Beatriz W. de Rittigstein.
With the start of the new academic year, displays of harsh anti-Semitism have resurfaced with even greater fury on some campuses, putting to the test possible plans to prevent them and certainly the will of university authorities to maintain due order.
There are universities where the situation remains problematic, including: Columbia in New York, with a particularly sharp impact.
At Columbia, the opening of the fall 2024 semester proved tense due to the rekindling of anti-Semitic riots intended to reflect Israel's war against Palestinian terrorist groups.
However, these are anti-Semitic conflicts artificially provoked by certain sectors that have brought them to the surface. As has been happening, groups aligned with radical Palestinian causes, many of which are part of international movements, such as Students for Justice in Palestine (EJP), They intensified their actions in Columbia, using dehumanizing and stereotypical rhetoric, as well as pro-Hamas slogans and symbols, which delegitimize the very existence of the State of Israel; in addition, EJP promotes campaigns of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), a global anti-Semitic movement.
This fall at Columbia, EJP has been a central player in campus demonstrations, organizing marches and protests emphasizing slanders against Israel and Jews.
The situation at Columbia was thus affected by several specific incidents, including a public threat by an imam of Palestinian origin, Mohammad Abbasi, to Professor Shai Davidai, a prominent academic in the Department of Psychology, an Israeli Jew, and defender of the right of Israel to defend itself and of Jews not to be discriminated against.
During a series of events organized by EJP, Imam Abbasi was a speaker on a panel about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and in a fiery speech, he mentioned Davidai and harangued about “punishing the defenders of Zionist oppression.”
The imam's speech was a wake-up call for many students and faculty, who criticized the administration for not taking firm and concrete action against the organizers of the event. The clear threat to Davidai was the most obvious revelation of how anti-Semitism has spread on campus: it is no longer just a matter of anti-Semitic stereotypes, but of direct threats.
Without a doubt, this unfortunate episode showed the dangerous advance of movements very close to Islamist terrorism within the United States.
Jewish students noted that, as the school year begins, the blatant criticism of Israel continues to push the boundaries of acceptable, honest criticism that does not involve the all-too-common double standards.
Columbia's administration continues to reiterate its commitment to free speech, but also stresses that any form of hate, including religious intolerance, would not be accepted; however, it has remained lukewarm and these risks continue to be taken lightly, without a true understanding of what they actually mean.
With such permissiveness, anti-Semitism has become more violent and even taken on new forms. Jewish students continue to feel unsafe in an environment where they are constantly challenged for their differences.
However, the dilemma facing Columbia is false, as the rioters are using the pretext of freedom of opinion and invoking the First Amendment, which protects freedom of expression, but it also protects religious freedom.
On the other hand, freedom of expression is not absolute, nor can it prevail over the right to life and integrity. Ultimately, freedom of expression does not grant tacit consent to incite hatred and even less to violate the democratic values of the country.
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