Antisemitism goes full frontal at Columbia, with Rep. Ilhan Omar's daughter in the forefront
Rep. Ilhan Omar must have some household, now that her daugher, Ilsa Hirsi, has been arrested as one of 108 Columbia students defying a university order to disperse in order to stay with the crowd yelling antisemitic slogans. How many times did she hear mom say, "all about the benjamins" around her family breakfast table?
Daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar barred from entering Colombia University grounds, after being suspended and arrested for organizing an anti-Israel encampment protest.
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) April 21, 2024
The University has printed out Isra Hisri’s photo and details to give to staff and security to ensure she does not… pic.twitter.com/PFlDZ6jasd
The rest of the arrestees appear to be trust-fund bunnies, coming from wealthy households, for whom getting suspended for the remainder of the semester, getting kicked out of their dorms, and having their campus identification cards deactivated probably isn't as important as bellowing with the antisemites, too. Victor Davis Hanson has an instructive tweet:
Why the Epidemic of the Violent, Crybaby Protestors?
— Victor Davis Hanson (@VDHanson) April 20, 2024
After seven months of nonstop pro-Hamas protests on campuses and in our big cities, a certain predictable and monotonous pattern has emerged.
The placards calling for the destruction of the Jewish state of Israel (“From the…
Here's how bad it's gotten:
I am speechless. pic.twitter.com/czJ0uwuAuZ
— Shai Davidai (@ShaiDavidai) April 19, 2024
In what universe can this be considered an "anti-war" protest? It is a pro-war demonstration.
— Kamel Amin Thaabet (@K_AminThaabet) April 21, 2024
And that war is a religious holy war, waged through terror. https://t.co/IpswIA3rDj
pic.twitter.com/7M0QzsarbF
— Elnews (@ElSaddam71199) April 20, 2024
NYPD Arrest Over 100 At Pro-Palestine Protest At Columbia University
This is disgusting and sickening.
Right now: Columbia University campus. We call on President Shafik and the Board of Trustees to do their jobs and end this chaos. You testified less than 8 hours ago and the mayhem is continuing UNCHECKED. #Antisemitism pic.twitter.com/o96DVGByqK
— Columbia Jewish Alumni Assoc. (@CU_JewishAlumni) April 18, 2024
this - the Hamas shield - ( plus someone promising "10,000 Oct 7) is what @lpolgreen in @nytimes describes as the "festive air" of the Columbia demo." The lack of fists or worse does not make such a gathering " peaceful". Jewish students are now asking to take courses remotely https://t.co/Koq16XStsK
— Simon Schama (@simon_schama) April 20, 2024
Take a look at this insanity at Columbia University overnight. I’m told Jewish students are in fear of their lives - https://t.co/AruaFBXBHi
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) April 19, 2024
Unbelievable scenes from Columbia University - the center of Jew hatred and terror support being led in part by none other than US Rep @IlhanMN's daughter (who thankfully has been suspended already). May every single one of these terror supporting monsters be expelled, arrested… pic.twitter.com/ZnIsLdbayB
— Emily Schrader - אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) April 18, 2024
Jewish Columbia University student Elisha Baker's shirt caught fire when anti-Israel protesters set the US flag he was holding on fire on Monday (here, police officers grab the flag to put the fire out).
— ♀️Jennifer Gingrich ✡️ (@fem_mb) April 20, 2024
Baker was also kicked in the stomach repeatedly & told to "kill yourself." pic.twitter.com/qQyn6tYMgr
Students surround and intimidate a man wearing a “F*ck Hamas” t-shirt at the Occupy Columbia University protest
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 20, 2024
Via @ScooterCasterNY pic.twitter.com/oz1sOyCBJh
When they claim the protests at @Columbia University are peaceful, show them this video.
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) April 21, 2024
The coward with the covered face holds a sign that reads: "Al-Qasam's Next Targets" with an arrow pointing to students holding Israeli and American flags.
Al-Qasam is the military arm of… pic.twitter.com/v8zDizxkP9
BREAKING: Another peaceful protest-Palestine protest at Columbia University. pic.twitter.com/lVQ03exu5b
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) April 21, 2024
I’d never thought I was going to see such horrific sights in an American university, let alone in all major universities.
— Era Gigman (@idan_bg) April 20, 2024
They leathery chant for “Intifada”, which means to murder Jews. I know because I’m one of the survivors of the 2001 Intifada in Israel. I was on the bus in… pic.twitter.com/LeM2YbcBq0
And yes, they are fanatics:
BREAKING:
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 20, 2024
The national organization of "Students for Justice in Palestine" just announced that they are replicating Columbia University's "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" across the country and will start occupying campus grounds.
Official statement:
"Universities have chosen… pic.twitter.com/izDt8M0RoH
According to The Nation, which employed a student journalist for this event, it was all peaceful and planned:
The occupation, organized by the Columbia University Apartheid Divest coalition (CUAD), Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), had been planned for months. The encampment was an escalation of previous pro-Palestine actions, designed to echo the university’s history of protest. “Columbia University has a rich legacy of student activism, from Vietnam War protests in 1968 to being the first Ivy League school to divest from Apartheid South Africa in 1985,” wrote CUAD on Wednesday. “The Gaza Solidarity Encampment will remain until Columbia University divests all finances, including the endowment, from corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and occupation in Palestine.”
The peaceful occupation began the same day Columbia President Minouche Shafik testified at an antisemitism probe by the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Well, not really. The antisemitism was all about getting attention, and yes, they've got it.
Naturally, the Nation's reporter has been in touch with Hirsi:
Another protester, Isra Hirsi—the daughter of Representative Omar—said that the hearing was helpful for visibility: “Not only can we situate ourselves in the current moment, but we can also take advantage of the media presence, of the pressure being put on Shafik and the board of trustees.”
Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism (of which I'm an alum) said they'd gladly help out with the coverage:
Columbia Journalism School is committed to a free press. If you are a credentialed member of the media and have been denied access to campus, please send us a DM. We will facilitate access to campus.
— Columbia Journalism (@columbiajourn) April 19, 2024
But it's strange stuff, given that this week is class week and alumni week, where the school showcases itself to recently admitted students, and alumni from various years (this year is my class's 30th year), is so helping fuel the madness probably doesn't do much to help either the school or the university itself, reputation-wise. I don't doubt that anyone affiliated with journalism wouldn't be interested in covering this -- I would, too -- but it's pretty obvious from young Hirsi's statement that that's the idea, and the antisemites are eager to get their antisemitism out there, normalizing the evil, or else can trust the press to cover up this kind of talk, which seems to be what we are seeing. The mainstream of the American culture may not see the evidence of ranting antisemitism of the protestors, but the Jewish students on campus don't have that luxury. They get it up close, and then the press effectively smothers that part of the story.
All I can think is what my Jewish classmates, most of them either friends or friendly, must think of this madhouse atmosphere as they try to get in through the extensive security at the Amsterdam-side gate, not the Broadway gate down the cherry blossom path that we used to walk through as students in search of news, which is locked tight right now. Virtually all of them are very liberal, yet here they are, the objects of screaming, and like other Jewish people on campus, neither safe nor secure, even if they say they are pro-Palestine, which some undoubtedly are. They are Jews, and this is raw, naked Jew-hate among Rep. Ilhan Omar's set and the trust funders. Some will ignore this. Some will dismiss it as minor deviations. Some will blame Trump. But the ugliness is still there.
The president of Columbia, Minouche Shafik, gave all the right answers to Congress in her testimony about not condoning antisemitism, (not making herself the next Claudine Gay), but the results at Columbia speak for themselves, this is the worst of the worst maelstrom of antisemitism anyone has seen in our generation.
The jschool is helping keep the press spotlight on the protests, the press itself is carefully curating the hate out, and Cornell West and other scholars affiliated with the school are actually in the protests.
It's mixed messages, which is a kind of weakness emboldening the protests. Obviously, there is something in the leadership and culture at Columbia fostering this antisemitism that's white-hot at this point. And right in the middle of it is Omar's spawn, claiming to be holding a peaceful protest. If Shafik has any sense at all, she'll shut it all down now, before more damage to the school or harm to the students is done.
Image: Twitter video screen shot