Even as the war continues to rage in Gaza, there is already a lot of talk about the “day after,” that is, what will happen there when the guns calm down.
Rumors assume that Israel will defeat Hamas and that a new entity will fill the governing vacuum.
Finding a solution is an enormous challenge, and while the United States will have much to say, there is another “morning after” issue that also demands our attention.
It is about the shocking explosion of anti-Semitism on elite university campuses.
It should also be removed because it is morally wrong and because the story leaves no doubt about where it leads.
Washington has a role to play, but real action must occur where the problem is: on campuses.
University leaders must lead or step aside.
In a sense, pure hatred was hiding in plain sight.
In recent years, cancel culture emcees included Israel in their ever-expanding lists of “white supremacists” and “colonizers,” sure signs that the Jewish state was becoming a pariah.
As with America’s conservative, white, Christian founders, any defense of Israel often triggered a generation of snowflakes determined to erase it from the canon of acceptable loyalties.
When it comes to Israel, the “E” in DEI stands for exclusion, not equity.
Still, despite suspicions and some obvious cases, it was not always certain that relentless criticism had transformed into widespread hatred of Jews.
Until now.
came out of the closet
The October 7 massacre brought anti-Semites and their enablers out of the closet.
Since you can’t solve a problem you don’t know exists, we now know who they are and the hate they harbor.
We see them in all their arrogance at Harvard, Penn, and my alma mater, Columbia.
Their banners, slogans and chants of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” remove any doubt that they are not mere critics of Israel.
They share with Hamas, Iran and anti-Semites throughout history a pure hatred of Jews.
A considerable number of students, faculty, and administrators at many other so-called schools of higher education are also guilty of harboring this ancient disease, including at the City University of New York, especially its radical law school.
In many cases, Jew-hatred was unclear because Israel’s policies, like the policies of any nation, are a target for criticism.
The right to dissent is intrinsic to Americans’ right to free speech, and criticizing Israel is no exception.
But there are also tests to determine whether the criticism is honest, a legitimate disagreement, or a smokescreen for anti-Semitism.
Consider the definition of anti-Semitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in 2016 and adopted by the United States.
He cites as examples accusations that Jews conspire to harm humanity and the use of “sinister stereotypes.”
Another example involves “justifying the murder or harm of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.”
Others include the spread of “the myth about a global Jewish conspiracy or about Jews controlling the media, the economy, the government, or other social institutions.”
Holocaust denial, of course, is a prime example of anti-Semitism.
Those and other clear expressions have been in the spotlight since October 7.
Among the most repugnant are claims that Jews, not Hamas, killed more than 1,000 Israelis that day, most of them unarmed civilians, including dozens of babies and children.
Another disgusting spectacle is the appearance of signs that the massacre never occurred or, if it did occur, it was justified as a form of “resistance.”
Textbook antisemitism
Similarly, Hamas’s kidnapping of some 240 people, from babies to 85-year-old Holocaust survivors, has been called a hoax by anti-Semites.
Some statements by protesters show a surprising ignorance of both history and current events.
The fact that Hamas began three decades ago with the purpose of killing Jews and wiping Israel off the map seems to be little known, or perhaps somewhat known.
Its statute makes it clear.
Search it.
Furthermore, there appears to be little interest in understanding why Arab states refuse to take in refugees from Gaza.
When Jordan’s King Abdullah declared that “there will be no refugees in Jordan and no refugees in Egypt,” there was barely a sound from the same protesters angrily demanding that Israel stop its “inhumane” attack.
The same goes for the lack of protests over Hamas’ perverse habit of hiding its terrorists and their weapons under hospitals and schools.
As for civilians, it is Hamas that refuses to allow families and children in northern Gaza to follow Israeli instructions to move to safety in the southern part of the strip.
Do college students know the record showing that Israel is the focus of more United Nations resolutions than any other country?
Just the other day there were eight censures, and not a single one for any other nation!
That is anti-Semitism in action.
Another double standard is the holier-than-thou focus on Palestinian civilian deaths when deadlier wars receive little or no attention.
More than 238,000 people died in conflicts last year, the Global Peace Index reports.
According to The Washington Post, the total reflects at least 82,000 deaths in Ukraine and more than 104,000 in a civil war in Ethiopia.
The conflicts also caused large numbers of deaths in Mali and Myanmar.
Where is the indignation?
Fortunately, there is strong and growing outrage against campus anti-Semitism and it is being led by alumni, many of whom are closing their wallets.
Harvard has been a flashpoint because a letter from student groups actually blamed Israel for the Hamas massacre, and its new president, Claudine Gay, continued to issue statements blah, blah, blah, in an obscene search for neutral ground.
When it comes to evil, there is no neutral ground.
Why don’t all college presidents know this?
In addition to billionaire alumni like Bill Ackman demanding that Harvard address the problem, more than 1,600 Jewish graduates warn they will withhold donations until the university confronts anti-Semitism on campus.
Donor boycotts are also underway at Penn, with dozens of major donors demanding the resignation of President Liz Magill and Scott Bok, chairman of the board of trustees.
House cleaning
Some show their discontent by saying they will donate only $1 until they both resign.
Still, calling out cowardly presidents and administrators is only the first step in what must be a total reevaluation of what it means to be an educated and moral American.
Next, a cleaning of the student and teacher houses must be carried out.
It won’t be easy, even a small step will cause a big setback.
More than 100 Harvard professors signed a letter complaining about a new “anti-Semitism initiative,” calling it dangerously one-sided.
Well, anti-Semitism is also one-sided.
Incredibly, the signatories revealed their ignorance by defending protesters who use the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine must be free,” claiming that the chant has a “long and complicated history.”
No, it’s not like that.
The words mean exactly what they have always meant: wipe Israel off the map.
Those who claim otherwise do not belong to Harvard or any other American university.
