(The Center Square) – Antisemitism is flourishing on the world stage and on U.S. college campuses as the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack against Israel approaches its one-year anniversary.
In New York, at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, several world leaders used the opportunity to attack Israel, including claiming it represents Nazism.
Turkey’s president, among other things, called for an alliance to defeat Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying, “Just as Hitler was stopped by an alliance of humanity seventy years ago, Netanyahu and his murder network must be stopped by an alliance of humanity.”
Guyana’s president said Israel’s claim of the “right of self-defense is being used as a weapon of mass extermination, stoking legitimate fears of genocide.” The Emir of Qatar and Palestinian and Iranian presidents said Israel was committing genocide.
Namimbia’s president and a Bolivian minister both referred to Israel as an occupier “committing genocide.” South Africa’s president said Israel had committed apartheid “for more than half a century.”
Netanyahu said that “Israel seeks peace. … Yet we face savage enemies who seek our annihilation, and we must defend ourselves against them.”
Months before the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu was invited to speak before the U.S. Congress and neither President Joe Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris met with him or attended his speech.
In response, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has long been a defender of Israel, said, “Kamala Harris’ refusal to greet Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at the tarmac is reprehensible. Her plan to boycott his joint address to Congress is shameful. It’s clear that Harris sides with the woke antisemitic members of her party. Texas will always stand with Israel.”
He also said, “In her first official decision as a presidential candidate, and as the current vice president, Kamala Harris aligns herself with backers of the Hamas terrorists and against our historic ally Israel. Kamala cannot be trusted with American foreign policy.”
Abbott has advanced protections for Jewish people in Texas and launched several efforts to combat antisemitism. After some protesters were arrested on the University of Texas-Austin campus, he said, “These protesters belong in jail. Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas. Period. Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled.” Islamic groups sued in response.
On Tuesday, Abbott called on Texas’ print and online publications to publish the names of seven American hostages still being held by the terrorist organization Hamas.
They are Edan Alexander, Itay Chen, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Gadi Haggai, Judith Weinstein Haggai, Omer Neutra and Keith Siegel.
After Oct. 7, antisemitism and violence initially escalated against Jews in America – by nearly 400%, The Center Square reported.
According to a new analysis by the Antisemitism Research Center, nearly 80% of antisemitic incidents being reported are coming from the “far left.”
Violence increased on college campuses with leaders failing to stop it, according to the Anti-Defamation League. After congressional investigations, student, alumni and donor outrage, the presidents of Columbia, University of Pennsylvania and Harvard were forced to resign. More recently, three Columbia deans’ disparaging text messages about Jews and money were made public, prompting another congressional investigation.
A new poll conducted by Alums for Campus Fairness shows antisemitism hasn’t subsided but increased in frequency and severity. A majority of Jewish students say they don’t feel safe on U.S. college campuses, The Center Square reported.
President Joe Biden and Harris have called for a two-state solution. Attempts for a cease-fire have failed. After Iran’s missile attack on Israel on Tuesday, Biden said, “The attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective … make no mistake the United States is fully fully, fully supportive of Israel,” according to a pool report by the Los Angeles Times.
Benji Gershon, founder of the Dallas-based American Jewish Conservatives group, disagrees, arguing “the Biden-Harris administration enabled this to happen” by sending billions of dollars “into Iran’s hands to wage terror on Israel,” he told The Center Square.
If President Donald Trump were in office, “none of this would have happened,” he said, referring to the Oct. 7 attack, Hezbollah launching over 1,000 rockets at Israel and Iran’s missile attack.
Abbott, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and others will be speaking at the group’s “A Texas Tribute” summit honoring Israel and commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack.
“What happened on October 7th in Israel should have been a wake-up call for this country,” he said, as Biden recently extended a national emergency related to terrorism.
