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‘Zionist Pig!’ Antisemitic Discrimination at American University Alleged in New Civil Rights Complaint
Illustrative: Thousands of anti-Israel demonstrators from the Midwest gather in support of Palestinians and hold a rally and march through the Loop in Chicago on Oct. 21, 2023. Photo: Alexandra Buxbaum/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Shocking allegations of antisemitic assault, discrimination, and harassment at American University in Washington DC were unveiled on Wednesday in a new complaint filed with the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Jewish on Campus.
According to the complaint, pro-Hamas supporters spat on a Jewish Israeli student, someone graffitied swastikas in dorms for first-year students, and four Jewish students were charged with student conduct violations for recording video footage of pro-Hamas agitators tearing down missing persons posters of Israelis who were taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist group on Oct. 7.
Shared with The Algemeiner on Wednesday, the complaint alleges egregious violations of Title VI of the US Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in programs and activities that receive federal funding. The document begins with a summary of incidents experienced by Ben Enzer, a music and computer science major who, in addition to managing a rigorous course load, works two jobs as a teacher’s assistant and piano tutor to put himself through school. He is a Jewish Israeli American.
Enzer lost family and friends during Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel and has since then participated in events held to commemorate their lives. After leaving one such event held on campus, pro-Hamas protesters who saw him wearing an Israeli flag shouted “Zionist pig” at him. Two others riding on scooters with their faces concealed by keffiyehs — traditional headscarves worn in the Middle East that have become symbols of solidarity with the Palestinians against Israel — and N95 masks spat on him.
According to the complaint, although Enzer reported the incident to campus authorities and filed an additional complaint with the school’s Title IX office, which handles all reports of alleged discrimination, the university never responded to him, forcing him, at the advice of his mother, to avoid further harm by concealing his Star of David. Despite doing so, the spitting incidents continued, happening four more times. He was also called a “Zionist killer.”
Enzer allegedly had no recourse until the occurrence of an incident that was reported by The Eagle, American University’s campus newspaper, in November. He and other musicians had organized a recital, scheduled to take place on Dec. 10, and had posted around campus advertisements promoting the event. Someone later vandalized the advertisements, writing “Death to the Zionists Hitler was right” and drawing a swastika on them. American University refused to commence an investigation of the vandalisms, the Brandeis Center alleges, and two FBI officers dressed as civilians attended the recital to protect Enzer and his guests from violence.
“That the FBI needed to be called in demonstrates the level of physical threat to which [Enzer] was subjected. The situation on campus for Jews like [him] has deteriorated to such a degree because AU has long been derelict in its duty of care and protection of Jewish students on campus,” the complaint says.
“The university’s response to the incidents targeting [Enzer] has been wholly inadequate. It took the administration five days to contact [Enzer] after the vandalism incident, and even then, only one dean emailed him, nearly a week after the event, to inquire about his well being,” the document continues. “This was only after [Enzer] notified his professors that the administration had not offered him any support. AU’s failure to investigate the spitting incident [he] reported left the student feeling abandoned by the university and demonstrated the university’s lack of care and concern.”
The Algemeiner received permission to use Enzer’s name, which is redacted from the complaint where he’s described anonymously.
American University has ignored other antisemitic incidents on campus, according to the allegations. After Oct. 7, swastikas were graffitied three times in the first-year dormitory Letts Hall, as well as in a bathroom and on the doors of the residences of two Jewish students. A fourth vandalism was aborted when the student being targeted opened their door, causing the perpetrator to flee. One student whose door was vandalized was contacted by a person assumed to be involved in the incident in a text message that read, “I know who you are, Jew.”
The Brandeis Center added that 2023 was the third year in a row that swastika graffiti appeared on campus. In 2021 and 2022 the Nazi symbol was graffitied in bathrooms during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, two of the holiest holidays in the Jewish religion. The civil rights organization alleges that American University never launched a serious investigation of the incidents, essentially enabling the behavior.
One of the last examples of alleged civil rights violations cited in the complaint touches on an issue that has received ample media attention in the months following the atrocities of Oct. 7: tearing down missing persons posters of Israelis who were taken hostage by Hamas. At American University, tearing down posters of any kind constitutes a violation of the student code of conduct. However, the Brandies Center alleges, the school’s administration did nothing when pro-Hamas supporters tore down missing posters of Israelis. It did, however, file disciplinary charges against Jewish students who recorded them committing the act.
“By turning the situation on its head and treating the perpetrators as the victims, the university demonstrated a disregard for the facts, held its Jewish and Israeli students to a double standard, enforced its own code of conduct in a discriminatory fashion, and retaliated against Jewish students for attempting to engage in the legally protected activity of attempting to protect their civil rights,” the complaint says.
The Brandies Center went on to describe numerous other incidents of alleged discrimination and bullying in the classroom. It is asking the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to conduct a thorough investigation of its claims and has, in the interim, asked American University to suspend disciplinary proceedings against the Jewish students who filmed the vandalisms of missing persons posters, review its processes for investigating antisemitism, and begin compensating Enzer for lost wages and emotional suffering he has endured as a result of the treatment to which he was allegedly subjected during the fall semester.
American University did not respond to a request for comment for this story and has not yet responded publicly to the allegations, which are among the most damaging lodged against a US university since Oct. 7.
“Jewish students deserve consistent support from their university administrators, not harassment for standing up against antisemitism,” Jewish on Campus founder and CEO Julia Jassey said in a statement on Wednesday. “We urge a swift investigation and a campus climate where no student has to endure such harassment.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ‘Zionist Pig!’ Antisemitic Discrimination at American University Alleged in New Civil Rights Complaint first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Make Zionists Afraid’: Pro-Hamas Agitators in Germany Vandalize Gov’t Buildings, Intimidate Local Business
Anti-Israel protesters march in Germany, March 26, 2025. Photo: Sebastian Willnow/dpa via Reuters Connect
Pro-Hamas agitators in Germany carried out a series of antisemitic attacks this week, vandalizing government offices and targeting a Berlin bar with death threats and intimidation.
On Tuesday, an antisemitic flyer began circulating in Berlin, targeting the owners of Bajszel, a local bar in the city’s southeastern Neukölln neighborhood, with threats of violence and death, German media reported.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, the local bar — which hosts cultural programs and political events dedicated to fighting antisemitism — has been repeatedly targeted, with customers and staff threatened as “Jewish child killers” and the establishment repeatedly vandalized.
In this latest targeted incident, unknown individuals plastered flyers on the bar’s facade bearing the headline “Make Zionists Afraid.” Designed like a wanted poster, the handout showed photos of the three owners, each stamped with an inverted red triangle, which Hamas has used in its propaganda videos to indicate Israeli targets about to be attacked. The symbol has become a demonstration of support for the Palestinian terrorist group amid the war in Gaza.
The flyer accused the owners of “openly expressing their support for the colonial state of Israel” through the events they host at their bar.
“Anyone who sides with the perpetrators of genocide should feel unsafe everywhere. We want these three to be silenced forever and serve as a warning to all Zionists in Berlin and Neukölln,” the flyer read, referring to the bar’s owners.
The handout also included the antisemitic phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — a popular slogan among anti-Israel activists that has been widely interpreted as a genocidal call for the destruction of the Jewish state, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Local authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the incident, but no arrests have been made so far.
Volker Beck, president of the German-Israeli Society, strongly condemned the attack, calling on law enforcement to act swiftly and urging immediate protection for the bar’s owners.
“Supporting Israel … should never put anyone’s life in danger. The antisemitic death threats against Bajszel in Berlin-Neukölln are completely unacceptable,” Beck said in a statement.
“Threatening people … with death for openly expressing their loyalty to Israel is a form of everyday terrorism that cannot be tolerated,” he continued.
In a separate incident on Thursday, the office of Germany’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Württemberg-Hohenzollern, a southwestern region of the country, was vandalized with antisemitic slogans. This marks one of the latest in a string of attacks by anti-Israel protesters targeting CDU offices nationwide.
Unknown perpetrators covered the office facade in red paint, scrawling messages such as “Accomplice,” “Stop the Genocide,” and “Flotilla Sumud.”
On Wednesday, the CDU building in Göttingen, a central German city, was vandalized, with several windows smashed and antisemitic slogans scrawled across the facade.
The perpetrators spray-painted slogans on the walls, including “Free Palestine,” “From the River to the Sea,” “Kill Zionists,” and “FCK CDU.”
Anti-Israel demonstrators even vandalized the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin-Mitte, covering the facade with red paint and scrawling antisemitic slogans.
Shortly after this incident, a pro-Palestinian demonstration was held outside the Foreign Ministry, where protesters chanted slogans such as “Free Palestine,” “Genocide,” and “All of Berlin hates the police.”
Berlin: Aktivisten beschmieren Auswärtiges Amt mit roter Farbe
Mehrere Aktivisten haben am Donnerstag die Fassade des Auswärtigen Amtes in Berlin mit roter Farbe beschmiert. Zudem sei ein Schriftzug angebracht worden. Dieser soll einen Bezug zum Nahost-Konflikt aufweisen. pic.twitter.com/dgPBqL5lHv
— TAVI (@xTAVIx) October 2, 2025
According to local authorities, an investigation has been launched into these latest incidents, and four activists have been arrested in connection with them.
Carina Hermann, chair of CDU’s municipal association, strongly condemned the recent wave of violence and vandalism, calling for immediate measures to ensure public safety.
“With broken windows, political slogans, and destroyed locks, the goal is to silence opposing voices and intimidate them with all the force possible,” Hermann said in a statement. “This is no longer a simple protest; it is a direct attack by extremists who have no regard for democracy or free discourse.”
In recent weeks, CDU offices in Hanover, Oldenburg, and other cities have also been vandalized. In Göttingen, additional buildings — including those of the Social Democratic Party of Germany — have been defaced.
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Democrats More Likely to Vote for Lawmakers Who Oppose US Military Aid to Israel, Poll Finds
US Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA). Photo: Bryan Olin Dozier/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect
Voters who support the Democratic Party in the US are increasingly open to candidates who oppose American military assistance to Israel, according to a new poll from the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) Policy Project, an organization critical of the Jewish state and supportive of the Palestinian cause
The survey, conducted in partnership with YouGov, found that 57 percent of Democrats indicated they would be more likely to vote in the 2026 midterm elections for a member of Congress who opposed sending billions of dollars in weapons to Israel, while 9 percent stated they would be less likely and 34 percent said it would make no difference. The poll also showed that 55 percent of Democratic voters would look favorably on a lawmaker sponsoring the Block the Bombs Act, legislation aimed at restricting certain arms sales to Israel.
The Block the Bombs Act, sponsored by progressive Democratic Reps. Delia Ramirez (IL), Marc Pocan (WI), Sara Jacobs (CA), and Pramila Jayapal (WA), would restrict the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel. The legislation, if enacted, would only allow the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel if Congress passed a law outlining the scenarios in which they could be deployed. Jerusalem would also be mandated to provide written assurances that the weapons would be used in accordance with international law.
According to the new poll, a striking 71 percent of Democrats said they would prefer to support a presidential candidate in the 2028 election who “voted to withhold weapons to Israel. In comparison, 10 percent responded they would rather back someone who “voted against withholding weapons to Israel,” and 19 percent were not sure.
The poll, which was released on Friday, surveyed 1,221 registered voters who said they typically participate in Democratic primaries from Sept. 11–24, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
While the results pointed to growing opposition to Israel within the Democratic activist base, critics noted on social media that IMEU’s framing of the questions, such as invoking the South African apartheid analogy in related surveys, may misrepresent responses in ways that do not mirror broader public sentiment.
In Washington, support for Israel remains one of the few issues that consistently draws bipartisan consensus. Congress has continued to approve annual military aid packages to the Jewish state by wide margins, and US President Donald Trump has repeatedly affirmed his administration’s commitment to Israel’s security, describing the partnership as vital for both American interests and regional stability.
Polling from Gallup and Pew has also found that while Democratic voters are more divided over Israel than Republicans, the US public overall maintains a broadly favorable view of Israel and the US-Israel relationship.
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Hamas Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan, Seeks Negotiations Over Other Terms
Palestinian Hamas terrorists stand guard on the day of the handover of hostages held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack, as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 22, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.
Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, started the current war in the enclave with its Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel. The Islamist group said it would agree to some aspects of Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war, including releasing hostages and handing over administration of the enclave, but that it would seek negotiations over many of its other terms.
In a copy of the statement seen by Reuters, Hamas issued its response to Trump’s 20-point plan after the US president gave the Palestinian terrorist group until Sunday to accept or reject the proposal. Trump has not said whether the terms would be subject to negotiation, as Hamas is seeking.
Notably, Hamas did not say whether it would agree to a stipulation that it disarm, a demand by Israel and the US that it has previously rejected.
In its statement, Hamas said it “appreciates the Arab, Islamic, and international efforts, as well as the efforts of US President Donald Trump, calling for an end to the war on the Gaza Strip, the exchange of prisoners, [and] the immediate entry of aid,” among other terms.
It said it was announcing its “approval of releasing all occupation prisoners — both living and remains — according to the exchange formula contained in President Trump’s proposal, with the necessary field conditions for implementing the exchange.”
But Hamas added: “In this context, the movement affirms its readiness to immediately enter, through the mediators, into negotiations to discuss the details.”
The group said it was ready “to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents [technocrats] based on Palestinian national consensus and supported by Arab and Islamic backing.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Hamas’s response to the proposal, which is backed by Israel as well as Arab and European powers.
Trump’s plan specifies an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of all hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas, and the introduction of a transitional government led by an international body.