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In addition to threatening the lives of Cornell’s 3,500 Jewish students, who are 22 percent of the school’s student population, the posts called for an attack on a campus kosher dining hall.
By Dion J. Pierre, Algemeiner
The possibility of antisemitic violence at Cornell University loomed over campus this weekend after several posts calling for murdering Jews and raping Jewish women emerged on a popular social media forum.
“The genocidal fascist zionist [sic] regime will be destroyed,” said one of the posts. Another said, “if I see a pig male jew i will stab you and slit your throat. if i see another pig female jew i will drag you away and rape you and throw you off a cliff. if i see another pig baby jew i will behead you in front of your parents [sic].”
In addition to threatening the lives of Cornell’s 3,500 Jewish students, who are 22 percent of the school’s student population, the posts called for an attack on a campus kosher dining hall — named 104West — affiliated with the Steven K. And Winifred A. Grinspoon Hillel Center.
“Gonna shoot up 104 west,” the post said. “Allahu akbar! from the river to the sea, palestine will be free! glory to hamas! liberation by any means necessary!”
As a result of the incident, Hillel officials told Jewish students to avoid the building “out of an abundance of caution.”
On Sunday, Cornell University president Martha Pollack said in a statement that the FBI and local police are investigating the incident.
“We will not tolerate antisemitism at Cornell,” Pollack wrote. “The virulence and destructiveness of antisemitism is real and deeply impacting our Jewish students, faculty and staff, as well as the entire Cornell community. This incident highlights the need to combat the forces that are dividing us and driving us toward hate. This cannot be what defines us at Cornell.”
The incident comes amid a dangerous moment for Jewish students on college campuses, a time rife with unprecedented levels of antisemitic activity and extremist support for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which controls Gaza and on Oct. 7 invaded Israel, massacred over 1,400 people, mostly civilians, injured thousands more, and kidnapped over 200 hostages.
Cornell University is not the only school to see a sudden spike in antisemitic activity. Before the events of Oct. 7, two antisemitic incidents occurred at the University of Pennsylvania, one involving antisemitic graffiti and another in which a young man entered the school’s Hillel building and vandalized it — overturning tables, podium stands, and chairs — while screaming “F—k the Jews!” and “Jesus Christ is king!” Most recently, a swastika was graffitied on a property next door to the house of Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi), a predominantly Jewish fraternity.
Cornell has also seen extreme rhetoric uttered by its faculty. Earlier this month, history professor Russell Rickford called the Hamas terror group’s invasion of Israel “exhilarating” and “energizing” at a pro-Palestinian rally. He has since taken a leave of absence for the remainder of the semester.
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