvard Crimson poll of over 1,400 Harvard faculty revealed sweeping opposition to interim university President Alan Garber’s efforts to strike a deal with the federal government to restore $3 billion in research grants and contracts it froze during the first 100 days of the second Trump administration.
In the survey, conducted from April 23 to May 12, 71 percent of arts and sciences faculty oppose negotiating a settlement with the administration, which may include concessions conservatives have long sought from elite higher education, such as meritocratic admissions, viewpoint diversity, and severe disciplinary sanctions imposed on students who stage unauthorized protests that disrupt academic life.
Additionally, 64 percent “strongly disagree” with shuttering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, 73 percent oppose rejecting foreign applicants who hold anti-American beliefs which are “hostile to the American values and institutions inscribed in the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence,” and 70 percent strongly disagree with revoking school recognition from pro-Hamas groups such as the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC).
“More than 98 percent of faculty who responded to the survey supported the university’s decision to sue the White House,” The Crimson reported. “The same percentage backed Harvard’s public rejection of the sweeping conditions that the administration set for maintaining the funds — terms that included external audits of Harvard’s hiring practices and the disciplining of student protesters.”
Alyza Lewin of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law told The Algemeiner that the poll results indicate that Harvard University will continue to struggle to address campus antisemitism on campus, as there is now data showing that its faculty reject the notion of excising intellectualized antisemitism from the university.
“If you, for example, have faculty teaching courses that are regularly denying that the Jews are a people and erasing the Jewish people’s history in the land of Israel, that’s going to undermine your efforts to address the antisemitism on your campus,” Lewin explained. “When Israel is being treated as the ‘collective Jew,’ when the conversation is not about Israel’s policies, when the criticism is not what the [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism] would call criticism of Israel similar to that against any other country, they have to understand that it is the demonization, delegitimization, and applying a double standard to Jews as individuals or to Israel.”
She added, “Faculty must recognize … the demonization, vilification, the shunning, and the marginalizing of Israelis, Jews, and Zionists, when it happens, as violations of the anti-discrimination policies they are legally and contractually obligated to observe.”
The Crimson survey results were published amid reports that Garber was working to reach a deal with the Trump administration that is palatable to all interested parties, including the university’s left-wing social milieu.
According to a June 26 report published by The Crimson, Garber held a phone call with major donors in which he “confirmed in response to a question from [Harvard Corporation Fellow David M. Rubenstein] that talks had resumed” but “declined to share specifics of how Harvard expected to settle with the White House.”
On June 30, the Trump administration issued Harvard a “notice of violation” of civil rights law following an investigation which examined how it responded to dozens of antisemitic incidents reported by Jewish students since the 2023-2024 academic year.
The correspondence, sent by the Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, charged that Harvard willfully exposed Jewish students to a torrent of racist and antisemitic abuse following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, which precipitated a surge in anti-Zionist activity on the campus, both in the classroom and out of it.
“Failure to institute adequate changes immediately will result in the loss of all federal financial resources and continue to affect Harvard’s relationship with the federal government,” wrote the four federal officials comprising the multiagency Task Force. “Harvard may of course continue to operate free of federal privileges, and perhaps such an opportunity will spur a commitment to excellence that will help Harvard thrive once again.”
The Trump administration ratcheted up pressure on Harvard again on Wednesday, reporting the institution to its accreditor for alleged civil rights violations resulting from its weak response to reports of antisemitic bullying, discrimination, and harassment following the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre.
Citing Harvard’s failure to treat antisemitism as seriously as it treated other forms of hatred in the past, The US Department of Educationthe called on the New England Commission of Higher Education to review and, potentially, revoke its accreditation — a designation which qualifies Harvard for federal funding and attests to the quality of the educational services its provides.
“Accrediting bodies play a significant role in preserving academic integrity and a campus culture conducive to truth seeking and learning,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Part of that is ensuring students are safe on campus and abiding by federal laws that guarantee educational opportunities to all students. By allowing anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination to persist unchecked on its campus, Harvard University has failed in its obligation to students, educators, and American taxpayers.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Balancing Act: Lebanese President Aoun Affirms Hope for Peace with Israel, Balks At Normalization
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun attends a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Friday carefully affirmed his country’s desire for peace with Israel while cautioning that Beirut is not ready to normalize relations with its southern neighbor.
Aoun called for a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory, according to a statement from his office, while reaffirming his government’s efforts to uphold a state monopoly on arms amid mounting international pressure on the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah to disarm.
“The decision to restrict arms is final and there is no turning back on it,” Aoun said.
The Lebanese leader drew a clear distinction between pursuing peace and establishing formal normalization in his country’s relationship with the Jewish state.
“Peace is the lack of a state of war, and this is what matters to us in Lebanon at the moment,” Aoun said in a statement. “As for the issue of normalization, it is not currently part of Lebanese foreign policy.”
Aoun’s latest comments come after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar expressed interest last month in normalizing ties with Lebanon and Syria — an effort Jerusalem says cannot proceed until Hezbollah is fully disarmed.
Earlier this week, Aoun sent his government’s response to a US-backed disarmament proposal as Washington and Jerusalem increased pressure on Lebanon to neutralize the terror group.
While the details remain confidential, US Special Envoy Thomas Barrack said he was “unbelievably satisfied” with their response.
This latest proposal, presented to Lebanese officials during Barrack’s visit on June 19, calls for Hezbollah to be fully disarmed within four months in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from its five occupied posts in southern Lebanon.
However, Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem vowed in a televised speech to keep the group’s weapons, rejecting Washington’s disarmament proposal.
“How can you expect us not to stand firm while the Israeli enemy continues its aggression, continues to occupy the five points, and continues to enter our territories and kill?” said Qassem, who succeeded longtime terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah after Israel killed him last year.
“We will not be part of legitimizing the occupation in Lebanon and the region,” the terrorist leader continued. “We will not accept normalization [with Israel].”
Last fall, Israel decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and military capabilities with an air and ground offensive, following the group’s attacks on Jerusalem — which they claimed were a show of solidarity with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas amid the war in Gaza.
In November, Lebanon and Israel reached a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended a year of fighting between the Jewish state and Hezbollah.
Under the agreement, Israel was given 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, allowing the Lebanese army and UN forces to take over security as Hezbollah disarms and moves away from Israel’s northern border.
However, Israel maintained troops at several posts in southern Lebanon beyond the ceasefire deadline, as its leaders aimed to reassure northern residents that it was safe to return home.
Jerusalem has continued carrying out strikes targeting remaining Hezbollah activity, with Israeli leaders accusing the group of maintaining combat infrastructure, including rocket launchers — calling this “blatant violations of understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
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Peace Meals: Chef José Andrés Says ‘Good People’ On Both Sides of Gaza Conflict Ill-Served By Leaders, Food Can Bridge Divide
Chef and head of World Central Kitchen Jose Andres attends the Milken Institute Global Conference 2025 in Beverly Hills, California, US, May 5, 2025. Photo: Reuters/Mike Blake.
Renowned Spanish chef and World Central Kitchen (WCK) founder José Andrés called the Oct. 7 attack “horrendous” in an interview Wednesday and shared his hopes for reconciliation between the “vast majority” on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide who are “good people that very often are not served well by their leaders”
WCK is a US-based, nonprofit organization that provides fresh meals to people in conflict zones around the world. The charity has been actively serving Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since the Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel. Since the Hamas attack, WCK has served more than 133 million meals across Gaza, according to its website.
The restaurateur and humanitarian has been quoted saying in past interviews that “sometimes very big problems have very simple solutions.” On Wednesday’s episode of the Wall Street Journal podcast “Bold Names,” he was asked to elaborate on that thought. He responded by saying he believes good meals and good leaders can help resolve issues between Israelis and Palestinians, who, he believes, genuinely want to live harmoniously with each other.
“I had people in Gaza, mothers, women making bread,” he said. “Moments that you had of closeness they were telling you: ‘What Hamas did was wrong. I wouldn’t [want] anybody to do this to my children.’ And I had Israelis that even lost family members. They say, ‘I would love to go to Gaza to be next to the people to show them that we respect them …’ And this to me is very fascinating because it’s the reality.
“Maybe some people call me naive. [But] the vast majority of the people are good people that very often are not served well by their leaders. And the simple reality of recognizing that many truths can be true at the same time in the same phrase that what happened on October 7th was horrendous and was never supposed to happen. And that’s why World Central Kitchen was there next to the people in Israel feeding in the kibbutz from day one, and at the same time that I defended obviously the right of Israel to defend itself and to try to bring back the hostages. Equally, what is happening in Gaza is not supposed to be happening either.”
Andres noted that he supports Israel’s efforts to target Hamas terrorists but then seemingly accused Israel of “continuously” targeting children and civilians during its military operations against the terror group.
“We need leaders that believe in that, that believe in longer tables,” he concluded. “It’s so simple to invest in peace … It’s so simple to do good. It’s so simple to invest in a better tomorrow. Food is a solution to many of the issues we’re facing. Let’s hope that … one day in the Middle East it’ll be people just celebrating the cultures that sometimes if you look at what they eat, they seem all to eat exactly the same.”
In 2024, WCK fired at least 62 of its staff members in Gaza after Israel said they had ties to terrorist groups. In one case, Israel discovered that a WCK employee named Ahed Azmi Qdeih took part in the deadly Hamas rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Qdeih was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in November 2024.
In April 2024, the Israel Defense Forces received backlash for carrying out airstrikes on a WCK vehicle convoy which killed seven of the charity’s employees. Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said the airstrikes were “a mistake that followed a misidentification,” and Israel dismissed two senior officers as a result of the mishandled military operation.
The strikes “were not just some unfortunate mistake in the fog of war,” Andrés alleged.
“It was a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by” the Israeli military, he claimed in an op-ed published by Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot. “It was also the direct result of [the Israeli] government’s policy to squeeze humanitarian aid to desperate levels.”
In a statement on X, Andres accused Israel of “indiscriminate killing,” saying the Jewish state “needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon.”
The post Peace Meals: Chef José Andrés Says ‘Good People’ On Both Sides of Gaza Conflict Ill-Served By Leaders, Food Can Bridge Divide first appeared on Algemeiner.com.