Bombs fall on Gaza and the noise reverberates through America’s universities.
For years they have lived with each other. But since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7th, two conflicting worlds have come to light that are shaking the foundations of campuses due to the growing increase in anti-Semitism. While there is also Islamophobia, the ruling class seems to care much less about it.
On the campus of Columbia University, in northern Manhattan, tranquility reigns at this time of the afternoon when it is intuited that it will get dark. There is, however, a background noise. Across Broadway, behind the gate of Barnard College (affiliated with Columbia) there is a demonstration. “Palestine will be free”, chant about 200 students under a banner that reads “Barnard for liberation”, with a Palestinian banner.
In a corner, touching each other, although not mixing, a dozen young people wave Israeli flags and sing chants in order to silence or nullify opposing slogans.
“There is an ideological war on campus, we have never seen so much violence or this despicable anti-Semitism,” replies Davy S., a Jew of Belgian nationality who is taking the second year of Political Science, next to the fence. “You feel that people hate you and not just your colleagues, but also the teachers and administrators. You experience fear and there have been attacks”, he reports.
Davy says they draw swastikas on them and tear down posters dedicated to those kidnapped by Hamas. “I decided to come to Colombia, instead of staying in Belgium, because it is a great institution and because of the existence of a vibrant Jewish community. Now I regret it”, he confesses. “When I hear them shouting from the river to the sea, I understand that it is a genocidal cry, because it means the end of Israel, our death”, he emphasizes.
two girls K, a Palestinian from the United States, and L, an African American, take to the streets wearing the identifying Arab headscarves, after demanding the freedom of Palestine. “We are protesting because the director of Barnard has issued a couple of statements in favor of Israel”, explains K, who has a singing voice. “We are not anti-Semitic (the people), but we are against Zionism, political nationalism”, he explains. “From the river to the sea? It is nothing more than a statement against colonialism, we were indeed taken from our land and killed and taken to the diaspora”, he replies.
K affirms that they do suffer from the pressure of the vans used by Jewish groups to spread the names and photographs of those who participate in pro-Palestine events. “We are constantly being watched”, he remarks.
The earthquake on the campuses of the United States has an impact mainly on the elite universities grouped in the select group of the Ivy League.
The president of the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), Liz Magill, had to resign because she did not answer with a resounding “yes” when Congress asked her last week whether she would condemn the shouting in favor of Jewish genocide in her facilities. locations Instead, the other two presidents who shared a session with her, Harvard’s Claudine Gay and MIT’s Sally Kornbluth, saved the post because of the confidence of their own teams.
The president of Colombia, Minoucre Shafik, might also have been on a tightrope if she had attended that meeting about anti-Semitism. He excused his participation by alleging a conflict of agenda.
The affair comes a long way, especially since the right became obsessed with denouncing the culture of cancellation, since it considered that it suppresses and attacks conservative discourse while favoring racial, gender diversity or religion The war in the Middle East has done nothing but reinforce the question: are universities centers of intellectual training or spaces for indoctrination?
There is a lot of noise. Voices are heard in favor of a global intifada. At Yale, another Ivy League, the Jewish religious holiday of Hanukkah is being desecrated and tarnished these days by placing a Palestinian flag in the arms of the menorah (candelabrum). So the Republicans smell blood in the controversy over anti-Semitism in these centers where the leaders of the future are trained.
Magill fell because UPenn’s big donors already had him there before. But Gay, the first African American to head Harvard, survived thanks to the mobilization of professors and students, who came to her defense, despite the opposition of millionaires like William Ackman, who has been obsessed with Gay since he took office in beginning of July
The universities of the United States are in the process of taking a public opinion on their position in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. But when they opt for balance, the right immediately considers it complicity with the terrorists.
Already at night, the Jews of Colombia gather to light another candle from the menorah. No one interferes or disturbs them in their party. “Sometimes it’s tough with everything that’s going on on campus, but it’s also a great time for the Jewish community to come together and show strength,” said Elisha Baker, a Middle Eastern History major. . “To be honest, I’m not afraid – he underlines -, despite the fact that there are reasons for fear and anxiety with so much protest. Yes, I think it’s a great moment to display the pride of being Jewish.”