(NationalUSNews.com) — Founded in 1865, Cornell University is a privately endowed research university, whose current mission statement claims it embodies a “revolutionary spirit.” It is also one of many colleges that have seen a rise in pro-Palestine and anti-Israel protests.
On April 30, school officials announced there would be more suspensions related to the ongoing campus protests, which have included an activist occupation encampment. The university has been struggling to support their student’s right to protest, while maintaining a functional campus.
Cornell professor William Jacobson has gone public with his belief that the Cornell protests, and others happening around the country, are not the peaceful protests that many say they are. He pointed out that the protestors use the term “intifada,” which loosely translated means uprising or rebellion. In the past, intifadas have included the use of suicide bombers and terrorist attacks and have led to the deaths of thousands. Jacobson believes the student protesters use the word to signal support for total destruction of Israel.
White House assistant press secretary, Andrew Bates, has stated that President Joe Biden condemns the use of the word intifada as dangerous hate speech. He added that while the Biden administration supports peaceful protest, forcibly taking over buildings does not qualify as peaceful or lawful free speech. The protests have become more violent and prevalent since the October attack on Israel by the terrorist Palestinian group Hamas, but Jacobson says the problem was already there before that. He refers to it as a “death cult ideology.”
More and more, the anti-Israel sentiments of the protestors seem to be growing into a vicious antisemitic hatred of all Jewish people. Jacobson says people need to realize this is not a peace movement. Jewish students have already been targeted for harassment at several American universities, including several violent incidents. Columbia University even told their Jewish students to stay away from campus and take their classes online. Jacobson joins many people in condemning Cornell, Columbia, and many other universities that are even now failing to protect their own students against rising hate and violence on their campuses.
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