New York: at Columbia University, the anti-Semitic drift of pro-Palestinian demonstrations

According to videos widely shared on social networks, the demonstrations in support of Gaza which have been shaking the campus of New York's Columbia University for several days appear to have been punctuated by serious anti-Semitic incidents. We see in particular a masked pro-Palestinian demonstrator brandishing the Palestinian flag and this sign: “return to Poland!”

A university student also reported on Twitter that protesters stole an Israeli flag and attempted to steal it, while others splashed water on Jewish students.

The Columbia Chabad association, the student section of an Orthodox Jewish movement of international scope, accuses demonstrators in a statement of having declared to Jewish students: “all you are doing is colonizing » or even “go back to Europe!”

“We are horrified and concerned for the physical safety” of Jewish students on campus, the statement said, adding that the organization hired armed bodyguards to escort students away from association meetings. Rabbi Elie Buechler, close to this group of students, “strongly” advised Jewish students to return home on Sunday, CNN reported.

Hillel, another Jewish organization at Columbia, said on Twitter that Jewish students should not leave campus but that the university must “do more to keep our students safe.”

Protesting against the war waged by Israel in Gaza, pro-Palestinian students at Columbia are demanding in particular that the establishment boycott all activities linked to Israel. Around a hundred of them, who had launched an occupation of the campus lawns, were arrested on Thursday by the police.

In response to the incidents, US President Joe Biden said in a statement on Sunday that anti-Semitism has “no place” on campuses. “In recent days, we have witnessed harassment and calls for violence against Jews,” he said, adding: “This blatant anti-Semitism is reprehensible and dangerous, and has absolutely no place on university campuses, nor anywhere in our country.

The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, also reacted on Twitter to be outraged by a “spread of anti-Semitism” at Columbia University, claiming to have asked the New York municipal police to investigate any violation of the law reported to them.

Other Jewish students, reports the New York Times, however, are involved in demonstrations in support of Palestine. This is the case, for example, of Grant Miner, member of a student collective calling in particular on the university to no longer have activities in Israel; he nevertheless regretted that "a few individuals with inflammatory behavior" among the demonstrators had "diverted media attention" to the intimidation of Jewish students, recalling that his collective "firmly rejects any form of hatred or of sectarianism.

Also read Anti-Semitism has “no place” on campus, says Joe Biden after calls to boycott Israel

Since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, American campuses have been the scene of tensions and voices have been raised to denounce a rise in anti-Semitism. The Republicans took up the subject and after a heated hearing in Congress, the president of the University of Pennsylvania Elizabeth Magill, then her Harvard counterpart Claudine Gay resigned, in December and January respectively. Also interviewed, the president of Columbia Nemat Shafik defended herself before elected representatives of Congress, assuring that “anti-Semitism [had] nothing to do on our campus”.

Ninety-five professors also signed a letter against the installation of a branch of Columbia University in Tel Aviv, Israel, believing that this project would be a validation, on the part of the university, of the current political situation in the country.