During Hanukkah last December, two antisemetic incidents occurred over the holiday season, reports Campus Reform. Windows were broken on of the Chabad Center near the Michigan State University campus, and the Michigan police say that the same individual who committed the crime returned two days later to spray paint Nazi swastikas on the entrance doors.
“Jews deserve to celebrate our holidays safely. We stand with the MSU Jewish community,” reads an Instagram post from Jewish on Campus.
While administrators condemned the attack, Kirby Calhoun, on campus director of Christians United for Israel, says that it is not enough.
"The issue is not just condemning it. What the university should be doing is openly standing with its Jewish students — not just condemning the hate against them but openly putting them in a position where they are safe and that their voices can be heard,” states Calhoun. “And that does not seem to be something that's happening there."
Calhoun advises on what Christians should do when antisemites strike out against Jews or Jewish property.
"If you see something like this and you're a Christian student, just go up to your Jewish peers and just tell them you're praying for them. Tell them that you recognize what happened is wrong, and that you're one of the Christians, you're one of the students here in America, that says you have a right to be here," says Calhoun.
As the investigation is underway in Michigan, Jewish students have settled with their New York City school after alleging that it failed to protect them when they were locked behind closed doors during a hostile pro-Palestinian protest.
According to the College Fix, a group of students in October of 2023 locked themselves into The Cooper Union's student library fearing for their safety because of antisemites. Jewish students claimed that the university was in violation of federal civil rights law Title VI, which prohibits discrimination, leading to a “hostile educational environment.”
While the school did not admit to wrong doing, they paid an undisclosed amount to the students who brought up the lawsuit. A new Title VI position was also added, which, among other things, will "prohibit the wearing of masks to conceal identities at demonstrations.” College President Steven McLaughlin stated the school is dedicated to confronting discrimination of any kind, including antisemitism.
Marie Fischer, director of social media of Herut North America, thinks that, ultimately, the experience has had a positive outcome.
"Because here you are, you're on a college campus. The administration should be the authority, and they've basically turn their back on you. At least you finally have a government or an administration that is saying, ‘hey, we're going to help make a difference’," says Fischer.
According to the New York Times, police on the scene believed the protesters did not pose a threat, something Fischer staunchly disagrees with.
“This was a physical action. They were barricaded in, people were pounding on the doors, and they tried to force their way inside. That's scary,” states Fischer. “I still can't believe they didn't think that was a physical threat."
