‘No peace’ on campus this semester

Legal land mines are planted all over the issue. One wrong move and an elite university with some of its departments doing important research can lose government funding. On the other hand, public hearings and crackdowns on campus antisemitism have catalyzed the most militant escalations from the “student intifada.”

Now more than ever, schools are urgently tasked with finding a balance between protecting free speech and civil rights. Privileged young adults may be condoned to cosplay as terrorists on campus, but when they set up encampments and create “Jew exclusion zones,” forcefully occupy school buildings, and spread classic antisemitism, they create a hostile environment for Jewish students.

Universities foster this hostile environment both through negligence and deliberate action. When the presidents of Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Pennsylvania refused to say whether calling for genocide against Jews violated their schools’ codes of conduct in a congressional hearing, they were expressing an incredibly soft stance toward antisemitism but not directly engaging in it.

On the faculty level, however, a “pivotal role” is played in instigating and prolonging the anti-Israel activity in which blatant antisemitism has been ubiquitous, if not part and parcel. “Without [faculty],” Tammi Benjamin, AMCHA Initiative co-founder, told the Washington Examiner, “much of what’s happening simply would not be happening.”

Campus collusion

Former President Donald Trump’s alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, provides a case study in campus collusion. While calls for genocide were deemed a matter of “context” by former Penn President Liz Magill, faculty actively engaged in these calls, including “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” This particular slogan calls for the entire geographical land of Israel to become “Palestinian” and would entail the killing or forceful removal of millions of Jews.

Some of the most radical faculty members from inside and outside the campus spoke at Penn’s encampment, including University of California, Berkeley, professor Hatem Bazian. Bazian, who founded Students for Justice in Palestine, has come under fire for his statements and social media posts calling for an “intifada” in America, defending Hamas, and expressing support for terrorists on multiple occasions, as well as his fundraising for a Hamas-linked charity.

According to photos and communications between protesters obtained by the Washington Examiner, as well as social media posts, Penn professors mobilized students and outside agitators to participate in the encampment, provided material support for protesters by transporting supplies and charging batteries, and formed a human barricade on May 10 to disrupt police while chanting slogans comparing police to the Ku Klux Klan for arresting Hamas-sympathizing criminals.

The militant Penn encampment members were allegedly warned of the May 10 police “sweep” by Democratic Pennsylvania state Rep. Rick Krajewski, according to communications obtained by the Washington Examiner. This allowed them to hide their “sharps” and reinforce their barricades. Penn’s student-run newspaper left out the names of several arrested faculty members from its coverage despite being notified of their omission, something senior staff told the Washington Examiner “protect[ed]” them from the consequences of their own actions.

Cold war brewing

Hundreds of examples of campus antisemitism have been brought to light through Title VI action as groups such as StandWithUs, the Brandeis Center, and the Anti-Defamation League have highlighted how schools have turned a blind eye, a cold shoulder, and even lent a helping hand to antisemitic activity. Penn itself is under investigation by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights for allegedly fostering a hostile environment for Jewish students.

The gunpowder in the Title VI threat could defund these schools. As Jeffrey Robbins put it in an interview with the Washington Examiner, when civil rights are being violated on campus, “not only is it permissible, it is the responsibility” of the government to defund the universities fostering these hostile environments. “Right now,” he said, “we’re at DEFCON 1 when it comes to antisemitism.”

Groups such as StandWithUs have spent the summer preparing for fall’s anti-Israel escalations, with numerous Title VI actions ready and waiting. They have also been training students on how to use resources at their disposal when they witness or are a victim of antisemitism on campus. Schools have upped the ante as well, implementing “time, place, and manner” restrictions, banning encampments and face masks, and prohibiting departments from using their homepage for activism, among other policies. It remains to be seen if these rules are enforced, which is the crux of the matter and the real wild card as many schools have not consistently done so up until this point.

Congress plans to “keep up the pressure” on schools to hold them accountable, but these efforts have resulted in massive anti-Israel escalations in the past. Protesters are itching to cause chaos, lawyers are itching to file Title VI suits, and schools have to figure out how to avoid being defunded. Enforcing the rules they have on the books might be a good start.

Escalations already begin

With all parties facing some level of threat, there is a chance that tensions do not escalate to the point of mass encampments, building occupations, and outbreaks of violence. After all, the Cold War was won without firing off a single shot. But in the Cold War, both sides faced mutually assured destruction. On campus, it’s a bit more complicated as terrorist cosplayers have already started demonstrating, leading to police involvement at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the University of Michigan, the University of Pittsburgh, and Columbia University.

Seven anti-Israel campus groups revealed their plans for the coming semester to the Washington Examiner. They promised there will be “no peace” until their demands are met and that the “repression” of these groups “only breeds resistance” and will “lead to more violence.” University of Chicago’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter previewed its protests planned for the DNC. These demonstrations escalated to violence.

Aside from the DNC protests in mid-August, four protesters were arrested at the University of Michigan after an anti-Israel group attempted to disrupt a university event on the first week of school. Three were unaffiliated with the university, while the fourth was a university employee. At the University of Pittsburgh, a group of Jewish students was allegedly attacked with a glass bottle as young Panthers returned to campus, leaving two injured, according to the school. At Columbia University, two protesters were arrested on the first day of classes as an anti-Israel group vandalized a historic statue while others chanted, “Free Palestine!” It took until the end of last semester for police to get involved in many cases, but they’re already batting 1.000 as the new semester begins.

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While the potential to defund universities fostering a hostile environment for Jewish students is indeed the gunpowder in the Title VI threat, not every school has shown urgency on the matter. These institutions know that the Biden-Harris administration may have a loaded gun, but its actions have shown an unwillingness to pull the trigger. Trump, on the other hand, has promised to come down hard on schools fostering an anti-Jewish campus environment. He has even vowed to deport foreign anti-Israel student protesters who do not “behave.”

It will take an executive branch not beholden to the pro-Hamas faction of the Democratic Party to create lasting change. Will the Biden-Harris administration finally put a stop to university-sponsored antisemitism? Or will it require regime change to hold schools accountable? These questions will be answered this semester.

Peter Cordi is a homepage editor for the Washington Examiner.