Aviva Fried (US correspondent) // Photo credit: Matt Burkhartt / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
A feeling of insecurity is affecting the Jewish community internationally. The number of anti-Semitic acts is exploding in the United States with a 400% increase in attacks since October 7, the day of the Hamas attack on Israel. And the situation is particularly worrying in universities where some students are literally driven out.
Cries of “death to the Jews” are now commonplace on American campuses. Anti-Semitic acts are increasing there. These range from swastika tags to physical attacks and death threats. On a forum, a Cornell student declared that he was going to bring an assault rifle and shoot all “the Jewish pigs.”
A warning for universities
In New York, Jewish students at Cooper University had to barricade themselves in the library while pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to break down the doors and windows. Jewish students are afraid and the lukewarm statements from university officials are far from reassuring them.
“The most worrying thing is the Jewish student leaders who receive emails from the administration saying that we must avoid certain places on campus, that we must not show ourselves in order to be safe on campus. I I have to hide that I’m Jewish,” says Danielle Hopkins, a student at Berkeley.
Some Jewish students now even prefer to take classes remotely so as not to expose themselves to danger. An untenable situation. The White House has also warned universities that they could lose their federal subsidies if they do not do more to combat anti-Semitism.