By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
NEW YORK/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Thousands shouting “God loves Israel!” and “Israel is not alone!” gathered outside the gates of Columbia University in New York City on Thursday to protest against the “rising antisemitic spirit on college campuses across America.”
American missionary and musician Sean Feucht, who organized the rally, said it was “time to worship, time to take a stand” for Israel.
“We stand here to protest against the rising antisemitic spirit on college campuses across America,” Feucht told the crowd after they marched towards the university carrying Israeli flags.
“We say it started here; it’s going go and here.” It’s necessary, he said, as “All of America has seen is hate and violence.”
He and others arrived at the university following a daring march near police, keeping them away from pro-Palestine crowds that had been occupying the university grounds.
The pro-Israel protest came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced “antisemitism on campuses in the United States” after pro-Palestine Harvard students began staging an encampment in Harvard Yard on Wednesday.
Netanyahu slammed university administrators for not doing more to stop the campus protests and called for widespread condemnation of the demonstrations.
HORRIFIC ATTACKS
“What’s happening on American college campuses is horrific. Antisemitic mobs have taken over leading universities,” Netanyahu said. “It’s unconscionable. It has to be stopped. It has to be condemned and condemned unequivocally.”
In the past week, students at Columbia University, Yale University, and MIT have engaged in similar encampments and protests on their campuses. Elsewhere in the Boston area, students at Tufts University and Emerson College have set up encampments as well.
Netanyahu the university protests to rallies held in Germany almost 100 years ago, as the Nazi party rose to power on a wave of anti-Jewish hate.
He echoed concerns voiced by supporters of Israel over the safety of Israeli or Jewish students as the protests intensified.
Some have pointed to antisemitic incidents, including attacks against Jewish students, and argued that university leaders are enabling intimidation and hate speech.
“Antisemitic mobs have taken over leading universities,” claimed Netanyahu.
Reports of antisemitic harassment by protesters surfaced over the weekend, with footage showing a masked protester outside Columbia carrying a Palestinian flag which appears to chant, “Go back to Poland!”
STEALING FLAG
One Columbia student wrote on social media that some protesters had stolen an Israeli flag from students and tried to burn it, adding that Jewish students were splashed with water.
Chabad at Columbia University, a chapter of an international Orthodox Jewish movement, said some protesters had hurled expletives at Jewish students as they walked home from campus over the weekend and had said to them, “All you do is colonize” and “Go back to Europe.”
“We are horrified and worried about physical safety” on campus, said the statement, adding that the organization had hired additional armed guards to escort students walking home from Chabad.
A rabbi has urged several Jewish students linked to Columbia University to stay home as tense confrontations on campus sparked condemnation from the White House and New York officials.
The atmosphere is so charged that Columbia officials announced students could attend classes and possibly take exams virtually during Passover, a significant Jewish holiday period.
Tensions at Columbia, and many universities, have been high ever since the October 7 terror attack on Israel by Hamas killed some 1,200 people, including raped women and babies, triggering Israel’s declared war against Hamas.
However, the situation at Columbia escalated in recent days after university officials testified before the U.S. Congress last week about antisemitism on campus and pro-Palestinian protests on and near campus surged.
Christians gathering on Thursday prayed and sang for peace in Israel and beyond.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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