Rapid Rise in Antisemitism Hastened by Elected Officials
New Yorkers witnessed the horrifying reality of anti-Semitism within some of our most prestigious universities this week. Unfortunately, several of our elected officials seem complicit in and even supportive of these heinous acts.
At the city level, four female city councilors went to Columbia University on Saturday to support the protesters - including Shahana Hanif, the Co-Chair of the Council’s Taskforce to Combat Hate. After their visit, they wrote that “The encampment is completely peaceful” and “Far from a danger zone where Jews should fear to tread.” Their visit was just a few days before a rabbi from the University recommended that students go home and the university’s administration denied entry to Columbia Business School assistant professor Shai Davidai given the unsafe conditions on the campus.
Similarly, City Councilor Chi Osse from Brooklyn tweeted on Monday, “Students protesting at @Columbia for Palestinian life have my full support. I unequivocally condemn the vile antisemitic incidents from OUTSIDE perpetrators we’ve seen in the area. I reject attempts to use those incidents to smear the broader student movement. Free Palestine.”
Emily Gallagher, who represents Williamsburgh and a large number of Jewish New Yorkers, tweeted “Students have long been at the forefront of movements for peace and justice. Today is no different. I stand in solidarity with young people, many of whom are Jewish, exercising their First Amendment rights against the genocide in Gaza and our government’s role in facilitating it.”
If the local officials from the city with the largest Jewish community in America can not offer support, maybe New York state officials? Don't count on State Senator Jabari Brisport from Brooklyn, who tweeted, “Nothing but solidarity with the students at Columbia and the growing wave of students at colleges and universities across the country who are occupying space in the name of peace. Free Palestine.”
My fellow New Yorkers would be even more disappointed looking at statements from federal representatives. Congressman Jamaal Bowman tweeted, “I condemn any potential police action on Columbia University's campus. As an educator who personally experienced the over policing of our schools, this is personal to me. We must resist right-wing demagoguery and stop suppressing peaceful protest if we are to keep students safe.” Congresswoman Alexandra Acasio-Cortez not only condemned the decision of Columbia University to call the New York Police Department but also criticized the arrival of the NYPD’s counterterrorism unit.
There are some representatives from both parties who visited the Columbia campus to condemn the violence or made statements to support the Jewish students and community. However, the sad reality is that the number of New York representatives praising the protests is much larger than the number condemning them.
The encampments are now spreading from Columbia and New York University to the City University of New York and the Fashion Institute of Technology. We have also seen their rhetoric escalate with public calls for students to become martyrs and that “Zionists don't deserve to live.”. At the same time, the Governor and the Mayor have only offered statements but no real action to end the encampments and the harassment of Jewish students. New Yorkers, we need to admit that we are electing representatives who encourage or passively allow supporters of terrorism to take our universities.
