Just as Kristallnacht was a seminal event in Adolf Hitler’s Germany, the recent explosion of antisemitic demonstrations on Ivy League campuses is a tipping point for President Joe Biden’s America.
After six months of calls for an immediate ceasefire and additional humanitarian aid to Palestinians, leftist protesters have upped the ante. Pro-Palestinian activists are now openly threatening the physical safety of Jewish students. And in a number of cases, such as that of an anti-Israel activist poking a Yale student in the eye with a Palestinian flag, it has gone well beyond mere threats. These so-called rallies can no longer be considered the exercise of these individuals’ First Amendment right to “free speech.”
The rhetoric and conduct of these brainwashed, radicalized students and the professional agitators embedded among them have reached a fever pitch. Last Friday night, protesters screamed the following at two Jewish Columbia University students: “Never forget the 7th of October. That will happen not one more time, not five more times, not 10 more times, not 100 more times, not 1,000 more times, not 10,000 more times. … The 7th of October is going to be every day for you.” By anyone’s definition, that is a death threat.
Moreover, the protesters’ rhetoric is no longer limited to the bullying of Jews. It now includes threats against America and attempts to legitimize and even exalt designated terrorist groups — an aspect of the story that has received little attention from the media. They’re chanting “Death to America” and “I am Hamas.”
In a Monday op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal, Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute, noted that flags and posters of terrorist organizations, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, are displayed at the protests. According to Stalinsky, these terrorist groups have “expressed support for these protests and disruptive actions, which have long been a key part of Hamas’s plan to win hearts and minds in the West.” He recalled that “during the July-August 2014 Israel-Gaza war, Hamas’s Interior Ministry issued guidelines to social-media activists on framing events for a Western audience.”
Stalinsky cited remarks from Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to make his point. Days after the Oct. 7 massacre, Mashal encouraged “supporters to protest in cities everywhere” and said that “the organization’s friends on the global Left were responding to its appeal.” Last month, Mashal told supporters “there had been an unprecedented shift in global public opinion.”
The terrorists are not amateurs. They are well aware of the power of propaganda to influence events as well as policy. They cannot defeat Israel on the battlefield, but despite the brutality of the Oct. 7 massacre, they can and currently are prevailing in the court of public opinion.
Moreover, Stalinsky claims that Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and others “are working with and grooming activists in the U.S. and the West, through meetings, online interviews, and podcasts.”
During a January interview with hard-left anti-war group ANSWER Coalition, PFLP spokesman Haytham Abdo noted that more than 50% of young Americans are now pro-Palestinian. He said, “We see that the Biden, or the American, administration, now, [is] affected by this transformation in the U.S. people.”
He most certainly is. Since Biden’s initial display of support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the immediate aftermath of the deadly Oct. 7 attacks, his subsequent actions show he is far more interested in appeasing the terrorists — and the U.S. voters who support them — than supporting the people of Israel. Nothing says solidarity with a key ally quite like Biden’s repeated demands for a ceasefire, his warnings against an IDF ground assault in Rafah, his obsession with providing humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, his approval of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) call for Israel to hold elections to replace Netanyahu, and his administration’s recent condemnation of Israel for human rights abuses.
Meanwhile, the pro-Palestinian protests have dominated the news cycle for over a week. They are intensifying. And where is our president?
Asked at a Monday campaign event for a comment, he replied: “I condemn the antisemitic protests. That’s why I’ve set up a program to deal with that. I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”
Actually, we do understand the Palestinians. It might surprise the president to hear that the majority of Palestinians support Hamas’s unprovoked Oct. 7 attack. A poll released by the Arab World for Research and Development one month after the attack found that nearly 60% of Palestinians surveyed, both in the West Bank and in Gaza, “very much supported” the action. An additional 16% expressed “moderate” support for the massacre.
And in November, Haaretz reported that 76% of Palestinians believed that “Hamas was playing a positive role, while 98% said they feel some or great pride as a Palestinian. Just 13% of respondents opposed Hamas’ attack (21% in Gaza).”
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The proper response from the president would have been to condemn antisemitism in all of its forms. And instead of setting up “a program to deal with that,” he should be calling in the National Guard to restore law and order on these campuses.
But he obviously has more pressing concerns, such as defeating former President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Michigan in November where he currently trails by 3.3% in the RealClearPolitics average of polls.
Elizabeth Stauffer is a contributor to the Washington Examiner, Power Line, and AFNN, and she is a fellow at the Heritage Foundation Academy. She is a past contributor to RedState, Newsmax, the Western Journal, and Bongino.com. Her articles have appeared on RealClearPolitics, MSN, the Federalist, and many other sites. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.