In recent days, CUNY’s Queens College has seen anti-Semitism rear its ugly head, even during a pro-Israel rally last week. What was meant as a vehicle for pro-Israel sentiment turned nasty as a pro-Palestinian activist approached Jewish students hurling insults, “Go back to Poland. Go back to Germany. That’s where you’re from,” as reported by New York Post. Many of these insidious remarks were captured on video, as Israeli flags were trampled upon by hooligans.
Sam Berger, the assemblyman who represents the neighborhood within the area of Queens College, said he’s received many complaints from Jewish students and parents. He, too, has been outraged by the spike of anti-Semitic incidents “Tensions have been high on campus for several weeks,” he said. “The Muslim Student Association is making anti-Semitic posts [and] they’re using Queens College to spread hate and there are no repercussions. Telling Jewish students ‘to go back to Germany and Poland’ is a hateful, anti-Semitic remark.”
“The safety of the [Queens College] campus is paramount, and we will continue to investigate reports of any actions that compromise it,” reiterated QC President Frank Wu, adding that the 107th Precinct will continue to work with security patrols to help protect students and staff, New York Post also reported.
After bigoted students of Hillcrest High School in Jamaica Hills on November 20 stormed the building’s hallways in pursuit of a health teacher who attended a pro-Israel rally, the local Queens political community reacted with righteous anger.
This incident comes just days after roughly 400 students stormed Hillcrest High School’s hallways in pursuit of a Jewish health educator after they heard that she participated in a pro-Israel rally at the Kew Gardens Hills Public Library. She was forced to barricade in an office for her safety. When students at the school noticed the Facebook photo of her brandishing an Israeli flag, it was shared widely. Hundreds of students were seen running frantically in the hallways in pursuit of her, all the while damaging school property.
“I have been a teacher for 23 years in the New York City public school system… I was shaken to my core by the calls to violence against me that occurred online and outside my classroom,” she was quoted as saying.
“Since learning of the anti-Semitic incident that took place in my Assembly District [24], I have been in direct communication with the New York City Dept. of Education Chancellor David Banks,” wrote Assemblyman David Weprin, in a lengthy statement. “This is just one of several anti-Semitic incidents that have occurred since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, including threats against Jewish students at Queens College and at St. John’s University. In addressing these issues, I have been in close discussions with the 107th Precinct. We will never stand down in the face of hate.”
Assemblyman Weprin noted that even while multiple students were suspended and arrested for their participation, “The New York City’s Dept. of Education’s discipline code must be revised to punish egregious breaches of conduct and threats or acts of hate... It is imperative for our students to understand that actions have consequences.”
As part of his lengthy statement, Assemblyman Weprin also credited Sen. Chuck Schumer for his speech to Congress on November 29. The Senate Majority Leader gave a full throttle denunciation of anti-Semitism in all forms, especially in light of current events. “[Sen. Schumer’s] call to action against all forms of hate resonates deeply with our community’s commitment. As we move forward, let us do so with a collective determination to eradicate prejudice in all its manifestations. Our community’s strength is rooted in our unity and our steadfast commitment to ensuring justice and safety for all,” wrote Assemblyman Weprin.
Anti-Semitism remains staggeringly high throughout the world, and New York City is no exception. JTA reported bomb threats to fifteen synagogues throughout the state; five in Manhattan, two in Brooklyn, one on Long Island, two in Westchester County, and five in other parts of upstate New York. This data was according to the Community Security Initiative, which coordinates security for Jewish institutions in the New York City area. Many of these threats were made via email, and were soon deemed not as credible after investigation by law enforcement. Even so, over 230 anti-Semitic incidents have been reported to police in New York following the October 7 terror assault by Hamas. The NYPD also confirmed that Jews represent the largest number of any group in the five boroughs who are targeted by hate crimes this year.
Making matters worse, according to Dani Dayan, the chairman of the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, has been that the rampant rise in anti-Semitism is due to the inaction of administrators and other institutions of higher learning. In an interview with Fox News on Dec. 2, Dayan said, “Obviously, the feeling of a Jewish student pro-Israel students ostracized from the community and they are physically endangered. It’s very bad, it’s awful. But sincerely I don’t think this is the most pressing issue,” he said. “The crux of the matter is much deeper. I think it relies on the faculty and not with the students. My perception is that right now in many prestigious American institutions, there is faculty, not all, but important members of faculty that consistently, stone by stone, step by step, book by book, article by article, are developing a pseudo-academic theory, a pseudo-scientific theory, a pseudo-intellectual theory that is laying the foundation for calling for the elimination of the State of Israel; for the Jewish state. Not only calling for the elimination of, but advocating for it.”
“Since October 7, [Jewish Americans] are feeling singled out, targeted, and isolated. In many ways, we feel...alone,” Sen. Schumer reminded his colleagues in his address to Congress. The solidarity the Jewish community initially received from fellow Americans in the days after the multipronged terror attack on Israel was “quickly drowned out by other voices,” he said.
During an interview as part of The Second Front Conference hosted by The Jerusalem Post on December 4, Liora Rez, the Executive Director of StopAntiSemitism, a New York-based watchdog organization that exposes hate groups and individuals, emphasized, “It’s surreal to see younger generations believe that they are on the side of the oppressed as they celebrate anti-Semitic savagery. Anti-Semites around the world are using the massacre to air their grievances against the Jewish state as a fig leaf for their hate, revealing their bigotry.”
By Jared Feldschreiber
