'If you see genocidal Jew-hatred spreading like wildfire, make sure to commit to fighting Islamophobia.'
'If you see genocidal Jew-hatred spreading like wildfire, make sure to commit to fighting Islamophobia.'
“What the hell is going on?” is a weekly series in which we bring you the most bizarre, outlandish, and surreal developments from around the Jewish world during the past week.
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“Anti-Israel” encampments on Western university campuses continued to make headline news this past week.
The leaders of the protest camp at Australian National University explicitly endorsed Hamas on ABC Radio, saying: “Hamas deserves our unconditional support… I will not condemn what Hamas did on October 7th.”
At Princeton University, a student speaker praised North Korea for never “establishing diplomatic relations with Israel” and commended Kim Jong Un’s repressive regime, as the crowd cheered and thanked North Korea for providing “moral and material aid” to the notorious terror group, the Palestine Liberation Organization.
After five days of anti-Israel demonstrators occupying a lawn on Northwestern University, its president and the rest of the university’s leadership decided to accede to several of the protesters’ demands, including a promise to offer full-ride scholarships to Palestinian students and guaranteed faculty jobs for Palestinian academics — because that is exactly what the U.S. needs right now, more “pro-Palestinian” (i.e. pro-Hamas) people walking its campuses.
At Virginia Tech University, demonstrators brought children to an encampment and pleaded with the administration to not arrest anyone because children were present, saying: “Do our children scare you?” As one social media user commented: “Can’t imagine where ‘pro-Palestinian’ campus activists got the idea to use children as human shields.”1
Harvard University PhD candidate Mafaz Al-Suwaidan posted a photo of the John Harvard statue on campus, covered in a Palestinian flag, writing: “Harvard has never looked better.” Her father, Tareq Al-Suwaidan, is the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Kuwait — known for his Holocaust denial and banned from the U.S.
Meanwhile, a parent whose child is studying at UCLA called the university’s police department, and here is how the conversation went:
Parent: “Are the protestors allowed to block students who are paying tuition from classes?”
Police Officer: “No, but unfortunately, they have taken over that area. We’ve received a directive not to intervene.”
Parent: “So you’re allowing the protestors to block the Jewish students?”
Police Officer: “We’re not allowing it... the school is. Yes, the school is saying that they will not be removed at this time.”
At Columbia University, encampment leader Aidan Parisi threatened to “burn down” the campus. Turns out, his mother is a longtime U.S. State Department senior official. Hence Columbia has thus far refused to even suspend him from campus.
Also at Columbia University, protestors violently took over a building, screaming: “We are Hamas!” — and then accused the university of allowing the “students” to “die of dehydration and starvation” or “get severely ill” while demanding they be provided with “basic humanitarian aid.” But hey, at least they are consistent in doing precisely what Hamas does to Israel.
As one social media user wrote: “Can we please get an airdrop at Columbia University? We need 900 Acaí Bowls, 1,300 Impossible Burgers on gluten-free bread with sugar-free vegan ketchup, and 3,000 bottles of pH 9.0 electrolyte water. This is urgent.”2
Another wrote: “Imagine being $300,000 in debt, with a felony record, and no diploma because TikTok said it’s cool to hate Jews.”3
This social media post was my favorite:
“Gaza Health Ministry has confirmed the New York Police Department has arrested 17,851 people at Columbia University tonight. Most of which were innocent women and children.”
“Amnesty International reported that out of 17,000 individuals detained, an astonishing 32,000 are said to be children.”
“The United Nations reported the discovery of a mass grave located adjacent to Hamilton Hall.”
“The Red Cross reported that the demonstrators are not being fed well and urgently need their poke bowl and cappuccino.”4
Shiraz University in Iran announced that U.S. and European students and faculty expelled from their institutions over their support for Gaza (i.e. Hamas) could continue their studies at their university.
John Aziz, a British-Palestinian activist (who is very pro-Israel and pro-two-state solution), commented: “You can gain your Bachelor’s in Holocaust Denial, and your Master’s in Jihad.”
Meanwhile, the President of the Palestinian Authority, 88-year-old kleptocrat Mahmoud Abbas, said at a conference in Saudi Arabia last week that “Israel has the right to full security, and this is our duty” — to which a social media user responded:
“When the President of the Palestinian Authority would be kicked off a campus encampment in America because he recognized Israel’s right to full security, you know you’ve lost the plot.”5
U.S. President Joe Biden finally gave a speech about antisemitic protests happening across his country — and it took him more than two minutes into the three-minute monologue to use the term “antisemitism.” He then immediately condemned “Islamophobia” and discrimination against Arab and Palestinian Americans.
“Please, please, please,” wrote on social media user, “if you see genocidal Jew-hatred spreading like wildfire, make sure to commit to fighting Islamophobia.”6
Biden will also give a speech on Jew hatred at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. this week to address “our moral duty to combat the rising scourge of antisemitism.” One place to start: members of his own Democratic Party praising the most extreme voices at campus protests.
You know, like Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who during her visit to Columbia University last week shared her “concerns” about antisemitism on campus, stating: “All Jewish kids should be kept safe and we should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they’re pro-genocide or anti-genocide.”
Omar is a member of “The Squad” — a group of far-Left U.S. politicians known for their anti-Israel positions. As one social media user put it, “The Squad tokenizes Jews so much, I’m surprised the Securities and Exchange Commission hasn’t sued them.”7
In March, the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism, the oldest journalism school in the United States, awarded its “Team Picture Story of the Year” on the Associated Press for a collection of photos that gave a starring role to one of the wire service’s Gaza-based freelancers, Ali Mahmud.
Kicking off the portfolio was the picture he took of the nearly naked body of Shani Louk, a young Israeli woman, face down in the bed of a truck. Her captors’ weapons are pointed skyward and off to the side — not in the direction of the photographer, who was close enough to catch the excited looks on their faces.
Sharing the award was Hatem Ali, another Gaza-based freelancer, photographed abductions he witnessed of Yaffa Adar, an 85-year-old grandmother who rolled by in a golf cart, and Yarden Bibas, bleeding as he was led away to Gaza on a motorbike.
In other words, these “photographers” chaperoned Palestinian terrorists on October 7th and were complicit in their crimes against humanity.
Even then, tomorrow the Pulitzer Committee will be awarding journalism’s top prize, and The New York Times and its Gazan photo-journalist Yousef Masoud are highly favored to win — because, as author Dara Horn reminded us, people love dead Jews.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced that a “military assault” on Rafah in southern Gaza “would be an unbearable escalation” with a “devastating impact on Palestinians in Gaza” and “serious repercussions” for the West Bank and across the wider region.
You know what was actually an unbearable escalation that had a devastating impact with serious repercussions?
The Hamas-led massacres on October 7th in which some 1,200 people, including entire families and children, were slaughtered in a genocidal pogrom against Jews — while more than 4,000 others were injured, dozens of women were raped, and some 250 people were kidnapped (including a baby, young children, and elderly folks) into underground dungeons in Gaza. With the direct help and complicity of UN employees.
That is an unbearable escalation.
Meanwhile, the head of the notorious UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees finally admitted that all the humanitarian aid goes to Hamas, which then sells it to the people and makes huge profits.
“There is more food available in the markets,” he said, “but it doesn’t mean that the food is accessible — because there is absolutely no cash circulating in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.”
A synagogue bus in Toronto has had to tape over its name because ... you know why.
In London, they are hiding some Holocaust memorials, as is the case with a statue of Anne Frank in Amsterdam, which was fenced off from the public to shield it from vandalism by “pro-Palestinian” groups. A Palestinian flag is even visible on the cover used to protect the statue.
“Even as a statue, she needs to be concealed from antisemites,” wrote on social media user. “Of all symbols, she should never have to be hidden again.”8
As one satirical social media account put it: “To Avoid Upsetting Activists, London Police Cover Big Ben.”9
A recently released report by Israel’s Innovation, Science, and Technology Ministry points to a sharp decrease in willingness by academic researchers from some European countries to cooperate with their Israeli counterparts since October 7th.
Among the countries leading the boycott are Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, and Ireland. Also on the list are Italy, which has a long and important history of academic cooperation with Israel, as well as Belgium, a leader in the European research community.
According to a summary of the report published last week by Channel 13 in Israel, 38 percent of Israeli research is conducted in cooperation with European academics, with 2023 reaching the highest level of cooperation in Israel’s history.
As one social media user pointed it: “Academics should not boycott partnerships in medicine, of all things, in the name of saving lives.”10
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin admitted last week that Joe Biden’s administration approved of the construction of a “humanitarian pier” in Gaza, knowing that Palestinians are likely to attack U.S. troops, yet he is sending them to construct the pier anyway. All because of fabricated stories about “genocide” and “famine.”
Also, the Biden administration is considering bringing in Palestinians from Gaza as refugees into the U.S. — but they cannot seem to do much in the way of freeing American citizen hostages who have been held in Gaza under unthinkable conditions for more than six months.
What the hell is going on?
William A. Jacobson on X
Eve Barlow on X
Not a Good Jewish Girl on X
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The repetitive chorus of "yes, but Islamophobia" has long grated on my nerves, but lately, it's reached a crescendo of irritation that's becoming unbearable to endure.
This is already starting to backfire on these hateful people. My peers and I have quietly agreed to no longer even consider the resumes of students with Muslin names, or most any student that will graduate from these high profile anti Semitic universities.