Jewish students told to 'go back to Poland' in sickening antisemitic attack (2024)

Pro-Palestine protests clash with pro-Israel protests in London

Jewish students at universities across the US have faced increased antisemitism and harassment on campus since the Israel-Hamas war began in October.

Following the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and invasion of Gaza, pro-Palestinian protests have broken out across college campuses, including prominent schools such as Columbia University and Harvard University.

One student said Jews were told to “go back to Poland” and that “you have no culture” by demonstrators on campuses, adding that “we haven’t been listened to” by school authorities, Newsweek reported.

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Another student said she saw a swastika symbol on campus and was targeted for displaying a Jewish Star of David. She said she was escorted to exams by her mother for safety concerns, Newsweek wrote.

Hamas took some 250 hostages during the October 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people. About half were released in a weeklong ceasefire in November. About 120 hostages remain, with 43 pronounced dead. Survivors include about 15 women, two children under 5, and two men in their 80s.

Pro-Israel demonstrators gather for the "Bring Them Home Now" rally outside Columbia University (Image: AP)

International pressure is mounting on Israel to limit civilian bloodshed in its war in Gaza, which has reached its eighth month with more than 36,700 Palestinians killed, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Palestinians also face widespread hunger because fighting and Israeli restrictions have largely cut off the flow of aid.

Israel’s operation in Gaza has sparked a wave of protests at US college campuses, including the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Columbia University in New York City in April. NYPD officers quickly moved on campus and made more than 100 arrests.

The protest inspired other college campuses to stage similar demonstrations the same month, including at Yale, Harvard, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Southern California, and the University of California at Berkeley - most of which have since been cleared by police.

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Student protesters gather inside their encampment on the Columbia University campus (Image: AP)

One student at the University of Southern California told Newsweek that some Jewish students on campus were shouted at and harassed by people associated with the protest “because they were outwardly showing they were Jewish” by wearing shirts with Hebrew script on them.

Many Jewish students said they “didn’t feel safe going on campus” for weeks and even had people yelling “free Palestine” at them during graduation.

When students complained to the provost and president’s office, they said they only received a “generic email with a link to their website about free speech and harassment.”

At Columbia University, one student said Jewish students “had water thrown on them, had rocks thrown at them” during pro-Israel counter-demonstrations. One protester even tried to set a Jewish student’s Israeli flag on fire, Newsweek reported.

The student said to Newsweek: “Things were very heated that night and, following that, less and less Jewish students felt comfortable being on and around campus because they saw what happened.”

When asked for comment on what they’re doing to help Jewish students feel safe on campus, a Columbia University spokesperson said to Newsweek: “We are committed to combating antisemitism and taking sustained, concrete action to ensure Columbia is a campus where Jewish students and everyone in our community feels safe, valued, and able to thrive.”

This comes as President Joe Biden said on Thursday that he doesn’t expect to seal a Gaza ceasefire deal in the near future, as an American-backed proposal with global support has not been fully embraced by Israel or Hamas.

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