US President Joe Biden has slammed anti-Israel protests at universities, calling such “blatant anti-Semitism” “reprehensible and dangerous.” His statement comes amid ongoing pro-Palestinian unrest at Columbia University, a crisis that prompted a rabbi to urge Jewish students to stay home until the tense environment at the Ivy League school subsides.
Although Biden did not mention Columbia in a statement released by the White House, he emphasized that anti-Semitism has “absolutely no place on college campuses or anywhere in our country.”
The days of demonstrations coincide with the Jewish holiday of Passover, a seven-day celebration commemorating the mass exodus of Jews from Egypt.
The US president said that Jews around the world are still dealing with the horrific events of October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. “This Passover is especially heavy for the hostage families trying to carry forward the spirit of the holiday – a story centered on freedom – while their loved ones remain in captivity, our hearts go out to all the victims, survivors, families with friends whose loved ones have been killed, taken hostage, injured, displaced or in danger,” his statement added.
He said his administration will continue to speak out and “aggressively implement the first-ever national strategy on anti-Semitism” to provide the Jewish community with the full support of the federal government.
Joe Biden’s statement came hours after the White House independently released a statement condemning “violence and physical intimidation against Jewish students and the Jewish community.” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates called such behavior “anti-Semitic, unconscionable and dangerous,” and video reportedly showed pro-Palestinian activists telling Jewish students that October 7 “will be every day for you.” .
The crisis at Columbia University recently escalated as university officials testified before the U.S. Congress about anti-Semitism on campus, leading to a surge in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on and near campus.
On April 19, the school’s president, Nemat Minouche Shafik, authorized the New York Police Department (NYPD) to raid an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters. This resulted in the arrest of 108 protesters. The university also suspended the daughter of controversial U.S. Congressman Ilhan Omar over the protests.
Even so, Protests intensified over the weekend, Protesters set up tents to participate in the riot. About 200 protesters protested on Saturday, the New York Post reported.
The tensions led Rabbi Elie Buechler of the Ivy League school’s Orthodox Union Jewish Campus Learning Program to “strongly” recommend that about 300 students, most of them Orthodox Jewish, go home and stay there. According to CNN, he sent a WhatsApp message to the students.
“It is with great pain that I say that I strongly recommend that you return home as soon as possible and stay home until the reality on and around campus improves significantly,” the message read, according to CNN.
However, Columbia University and Barnard College’s Hillel Center for Jewish Life rejected the rabbi’s advice while acknowledging the escalating crisis at the universities.
The Hillel Center said in a statement to
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