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Universities Must Be Forced to Address Antisemitism

niversity of California, Santa Barbara student body president Tessa Veksler on Feb. 26, 2024. Photo: Instagram

University of California, Santa Barbara student body president Tessa Veksler on Feb. 26, 2024. Photo: Instagram

JNS.org – “Never would I have imagined that I’d need to fight for my right to exist on campus,” laments Shabbos Kestenbaum, a student at Harvard University who is suing the school because “antisemitism is out of control.”

Jewish students have suffered an unrelenting explosion of hate on American higher education campuses—so far with little relief. They have endured antisemitic rhetoric, intimidation, cancellation and violence. But those charged with keeping campuses safe—whether administrators who govern student and faculty behavior or federal agencies responsible for ensuring that schools adhere to civil rights protections—are failing in their jobs.

Many Jewish students have complained to their colleges’ administrators about the injustices. But instead of responding with measures to ensure Jewish students’ safety—like stopping pro-Hamas protestors from hijacking campuses or expelling militants who incite Jew-hatred— administrators have largely shown indifference. In some cases, college authorities have made things worse for Jewish students by appeasing the riotous, pro-Hamas mobs who have been primary perpetrators of Jew-hatred on campus.

Snubbed by college administrators, Jewish students and their supporters have appealed for federal protection, filing Title VI complaints with the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR), the body tasked with enforcing protections under the Civil Rights Act. Unfortunately, the OCR, which has the power to levy severe financial punishments against colleges that neglect students’ Title VI rights, has so far rewarded negligent universities with little more than slaps on the wrist.

Until college and university boards of trustees begin hiring administrators committed to Jewish students’ safety—and until the OCR begins seriously punishing antisemitic perpetrators—we can expect no respite. Safe to say, colleges and universities run by arrogant, apathetic administrators will not change until their jobs and schools’ survival are threatened.

College/university administrators don’t take antisemitism seriously. Their reactions to Jewish students raising concerns about Jew-hatred range from indifference to outright hostility. For example, when Mohammed Al-Kurd, who the Anti-Defamation League says has a record of “unvarnished, vicious antisemitism,” came to speak at Harvard, Shabbos Kestenbaum and other Jewish students complained to administrators.

Rather than cancel Al-Kurd’s appearance, which would have been the appropriate action, the administrators ignored the students’ complaints. “Harvard’s silence was deafening,” Kestenbaum wrote in Newsweek. Kestenbaum said he “repeatedly” expressed concerns to administrators about the antisemitism he experienced, but as his lawsuit alleges, “evidence of uncontrolled discrimination and harassment fell on deaf ears.”

Administrators at Columbia University reacted to Jewish students’ complaints about antisemitism even more cynically. In fact, during an alumni event, several administrators exchanged text messages mocking Jewish students, calling them “privileged” and “difficult to listen to.”

When Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) asked the presidents of Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania if calling for genocide against Jews violated their schools’ codes of conduct, none could say “yes.” The presidents of Harvard and UPenn have since resigned. Good riddance.

Some college/university administrators have outrageously granted concessions to pro-Hamas students. For instance, Northwestern University agreed to contact potential employers of students who caused campus disruptions to insist they be hired, create a segregated dormitory hall exclusively for Middle Eastern, North African and Muslim students, and form a new investment committee in which anti-Zionists could wield undue influence. Brown University agreed to hold a referendum on divestment from Israel in October.

Similar appeasements were announced at other colleges and universities, including Rutgers, Johns Hopkins, the University of Minnesota and the University of California Riverside.

So far, OCR has failed to take concrete action against antisemitism on campus. This is evident in recent decisions involving the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Michigan. CUNY was ordered to conduct more investigations into Title VI complaints and report further developments to Washington, provide more employee and campus security officer training, and issue “climate surveys” to students.

The University of Michigan also committed to a “climate survey,” as well as to reviewing its case files for each report of discrimination covered by Title VI during the 2023-2024 school year and reporting to the OCR on its responses to reports of discrimination for the next two school years.

Neither institution was penalized financially, even though the Department of Education has the power to withhold federal funds, which most colleges and universities depend on. There are now 149 pending investigations into campus antisemitism at OCR. If these investigations yield toothless results similar to those of CUNY and Michigan, it is highly unlikely that colleges and universities will improve how they deal with antisemitism.

Putting an end to skyrocketing antisemitism on campus involves three things.

First, donors and governments at every level should withhold funds from colleges that fail to hire administrators who will take antisemitism as seriously as they take pronoun offenses or racism directed at people of color.

Second, the OCR must mete out serious consequences to Title VI violators in the form of funding cuts. This may require legislation that specifically mandates withdrawing funding from offending parties. A bill recently introduced by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.)—the University Accountability Act—may be ideal, as it is designed to financially penalize institutions that don’t crack down on antisemitism.

Third, if OCR won’t act, Jewish students and their supporters should turn to the courts. Lori Lowenthal Marcus, the legal director of the Deborah Project, a public-interest Jewish law firm, argues that the CUNY settlement demonstrates the futility of going to OCR and that going to court is more likely to produce “a clearly delineated and productive result,” such as punitive and compensatory fines. As of late May, at least 14 colleges and universities are facing lawsuits over their handling of antisemitism on campus since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.

As long as college administrators are allowed to ignore antisemitism on campus and as long as OCR and other government institutions fall short in punishing Jew-hatred, antisemitism will continue to plague Jewish students.

The post Universities Must Be Forced to Address Antisemitism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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American Airlines to Resume Flights to Israel Amid Gaza Ceasefire

American Airlines planes sit on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York City, U.S., July 30, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kylie Cooper.

American Airlines said on Sunday it would resume flights to Israel in March, after the US carrier halted the New York JFK to Tel Aviv route following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the two-year war in Gaza.

American said it would re-launch its flights from JFK on March 28.

US rivals Delta and United have already resumed flights to Israel.

Many foreign carriers halted flights to Tel Aviv after October 7 and stayed away for long stretches during the past two years due to intermittent missile fire from Iran and Yemen.

That largely left flag-carrier El Al Israel Airlines, and smaller Israeli airlines Arkia and Israir, operating international routes, but with demand far higher than supply, airfares soared.

In the wake of a US-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, many foreign airlines have restarted flights to Tel Aviv. British Airways, SAS, Iberia and Swiss are slated to resume flights this week.

When American resumes flights, it will become the fifth carrier to fly nonstop to Israel from the United States, along with El Al, Arkia, Delta and United.

In addition to daily flights from Newark, United later is expected to also add flights to Tel Aviv from Washington (November 2) and Chicago (November 1).

Passenger traffic at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv was up 25% over the first nine months of 2025 to 13.6 million, according to the Israel Airports Authority. El Al’s market share dropped to 32.5% from 44% a year earlier.

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Israel Allows Red Cross, Egyptian Teams into Gaza as Search for Hostage Bodies Widens

Palestinians gather around a Red Cross vehicle transporting hostages as part of a ceasefire and hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in the southern Gaza Strip, October 13. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Red Cross and Egyptian teams have been permitted to search for the bodies of deceased hostages beyond the “yellow line” demarcating the Israeli military’s pullback in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli government spokesperson said on Sunday.

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Abbas Names Hussein al-Sheikh as Temporary Successor for PA Presidency

Hussein Al-Sheikh, former Secretary General of the Executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), speaks during an interview with Reuters, in Ramallah in the West Bank December 16, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad

i24 NewsPalestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) issued a statement on Sunday outlining the succession process should the chairman’s position become vacant.

According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, Deputy Chairman Hussein al-Sheikh will temporarily assume leadership of the PA in the absence of the Palestinian Legislative Council.

The decree stipulates that al-Sheikh’s interim term would last up to 90 days, during which direct elections must be held to select a new chairman, in accordance with Palestinian election law.

If elections cannot be conducted within this period due to exceptional circumstances, the Palestinian Central Council may authorize a one-time extension.

Hussein al-Sheikh, born in 1960 in Ramallah, has a long history in Palestinian politics. As a teenager, he was sentenced to prison in Israel for terrorist activity and was incarcerated from age 18 until 1989. In the past year, he was appointed Deputy Chairman and designated successor by Abu Mazen after the Palestinian Central Council approved the creation of the position.

The announcement is seen as a move to formalize the line of succession and ensure stability within the PA amid ongoing political uncertainty and the absence of a functioning Legislative Council. Analysts say the decree clarifies leadership procedures in case of incapacity or vacancy, reflecting Abu Mazen’s efforts to maintain continuity and prevent a leadership vacuum in the Palestinian territories.

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