The Oct. 7 massacre inside Israel by Palestinian terrorist group Hamas has unleashed worldwide expressions of antisemitism.
The hate has even consumed American streets.
The inferno we see engulfing renowned universities such as Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, and others has the potential to destroy centuries of carefully cultivated prestige.
Scandals, blunders, and politics have damaged or even destroyed some high-profile products and companies. Universities are no different; their brands can also be destroyed.
Within the past several years, many prestigious schools took the issue of "safety" to an extreme, insulating their campuses from the open debate of ideas.
Speakers with reasoned opposing points of view, usually of a more conservative bent, have been banned from campuses or canceled, deemed persona non grata in the marketplace of ideas.
These institutions championed the fight against microaggressions and created “safe spaces” for groups and individuals who felt threatened.
But the notions of microaggressions, safe spaces, and cancel culture were instantaneously abandoned when the time came to protect the lives and sensitivities of Jews and supporters of Israel.
Today, at many universities around the United States, including some of the once-cherished Ivy League schools, it is open season on Jews.
Israel is going through a horrific period.
The brutal, monstrous terrorist attacks perpetrated upon Israel by Hamas resulted in the deaths of over 1,400 Israelis — murders that included burning, rape, decapitation, and other unimaginable horrors.
Pregnant women, the elderly, and infants were not spared. Over 200 Israelis, from babies to the elderly, have been taken hostage and dragged by Hamas and other Palestinians into the Gaza Strip to an unknown fate.
Israel has since declared war on Hamas.
Consistent with the tragic circumstances of war, many Palestinians have died in the conflict.
There will be more death and destruction; such is the fate and consequences of war.
This war has been thrust upon Israel, leaving her no choice but to seek to uproot and destroy Hamas or to succumb to its expressed aims of the destruction of the state of Israel.
Since Oct. 7, before the bodies of the 1,400 murdered Israelis had even been recovered or identified, mobs on university campuses began chanting slogans such as "global intifada," "from the river to the sea," "resistance," and other similar slogans.
Make no mistake, these chants are barely disguised code, calling for the murder of Israelis and Jews and the destruction of Israel.
Many of these protesters mix in healthy doses of extreme antisemitic slogans.
Faculty members joined in on some of these hateful protests, adding their own demonic thoughts.
In a letter published by faculty from Columbia University and Barnard College, titled "In Defense of Robust Debate About the History and Meaning of the War in Israel/Gaza," the signatories deemed the raping of women, the decapitating and burning to death of Israelis, and the murdering and dismembering of pregnant women and their fetuses to be a "military action."
These demented faculty members grotesquely requested that the Nazi-like behavior of Hamas be viewed in a "recontextualized" manner.
Many university administrations have issued weak statements in response to the protests, while some have supported or even celebrated them.
Russell Rickford, an associate professor of history at Cornell University, said he was "exhilarated" and "energized" by the Hamas terror attacks.
He has since taken a leave of absence, likely waiting for the condemnation from the general public to subside, so he can return to Cornell or another institution to continue to spew his hateful bile.
Universities are no longer safe for Jewish students.
They’ve become cesspools of hate, where intimidation and violence toward Jews — and hatred of Israel and those who support it — are condoned and even encouraged.
Now, a growing group of the general public in America, corporate leaders and others, disgusted by the vile nature of what is happening on campus, are responding.
Some are openly pulling their financial support and some businesses are refusing to hire those taking part in the orgy of hate at these schools.
Parents are now asking themselves whether their hard-earned money is worth parting with for an Ivy education, where hatred and the glorification of violence are extolled, and their children are being exposed to taunts and intimidation on a grand scale.
Donors are asking themselves if there are more worthy places for their philanthropy (indeed there are!).
Students who don’t participate in these atrocious activities should ask themselves if the costly debt they may have taken on to attend these schools is worth the investment.
They should worry that they may get tainted by association with those on their campus who traffic in hate and extremism.
Employers of students from these schools would be wise to ask themselves if these students are interested in working hard and furthering the companies’ goals, or if these students will turn these companies into dangerous places of hate and rage.
How will companies differentiate between the haters who support terrorism and students who don’t participate or condone these actions?
The haters are not just potentially ruining their own job prospects; they are potentially ruining the job prospects for everyone at these schools.
When our cherished institutions support and protect rationalizers of terrorism, society is approaching its nadir.
The time has passed for universities to ask themselves whether allowing pro-Hamas, pro-terror protests on their campuses is consistent with the values and freedoms of our nation.
The weak-kneed cowardice we’ve seen does not bode well for the soul of America.
I shudder to think of which of these hate-filled hearts might one day step into leadership roles in our country.
Jason Greenblatt was the White House Middle East envoy in the Trump administration. He is the author of the widely acclaimed book “In the Path of Abraham,” and director of Arab-Israel diplomacy for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Follow him on X @GreenblattJD.
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