2023 was the year campus antisemitism finally got its reckoning after college students cheer for terrorism

 The year 2023, particularly the months following the October 7 terrorist attacks, included lawsuits, congressional investigations, and threats of cutting federal funding from specific universities. This was the year that anti-Semitism, long discussed on college campuses, finally found its identity.

"Americans are beginning to wake up to the presence of extremist and anti-Semitic ideologies prevalent in our universities," Jonah Cohen, communications director for the Committee for the Accuracy of Middle East Reporting in America, told Fox News Digital.

Israel declared war on Hamas on October 7 after the terrorist group infiltrated the country, firing thousands of rockets at residential areas and massacring, raping and torturing its citizens. At least 1,200 Israelis and 32 Americans were killed; More than 240 people were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.

Brooke Goldstein of the Lawfare Project told Fox News, "The terrorist attacks by Hamas on October 7 exposed the reality [of systemic Jew-hatred on college campuses] like never before."

Following these events, protests broke out on college campuses – and pro-Palestinian demonstrations horrified Jewish students who, in many cases, sympathized with and justified Hamas's crimes.

Goldstein said, "The barbarity and pure evil of the unspeakable acts committed by these terrorists against civilians – men, women and children – shocked the world. But what we saw next was shocking: college students and teachers in Were celebrating the attacks." Said.

At Cornell University, students told Fox News Digital that they felt unsafe when a professor, Russell Rickford, said he was "excited" after the Hamas terrorist attack. Students at Cornell and across the country also faced hostile rhetoric and slogans from their peers, such as calls for Israel to be taken "from the river to the sea" and "intifada" – the Arabic word for "uprising" which also refers to For violent Palestinian resistance efforts.

Cornell student Netanel Shapira said, "How can Jewish students feel safe on this campus when this despicable hate speech is happening near our campus? This institution is allowing an anti-Semite and an advocate of terror to legitimize his viewpoint." "Can't allow Cornell to be used for this."

The hostility of anti-Israel mobs – and their disruptions – led Brandeis University, Rutgers, Columbia University and George Washington University to suspend their Students for Justice in Palestine chapters. The national chapter of the SJP called the Hamas terrorist attack a "historic victory" for the Palestinian resistance.

SJP was contacted for comment.

Brandis expressed concern over whether the group's rhetoric supports Hamas. It reminded students that such behavior "will be considered a violation of the University's Student Code of Conduct."

In the most extreme case, GWU students displayed Palestinian phrases on a school building, saying, "Glory to our martyrs."

The state of Florida, under the DeSantis administration, directed its colleges to disband student chapters that support "Hamas terrorism". The directive warned that "knowingly providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization is a felony under Florida law."

Leora Raz of StopAntisemitism, referring to the "intifada" chants, said, "Students for Justice in Palestine and its related groups have not only repeatedly lauded anti-Semitic terrorism, but they have also advocated for importing it into the US. "

He added, "His presence on campus undoubtedly creates more hostility toward Jews, and his uncompromising attitude toward violence should disqualify him from every campus in the country."

Rose Rothstein of the pro-Israel group StandWithUS told Fox News that she believes the SJP chapter feigned concern for social justice to gain supporters, and then laid the groundwork for "extreme anti-campus sentiment." Have done.

Jewish students have been complaining about anti-Semitism on campus at universities for years. But it reached a fever pitch when the nation heard that leaders of the nation's most elite universities voluntarily appeared at congressional hearings and then refused to say that calling for genocide against Jews violated its policy. Donors pulled their money, companies threatened to pull recruitment, and now some students are questioning their interest in elite institutions like Harvard.

Cohen said, "For more than two decades, we have raised concerns about this issue... and it appears that now, finally, our warnings are resonating with the broader public."

Following shocking testimony, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce announced investigations into Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT over "rampant anti-Semitism." Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., promised a "accounting" for Jew-hatred.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Education is launching investigations into universities such as Cooper Union, Columbia University, Cornell, UPenn and Lafayette.

Law firms are also taking notice and launching civil actions over allegations that college campuses may violate students' Title VI civil rights by creating hostile environments and failing to take appropriate action against anti-Semitism.

Kasowitz Benson Torres, a major NYC law firm, said it is focusing on legal action against Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, New York University, MIT, Stanford, the University of Pennsylvania, and UC-Berkeley — but their scope will likely extend to students. Will expand as it grows. Complaints are coming continuously.

The devastating congressional testimony of university presidents earlier this month demonstrated why it is so important for us to seek relief in court. Mark Ressler, a partner at the firm, said in a statement to Fox News, "They exposed themselves in front of the entire country as not only ignorant but dangerous, unable to acknowledge that students had the right to call for the genocide of the Jewish people." Should not be allowed."

He said he looked forward to publicly sharing the findings "revealing the full extent of the hypocrisy" when they emerge.

The testimony of specific presidents also increased scrutiny of presidents, with critics calling for their resignations. University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill later resigned.

Raze of StopAntisemitism said, "Their failure ... represents a systemic crisis in higher education, whereby Jews are targeted with impunity."

Harvard's Claudine Gay's academic work was resurfaced, and she now faces 40 charges of academic dishonesty - including plagiarism. Republican members of Congress expanded their investigation into Harvard to include these allegations, saying that its refusal to take action against President Gay "cheapens its mission and the value of its education."