Bret Stephens: Silence Is Violence — but Not When It Comes to Israeli Rape Victims
Following the testimonies, Yifat Bitton, an Israeli law professor, noted that the victims had been “silenced twice”— first by Hamas on Oct. 7, and then “by the silence of the very U.N. organizations that were entrusted with the mandate of protecting them.” There were clear signs of sexual abuse from the first moments of the attack, and by mid-November there were authoritative reports of Hamas’s widespread sexual assaults.Seth Mandel: Harvard’s President Erases Jews
Yet it took U.N. Women, the agency that has that mandate to look out for women’s rights globally, eight weeks before issuing a perfunctory statement saying it was “alarmed” by accounts of gender-based atrocities during the attacks of Oct. 7.
As for other so-called human-rights organizations, the website of Human Rights Watch — which includes a page ostensibly devoted to women’s rights — has dozens of news releases about the war in Gaza. Not a word about the rapes. From Amnesty International: nothing that can be found on its website. The National Organization for Women denounced the Oct. 7 attacks on the day they occurred and last week issued a news release condemning “rape as a weapon of war.” But it contained no mention of Hamas.
Why not?
In a remarkable floor speech last week, Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, spoke of “the sting of the double standard,” which, he said, “is at the root of antisemitism.” He also recalled a talk he heard in college by Abba Eban, then Israel’s foreign minister, who confronted left-wing hecklers at an event at Harvard.
“We have lived with the double standard throughout the centuries,” Eban told the protesters, Schumer said. “There are always things the Jews couldn’t do. Everyone could be a farmer but not the Jew, everyone could be a carpenter but not the Jew, everyone could move to Moscow but not the Jew, and everyone could have their own state, but not the Jew.”
To which one can today add: Every victim of sexual violence should be heard; no condemnation of rape should ever come with qualifiers; “Silence Is Violence.”
But not when it comes to Jews.
Why would Gay struggle with such a question? The answer was revealed late in the hearing. Rep. Kathy Manning, Democrat of North Carolina and the former chair of the Jewish Federations of North America, said the following to Gay: “I understand that you have condemned the phrase ‘from the river to the sea.’ But I also know that the Harvard School of Public Health has a course called The Settler Colonial Determinants of Health that introduces students to the concept of settler-colonialism and its health-equity implication. It uses case studies in the United States and Palestine and talks about poorer health outcomes for indigenous and other non-settler communities. President Gay, are you aware that Jews are indeed indigenous to the land of Israel and have lived there for 2,000 years?”Eve Barlow: Rape Denial + "Free Speech"
Gay: “I do know about the long history.”
Manning: “So what is Harvard doing to educate members of the community about these phrases and other false accusations that Israel is a racist, settler-colonialist, apartheid state even as Harvard is actually teaching courses with the underlying premise that Israel is a settler-colonialist state?”
Gay: “We have faculty, we have outside speakers who come and, over the last couple of months in particular, have been providing more insight into the nature of the conflict and the ways forward.”
So what the university’s president said is this: Yes, Harvard is teaching a class with an anti-Semitic premise, but you may hear the occasional “outside speaker” who will balance that out by talking about “the ways forward.”
In that way, Gay served ably as both bookends to the hearing. The only thing her answers provided clarity on, unfortunately, was why Harvard has become so overtly hostile to Jews. What it means that Harvard University now has a president that is so clearly comfortable with that hostility is a question we not only need to ponder—it’s a challenge we need to confront.
“Those who don't have truth on their side, turn to dishonesty.” It was apt that Katharine Brodsky tweeted this yesterday morning. What’s going on right now in the Israel-Hamas war is bigger than life. It should stop every serious person dead in their tracks.
So what we’re seeing since yesterday is a truly thrilling marriage of two phenomena: Jewish genocide calls are being protected as “free speech” by the highest elite institutions in America, while the rape of Jewish women on October 7 onwards by Hamas is being denied on an industrial scale. A match made in hell (or I guess heaven if you’re Yahya Sinwar)! Which means that from the most esteemed people in America downwards, everyone can say whatever they want to bring harm to Jews and once they have achieved that harm to Jews, they can also deny it. Happy chanukah, everyone!
Let’s look at the rape denial first.
Yesterday at the UN, witnesses gave testimony about sexual violence on October 7. I watched one first responder testify, and he could barely get words out of his mouth. You can tell that the man has not been able to close his eyes for two months for the horrors that lie behind his eyelids. Some of the first responders couldn't even tell you if the bodies they found were men or women. That's how much Hamas mutilated the human beings on October 7. This particular witness recalled that “nails” and other objects were found in women’s vaginas.
There is no end to my fury.
Yes, I too am incensed that nobody cares. Israeli women are not women apparently. Their rapes aren’t rapes. So many SA activists still say absolutely fuck all about October 7. That's fine. But just so you know, from now on we understand that the only reason you post about rape is when you think it makes you look good. Yes, the only reason you post about rape is because you have convinced yourself there’s some benefit to you talking about someone else’s pain. You’re all sadists, just like Hamas. The level of silencing, gaslighting, deception, bullying, and abuse that Jews as a whole are experiencing currently is absolutely appalling.
Well, Briahna, the victims are in the morgue so…
The Jews are re-living the worst eras of our history. So everyone who isn’t a Jew will fall into one of two camps: either you’re participating in our abuse and attempted annihilation, or you’re sheltering us from it. There is nothing bigger than this right now. Ergo: you’re in one of those two camps. Pick.
Israel Presses Assault on Hamas' Last Major Gaza Bastion
Israeli forces pressed forward into the Hamas stronghold of Khan Yunis, a city of over 400,000 before the war. In close-quarters combat, Hamas fighters are defending their last major bastion in Gaza, home to its leader, Yahya Sinwar, and the location where Israel believes the group's other leaders are hiding and holding hostages. An Israeli victory in Khan Yunis would likely corner remaining Hamas fighters in small areas.IDF Penetrates to the Heart of Khan Yunis
"If Hamas loses Khan Yunis, they are done. They may have some enclaves there, but they will lose their centers of gravity," said Kobi Michael, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.
Israeli forces told residents of Khan Yunis on Tuesday to urgently evacuate its eastern and northern neighborhoods, using leaflets, phone messages and social media. Israel is encouraging civilians to move to Rafah on the border with Egypt, or to a "humanitarian zone" in Al-Mawasi, along the Mediterranean Sea. "The best [thing] for them to do is to always move to the Mawasi, it will be safe for them," said IDF spokesman Lt.-Col. Richard Hecht.
Michael Horowitz, head of intelligence at Le Beck International, a security and risk management consulting firm, said the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, along with attacks by other Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Yemen and the West Bank, have made Israelis determined to win the war, no matter the price. "Israeli society understands we are in front of two options: to be or not to be," he said.
The Biden administration, while pressing Israel to do what it can to avoid civilian casualties, has supported its ally's goal of defeating Hamas, which the U.S. designates a terrorist organization.
The IDF has penetrated to the heart of Khan Yunis, which is itself the heart of Hamas in southern Gaza, the military announced Tuesday. At the same time, the IDF sent a large force into Shejaia, Hamas' greatest remaining stronghold in northern Gaza. The IDF also attacked parts of Jabalia and Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.Netanyahu: Overwhelming Force Against Hamas Is Quickest Way to End Gaza War
Several hundred Hamas terrorists were killed on Sunday, bringing the number of dead Hamas forces to around 6,000, with thousands wounded as well.
IDF Southern Command head Maj.-Gen. Yaron Finkleman said, "We are in the heart of Jabalia, the heart of Shejaia, and as of last night, the heart of Khan Yunis. We are in the most intense day since the start of the invasion - in terms of the number of killed terrorists, the number of battles, and the volume of fire brought to bear by ground and air forces."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday: "I say from here to our friends in the world who are pushing for a quick end to the war: our only way to end the war, and to end it quickly, is to use overwhelming force against Hamas - and destroy it. If our friends want to help shorten the war, which is also their war against the barbarism that threatens to sweep the world, they simply have to stand firmly by our side."Why the U.S. Approach Endangers Israeli Troops
Once the war is over, Gaza must be demilitarized and remain under IDF security control, he said. "No international power can be responsible for this. We have seen what happened in other places that brought in international forces. I am not ready to close my eyes and accept any other arrangement."
Netanyahu noted the failure of human rights groups and the United Nations to immediately condemn Hamas' acts of rape and sexual mutilation of female victims on Oct. 7. "Where the hell were you?...Were you quiet because we were talking about Jewish women?...I expect all civilized leaders, governments, nations to speak up against this atrocity."
"The center of gravity is the civilian population and if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat," U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Saturday, referring to Israel's need to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza. His comments showcased how perceptually divorced the U.S. is from the actual reality on the ground.Dismantling the Dresden Defense — Hillel Neuer testifying before U.S. Congress
The Biden administration's support for Israel is commendable. Still, it appears that they are oblivious to the widespread support Hamas enjoys in Gaza and the solidarity the people there have with it.
The U.S. assumes that Hamas imposed itself on Gaza's population and, if its grip on the population was removed, they would turn their backs on it. Yet recent public opinion polls indicate continued public support in Gaza for Hamas and its armed struggle against Israel. In its 17-year rule, Hamas has permeated the education system to spread its ideas and imbue public consciousness with its values.
Israeli action won't lead the civilian population into the arms of the enemy; much of it is already there by choice. Humanitarian generosity will also not change the public's preferences. The main beneficiary of any aid will be Hamas.
American expectations that Israel reduce the intensity of the fighting and increase humanitarian aid will only prolong the conflict and endanger the lives of our soldiers. It would be wiser to avoid imposing additional restrictions and allow the IDF to operate with high intensity until Hamas is toppled and its capabilities are eliminated.
Dealing with the complex challenge of de-radicalization in Gaza will preoccupy the region for many years after the war.
"At the United Nations, we are seeing this scandalous Dresden defense being brought up again, to equate the purposeful, deliberate killing of civilians, which is a crime, with the taking of civilian lives that is undesired, unintended, but unavoidable." - Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch
Hillel Neuer testifies before the U.S.Congress Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Global Human Rights and International Organization Hearing: United Nations’ Bigotry Towards Israel November 8th, 2023 | Washington D.C.
Col Kemp: Israel is now attacking the true Hamas stronghold
Col Kemp: Houthi militia risk dragging America into a new global war
For 5th time in war, Arrow intercepts missile aimed at Eilat; IDF names another KIA in Gaza
"Recently they are asking me if we have the legitimacy to continue (the campaign in Gaza). And I say, we don't have the legitimacy to stop."
— Dovid Efune (@Efune) December 5, 2023
-- Yoav Gallant, Israel's Minister of Defense
Our top priority is returning all the hostages home.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 6, 2023
Watch the IDF Chief of the General Staff LTG Herzi Halevi in his statement: pic.twitter.com/iS9T0p02ip
This is an urgent call for action. pic.twitter.com/n9q5VbCPNd
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 6, 2023
IAF strikes 250 terror sites in Gaza as ground combat intensifies
IDF finds massive weapons cache near Gaza clinic, school
🔴Four battalion commanders were eliminated in the Gaza Brigade—the largest brigade in the Hamas terrorist organization.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 6, 2023
Gaza City is a prominent example of military posts, weapons manufacturing and storage facilities embedded in the heart of civilian areas, presenting a clear…
"What the IDF is doing is proportional, very discriminate, very precise. Hamas...for some people winning that narrative, that they are the victims, when they are the cancer...there is no moral equivalence to civilian casualties and October 7th" my talk w/ @MSNBC @AnaCabrera pic.twitter.com/t4ziFE68mW
— John Spencer (@SpencerGuard) December 5, 2023
BREAKING:
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) December 6, 2023
IDF soldiers discover one of the largest Hamas weapons depots yet near a hospital and a school in northern Gaza.
Hamas continues to hide behind civilians pic.twitter.com/qjCvxD9yzd
Israel making plans to flood Hamas tunnels with seawater, reports sayToday’s FDD Morning Brief [TAKE 2]: FDD’s @JSchanzer and @TreyYingst dive in on today’s headlines and the latest from the ground in Israel and Gaza. Streaming now 👇 https://t.co/OUR9FCvnpI
— FDD (@FDD) December 6, 2023
BREAKING:
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) December 6, 2023
The Israeli Army has started pumping sea water into another Hamas terror tunnel system in Gaza to flush the terrorists out.
They wanted “from the river to the sea” but now it’s the sea flowing to the river. pic.twitter.com/kTD9TzKGGj
Incoming reports stating that this could be the first video showing Hamas terrorists being flushed out of the tunnels below Gaza by Israelis pumping sea water into the tunnels.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) December 5, 2023
Can anyone confirm which language is being heard around 0:11 into the video? pic.twitter.com/Fk1e1AFyj4
That’s what you said about Israel remaining in Gaza last time. Change the tape. https://t.co/5QKXh9cEgk
— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) December 6, 2023
"Tours to the Gaza Strip" organized by the Jerusalem Municipality - December 26 & 27th -- 1956. Israel has had to retake Gaza repeatedly - first time was 1956 Suez Crissis, just 8 years after Egypt first occupied it. Bus tours let Jews visit Khan Yunis, Egyptian governor's house,… pic.twitter.com/mTirDK41yU
— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) December 6, 2023
If U.S. taxpayer dollars are funding @UNRWA’s efforts to aid Hamas, then the American people deserve to know.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) December 5, 2023
Not one more penny to this corrupt organization. pic.twitter.com/iMDI9DiG5Y
In this discussion, a resident shares his story:
— Gaza Report - اخبار غزة (@gaza_report) December 6, 2023
"What corruption!
We are four people, among us refugees and we are looking to find or even buy food. The UNRWA agent didnt give us anything-- the police told the agent it is forbidden to distribute" pic.twitter.com/QkwMtcU6ja
Video purporting to show Gazan civilians ransacking supplies stockpiled
Another angle of the chaos after angry Gazan residents penetrated four UNRWA warehouses this morning to find them filled with undistributed aid. The incident causes major controversy. https://t.co/PyL6kg9Oq5 pic.twitter.com/ggENnPHXRk
— Gaza Report - اخبار غزة (@gaza_report) December 6, 2023
The prominent Saudi cartoonists comment on the humanitarian aid controversies in Gaza pic.twitter.com/bqZVwRDQGr
— Gaza Report - اخبار غزة (@gaza_report) December 6, 2023
Biden rips Hamas for 'repeatedly raping' women and girls and 'mutilating their bodies while they were still alive': President launches scathing attack on reported atrocities by terrorist group
When’s the last time eight Americans were held hostage by a terrorist regime for two months and it wasn’t front page news every day?
— Dean Phillips (@deanbphillips) December 6, 2023
The immediate release or extraction of its kidnapped citizens must be the highest priority for the United States, or it will continue to occur. https://t.co/NNRYGnmBx5
On October 7th, Hamas terrorists did not just murder Israeli citizens.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) December 6, 2023
They also killed Americans, Thais, Ukrainians, French, Argentinians, Germans, Russians, Brits, Italians, Uzbeks, Brazilians, Canadians… pic.twitter.com/ikibRWEVkl
Hear Our Voices - the sexual violence perpetrated against Israeli civilians on October 7th
Watch the full Israeli-led special UN session condemning the world silence on Hamas' sexual violence against Israel during the October 7th attacks
"They looked like shadows of children" :Schneider Medical Center CEO speaks of the trauma children went through
Take the time to watch this incredible @N12News piece on the horrors that the Families (and professionals) of the released hostages dare to share. pic.twitter.com/kIVFrFYYas
— Yaari Cohen (@YaariCohen) December 5, 2023
At least 10 freed hostages were sexually abused in Hamas captivity, doctor says
It's beyond doubt that Hamas used mass rapes as a weapons of war during the October 7th Massacre.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) December 6, 2023
This video shows testimonies by eye witnesses.
One describes how there was a concentration point to which Hamas took kidnapped women and gang raped them.
Why so silent @codepink? pic.twitter.com/xQYxRqLSdr
This must incl. recognition that the mass rape & sexual assault perpetrated by Hamas terrorists against Israeli women on Oct 7 constitutes precisely these kinds of gender-based crimes, that are furthermore war crimes & crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute. https://t.co/makdzmK5IN
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) December 6, 2023
Ella Shani, a 14 yo survivor of Kibbutz Be’eri, describes the horrific way #HamasTerrorists murdered a 10 month old baby while she was being held in her mothers arms.
— The Persian Jewess (@persianjewess) December 5, 2023
“What broke me, was an 8 year old boy…a friend of my brother’s…he wasn’t even crying he was just shocked…He… pic.twitter.com/cejpZgvffi
Hanna Katzir, who was released from Gaza during the first hostage release exchange, is now in serious condition after her health deteriorated.
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) December 6, 2023
Her husband was murdered by Hamas during the 7 Oct attacks and her daughter says “she came back both heartbroken and with cardiological… pic.twitter.com/I3TYa7YSe8
The heartbreaking phone call a little girl made to emergency services on October 7 after she saw her father murdered by terrorists. pic.twitter.com/NkhwCc3y1A
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) December 6, 2023
Talked to @marthamaccallum about Israeli women and the NGOs and activists betraying them. pic.twitter.com/VFCQkbTajz
— Daniella Greenbaum Davis (@DGreenbaum) December 5, 2023
'It was quite a journey for both of us' released hostage reveals how she took care of dog by defying Hamas
🧵 If you're an endurance athlete, you know Saturday is for long training.
— Yael Bar tur (@yaelbt) December 5, 2023
On 10/7, junior triathlete Itai (15) was out early training when he was ambushed by Hamas terrorists. They shot him in the head, and he lost his right eye.
This week he was back on the bike 🚴🏻 🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/oFwNb1vXfI
'Bring Them Home Now,' a song that pleads for the release of the Israeli hostages
'Bring Them Home Now,' a song that pleads for the release of the Israeli hostages and focuses on a topic many women's organizations fail to condemn: Hamas' violence, assault, and torture against women
'Maybe if I sing about it, it will bring the message further. Maybe people will understand the horrible things that happened here... The world is not seeing it,' she says
Why @unicefchief did it take you 8 weeks to say this?
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) December 6, 2023
And why are you still unable to condemn Hamas by name?
Shame on you @UNICEF. You have zero credibility left! https://t.co/yHAUlcWcH3
It took TWO NONTHS for Planned Parenthood to speak out against the brutal rapes Israeli women suffered at the hands of Hamas.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) December 5, 2023
TWO MONTHS. https://t.co/l34Mv8EJzB
“Rapesistance. A legitimate act of resistance that applies only to Jewish women.”
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) December 5, 2023
As only @Eretz_Nehederet, Israel’s leading satire show, can make the point about the silence & hypocrisy of women’s orgs like @UN_Women, on Hamas rape & assault.pic.twitter.com/0KdyINNmjj
Free speech has been replaced by institutional stupidity at Harvard, UPenn
Stephen Pollard: Yesterday exposed the antisemitic rot that has infected elite academia
Cohen slams US college heads’ failure to condemn calls for genocide
The Commentary Magazine Podcast: The Ivy League Exposes Itself
Hosted by Abe Greenwald, Christine Rosen, John Podhoretz & Matthew ContinettiBillionaire Bill Ackman demands president of Harvard RESIGN after she refused to say if 'calling for the genocide of Jews' is harassment and is against the Ivy League college's conduct code Megyn Kelly: Anti-Semitism on College Campuses and Hypocritical Administrators, with Josh Hammer and Seth Mandel
Today we take up the prevarication and plain dishonesty of university presidents during the House committee hearing on campus anti-Semitism. One claims not to know about foreign funding and another doesn’t think incitement to anti-Semitic violence is a conduct violation. For Harvard, UPenn, MIT, and others, this was a watershed moment.
Megyn Kelly is joined by Josh Hammer of Newsweek and Seth Mandel of Commentary to talk about the hypocritical administrators like Harvard's Claudine Gay when it comes to anti-Semitism and free speech, continued anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses in America, the flawed solution of putting Jews under the DEI umbrella, and more.
Megyn Kelly: Rep. Jayapal Changes Subject About Hamas Atrocities Aimed at Women, with Josh Hammer and Seth Mandel
Megyn Kelly is joined by Josh Hammer of Newsweek and Seth Mandel of Commentary to talk about Rep. Jayapal's embarrassing CNN interview trying to change the subject about Hamas atrocities aimed at women, those who refuse to simply condemn Hamas, the faulty oppressor and oppressed framing, the true anti-Israel politics of progressives in Congress today, and more.
The Jew-Hating Universities
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) December 6, 2023
pic.twitter.com/qna3d3d7NO
Anti-Semitism Hearing Highlights Ivy League Hypocrisy on Free Speech
For some reason @Harvard has taken down Dean Gay's statement on the death of George Floyd from its original source.... but I think it is worth reflecting on today, and juxtaposing her words then with what she said today when questioned about hate speech towards Jews on campus and… pic.twitter.com/tAaPoNWbum
— sam lessin 🏴☠️ (@lessin) December 6, 2023
House Republicans Confront College Presidents With Video of Anti-Semitism on Campuses
Congressional Campus Antisemitism Hearing: “The three presidents were, frankly, fairly pathetic”
Harvard Alumna Elise Stefanik Skewers School For Enabling ‘Far-Left’ Jew Hatred
Harvard President Claudine Gay Defends Calls For 'Intifada Revolution' as Free Speech
MIT, Penn, Harvard Presidents Say Calls for Jewish Genocide Do Not Violate Code of Conduct MIT, Penn, Harvard Presidents Say Calls for Jewish Genocide Do Not Violate Code of Conduct
The presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University said Tuesday that calling for the genocide of Jews would not necessarily violate their schools' code of conduct.
pic.twitter.com/d5Ne6kD0fx
— Ella Travels (Ella Kenan) (@EllaTravelsLove) December 5, 2023
Five chilling minutes in which Harvard President Claudine Gay, admits that certain statements are anti-Semitic and even call for clear murder against Jews.
However, when she is confronted with these statements being made on campus during protests and…
Daniel Greenfield: Harvard Pres: Calling for Genocide of Jews “Depends on the Context”
Harvard President Claudine Gay refused to answer my question about whether @Harvard received $1.5 BILLION in funding from foreign entities and governments for its Middle East Studies Department.
— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) December 5, 2023
This is unacceptable. The American people have a right to know how foreign… pic.twitter.com/4JJB1NgiKf
'I Do Not Feel Safe': Jewish Students Call Out Anti-Semitism on Campus 'I Do Not Feel Safe': Jewish Students Call Out Anti-Semitism on Campus
House Republicans hosted Jewish students from four of America's elite colleges for a press conference Tuesday, where they described a climate of anti-Semitism on their campuses.
“I was forced to leave my study group because my group members told me that the people at the Nova music festival deserved to die because they were partying on stolen land.”
— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) December 6, 2023
MIT. pic.twitter.com/2UfvsJhtIM
This is the best question and the worst answer from the hearing on Jew hatred at @Harvard @MIT & @Penn yesterday.
— Dr Brian of London 🇮🇱 (@brianoflondon) December 6, 2023
It's from @KathyManningNC and FUNDAMENTALLY challenges @harvard President because of the TEACHING of Jew hatred at Harvard. pic.twitter.com/seKg36w90e
The Ivy presidents’ lawyers didn’t brief them on the difference between speech and conduct, as well as their own harassment policies and obligations under Title VI. I wrote this up recently @TheFP, which now should be their remedial homework to read:https://t.co/ZMgPVls9Cf https://t.co/Bxg0wg8ac9
— Ilya Shapiro (@ishapiro) December 6, 2023
Remarkable exchange:@RepKiley: If you were talking to a prospective Jewish student's family right now, could you look them in the eye and tell them that their son or daughter would be safe & feel safe & welcome on your campus?
— KC Johnson (@kcjohnson9) December 5, 2023
Harvard pres. Gay won't give a yes-or-no answer. pic.twitter.com/sNTBCtPVet
Very grateful to @RepJames for quoting my book, How to Fight Antisemitism, at today's hearing. https://t.co/U7tlc5dcyB
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 6, 2023
Amid Israel-Hamas war, students say antisemitism is ‘new normal’ at Columbia University
Now, like on many campuses across the US, antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment continues to intensify at Columbia University as the Israel-Hamas war progresses into its ninth week.Just 4 Percent of American Universities Condemned Hamas Terror Attack on Israel as Anti-Semitic
Social media posts mock the October 7 Hamas massacre or hail it as justified; masked protesters chant phrases that are antisemitic dog whistles such as “Globalize the Intifada”; and teach-ins, which don’t include Jewish speakers, preach about “settler colonialism.” More than a dozen Jewish and Israeli students at Columbia who spoke to The Times of Israel for this article said that confronting antisemitism is now part and parcel of daily campus life.
“I always felt comfortable and safe here. Then October 7 happened and a war broke out in Israel — and a second war broke out here in the US. It’s a war of antisemitism and public opinion, and Columbia is ground zero,” said Andrew, a graduate student at the school of architecture who requested that neither his last name nor photo be used out of concern for his safety.
While Columbia announced the formation of an antisemitism task force on November 1 to “enhance our ability to address this ancient, but terribly resilient, form of hatred,” a newly released Anti-Defamation League (ADL) national survey of American college students found that before the Israel-Hamas war, 67 percent of Jewish students said they felt physically safe on campus, and 66% felt emotionally safe. Following the massacre, only 46% felt physically safe and 33% felt emotionally safe.
“Jewish students are experiencing a wave of antisemitism unlike anything we’ve seen before, but shockingly, non-Jewish students barely see it,” said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.
At Columbia, where 22.3% of undergraduate students are Jewish, the incidents started soon after students held their first candlelight vigil to honor those killed and those kidnapped.
Screenshots of social media posts shared with The Times of Israel show that the Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Columbia Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP) described the Hamas atrocities as “an unprecedented historic moment for the Palestinians of Gaza, who tore through the wall that has been suffocating them… Despite the odds against them, Palestinians launched a counter-offensive against their settler-colonial oppressor.” Neither SJP nor JVP responded to requests to comment.
On October 11, a Jewish Israeli student was assaulted in an incident the Manhattan District Attorney is investigating as a possible hate crime. And on October 27, a swastika was found drawn inside a men’s bathroom at the School of International and Public Affairs.
Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel demonstrations quickly ramped up, leading University Public Safety to close the campus on more than one occasion. In the two weeks leading up to the Thanksgiving break, there were protests nearly every day.
While SJP and JVP organized the initial protests, both organizations were suspended for the remainder of the semester for violating university policy. However, the suspension didn’t end the protests. The only difference is they are no longer officially organized by SJP or JVP.
Fliers advertising a November 30 event titled “Injustice Anywhere: A teach-in on Palestine and the Black Radical Tradition,” listed both SJP and JVP next to the Black Students Organization as event sponsors. According to the university, it was a departmental event and the faculty hosting the event were asked to tell students not to incorrectly advertise it.
Keffiyehs are all the rage
Earlier last week students, many of whom wore keffiyehs, staged a six-hour sit-in in the lobby of the School of International and Public Affairs demanding, among other things, that the university divest from Israel.
It has become increasingly common to see Columbia students of all ethnicities and races wearing keffiyehs — a traditional black-and-white Palestinian scarf. And while some might consider that cultural appropriation, SJP, which had been selling keffiyehs, said they are “a subtle way to make a statement and show solidarity,” according to campus newspaper the Columbia Spectator.
“It’s become very clear that these rallies are being used to cover Jew hatred,” said Joshua Shain, a sophomore who is on the board of Students Supporting Israel, an international Zionist student activist movement.
That’s certainly been the case for Ariana Pinsker-Lehrer, an Israeli graduate student at the School of Social Work.
“I know college campuses are very pro-Palestinian, but when October 7 happened, it was so gruesome and well-documented that I felt like there would be some compassion. However, it’s been very toxic and very painful,” said Pinsker-Lehrer. “It’s going to class and hearing ‘Intifada.’ For me that is my childhood trauma. It’s privileged to support a call for violence when you will not pay the price for that violence. Not the Israeli price or the Palestinian price.”
Hamas Is Energized by Support on American Campuses
A Jerusalem Post panel of experts debated the best way to fight antisemitism and anti-Zionism on campus and in society on Dec. 4, 2023.
Dan Diker, President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, who authored the 2018 book, Students for Justice in Palestine Unmasked, stated that SJP's ideology, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," is a "clarion call for genocide against the Jews." He added that "The Hamas leadership in Gaza is energized and encouraged by the fact that they have the unqualified support of thousands of university students across 200 North American campuses that legitimized the mass murder of Jews."
Diker said that many people misunderstood the nature of the BDS movement and that rather than a peaceful, grass-roots expression of political criticism, it is a terror-affiliated movement. "The best way to fight it is to expose it for what it really is."
Returning to the origins of contemporary anti-Israel thought, Diker said that the root of the problem dates back to the 1960s, when Israel was branded as an imperialist, colonialist power due to its attachment to the U.S. "We failed to pay attention to that. We have decades of work to catch up. The war for international legitimacy is no less important than using F-35s against the Iranian regime."
I am happy to say the Center for the Middle East & Int'l Law at @georgemasonlaw recognizes that incitement to genocide violates the Genocide Convention, and has no place on campus. But we don't have the endowment of @Harvard - help us grow. https://t.co/mG6jHUcPO8 DM me for…
— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) December 6, 2023
U.S top colleges' heads fail to condemn on-campus antisemitism
MIT, Harvard, Penn Heads fail to condemn on-campus antisemitism and harassment against Jewish students
'They passed the line many times... There's been a jump, that we don't understand and can't explain, that's gone from anti-Israel sentiment to antisemitism,' says Editor in Chief, History Central, Marc Schulman
Does calling for the genocide of Jews qualify as harassment?
Does calling for the genocide of Jews qualify as harassment? According to the Presidents of UPenn and Harvard, it is context-dependent.
U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres breaks down the rise in antisemitic activity on University campuses.
'Genocidal Intent': Brown University Holocaust Professor Blames Israel for Hamas Terrorism
This is the ultimate “Republicans pounce”. pic.twitter.com/dpagoHGqqi
— Ian Haworth (@ighaworth) December 6, 2023
When you have to leave your Harvard-mandated "microaggressions training course" in order to attend the campus rally calling for Jewish genocide. pic.twitter.com/VAPKKhLvEI
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) December 6, 2023
'Rhetoric and fanaticism': Dutton lashes anti-Semitism 'hotbed' in universities
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has slammed senior politicians for failing to call out university campuses in Australia for having "hotbeds" of anti-Semitic behaviour.
“The Education Minister hasn’t called it out, the Prime Minister hasn’t called it out,” he told Sky News Australia host Sharri Markson.
“There should be a radical shakeup of the way in which our kids are being taught.
“Impressionable young minds, some of whom go on to be teachers … and they are influenced, no doubt, by the rhetoric and the fanaticism.
“There are many levels where there needs to be leadership to call it out.”
In case you missed yesterday's congressional hearing: pic.twitter.com/67C4Gsi8rx
— Dani Buller (@askdani__real) December 6, 2023
Hamas ‘intending nothing less than a second Holocaust’: Niall Ferguson
Historian and author Professor Niall Ferguson says Hamas should be “destroyed” because they are “intending nothing less than a second Holocaust”.
Early last month, a senior member of Hamas hailed the systematic slaughter of civilians on October 7 and vowed to repeat similar assaults many times into the future until Israel is exterminated if given the chance.
“I think it is clear that Israel can no longer co-exist with Hamas in control of Gaza,” Professor Ferguson told Sky News Australia host Piers Morgan.
“If anybody doubted that, then surely those doubts were dispelled on October the 7th with the most hideous scenes of violence against Jews since the Holocaust.
“Indeed, it seemed to me that what Hamas were really trying to communicate was their intention to re-enact the Holocaust.
“I think every one of us, regardless of whether we’re Jewish or not, has a moral obligation to ensure that there never is another Holocaust and those who threaten to wipe Israel from the map are intending nothing less than a second Holocaust.
“The issue is can Hamas be destroyed, as it should be, at an acceptable cost.”
Ron DeSantis slams a reporter for purporting the idea of “Islamophobia” being an equivalent concern to antisemitism. He goes into the evidence-supported, active, antisemitic threats to Jews today. He discusses the history and consistency of the statistics showing Jews as… pic.twitter.com/rnxEEmlGed
— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) December 6, 2023
National Review The Editors: Episode 604: Antisemitism in the Streets
Today on The Editors, Noah sits in for Rich and is joined by Charlie and Jim. They discuss the disgusting displays of antisemitism in Philly and New York, fighting in the Red Sea, Trump’s recent polling, and much more.
The Israel Guys: Why Hamas Refused to Release the Last 20 Women & Children From Gaza
After the week-long ceasefire between Israel and Gaza, and more than 100 Jewish hostages released, the pause suddenly came to an end, and the fighting is now back on full force. When Hamas violated the terms of the ceasefire last Friday, they only had about 20 women and children left to release. However, they suddenly got cold feet, and offered to release men or dead bodies instead.
Why would Hamas revert to their horrific, terrorist ways, and continue holding women and children inside Gaza, including a 10 month old baby? The reason may be more sinister than you think.
The world is also talking more and more about what will happen the day after the war ends. The world wants the Palestinian Authority to rule over Gaza. That however, could be worse than the last 15 years of Hamas’ rule.
‘Israel must eliminate Hamas’: If Hamas stays in power it will have a ‘great victory’
The world faces a “very grave moment” as the Israel-Hamas war resumes, says The Australian’s Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan.
“The world is trying to put pressure on Israel to stop its operation,” Mr Sheridan told Sky News host Peta Credlin.
“Israel must eliminate Hamas; otherwise, Hamas has had a great victory.
“If Hamas stays in power in Gaza, no matter how much suffering it inflicts on the ordinary people of Gaza – it has had a great victory.
“It’s inflicted the most obscene atrocities on Israel in its modern history, and it's stayed in power.”
Jew hatred currently ‘in vogue’: Josh Hammer
Senior Editor-at-Large at Newsweek Josh Hammer says “Jew hatred” is currently “in vogue” in response to comments by a US representative that seem to downplay the sexual atrocities committed by Hamas.
“Jew hatred is the world’s oldest, it is the original bigotry that man developed thousands and thousands of years ago, and tragically it exists today.
“It is currently in vogue, it is more fashionable than it has ever been.
“That is obviously what is going on here, the Congresswoman in question is a far-left Congresswoman from Washington state.”
Mr Hammer’s comments are in response to a progressive US congresswoman who has come under fire for “downplaying” the sexual atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7.
In a recent interview with US media, Pramila Jayapal called for “balance” in reporting of the conflict, and for people not to forget the “outrages against Palestinians.”
Left have put politics ‘ahead of moral conviction’ when it comes to the genocide of Jews
Sky News host Sharri Markson says the left have put politics “ahead of moral conviction” when it comes to the genocide of Jewish people in Israel.
Mr Markson then says there has been an “explosion” of hatred towards Jewish people in society, especially universities.
“We’ve seen shocking anti-Semitism in universities globally, part of the reason we’re seeing this explosion of hatred towards Jews is because of a weakness of political leadership; a lack of courage,” she said.
“They put politics ahead of moral conviction, and so it is not just with political leaders but the leaders at universities as well.
“Presidents of Ivy League colleges don’t even have the mettle to call out anti-Semitism, their shocking responses are a clear reflection of just how much racism against Jewish people is now accepted in society.”
Climate protester makes ‘ridiculous and sickening’ link to the Israel-Gaza conflict
Sky News host Chris Kenny has slammed a climate protester for making a “ridiculous and sickening” link to the war in the Middle East.
“This is just idiotic, of course, but it’s also a disgusting misappropriation of the trauma and tragedy in Israel and Gaza for the climate action cause,” Mr Kenny said.
“They ought to be ashamed of themselves.
“The trouble is the feral street protesters are actually encouraged by people who should know better.”
Mr Kenny’s remarks come after commuters travelling on King Street in Melbourne were blocked by climate change protesters again after Extinction Rebellion began its December Rebellion on Wednesday.
Brave women CALL OUT fake feminists over selective solidarity
Thousands rally in Melbourne to make a stand for Israeli women after advocacy groups and fourth-wave feminists fail to speak out against injustice
Thousands rally in Ottawa to support Israel, denounce antisemitism
Rally condemns rising level of hatred against Jews as community expresses solidarity with Israel in war against Hamas terrorists.
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