Ever since Palestinian Islamic terrorist group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel and in turn Israel declared war against Hamas, Jewish students in various countries have been at the receiving end of hate and violence.
In the United Kingdom, four Jewish schools have been closed in North London to protect Jewish children from possible retaliatory attacks amidst the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine. On Thursday evening, Torah Vodaas Primary School in Edgware, Ateres Beis Yaakov Primary School in Colindale, and Menorah High School in Neasden informed parents that they would be closed until Monday.
Over the last four days, CST, a UK Jewish charity, reported a 324% rise in instances of antisemitism. According to CST, this includes six attacks, 14 direct threats, three acts of vandalism, and 66 incidents of abusive behaviour. Overall around 89 antisemitic incidents have come to light.
“A Jewish person walking to synagogue in London on Sunday morning got called “dirty Jew” by a stranger, who said “no wonder you’re all getting raped”. A Jewish person was on Oxford Street in London and the occupant of a passing van shouted “you f**king Jew I will kill you whole”. Graffiti reading “From the River to the Sea Palestine will be Free” was daubed on the former home of a Rabbi in Nottingham. A group of children in a school cornered a Jewish pupil, said they were “Jewphobic” and blamed him for the killings of Palestinians,” CST reported.
A Jewish man told Sky News that his children’s school had asked him to change their uniform “so they are not signalling in any way they are Jewish.”
“And in 2023 for my kids to go to school and it will not be okay for them to wear the uniform, a kippah (Jewish skullcap), star of David on their blazers, to have to hide their identity in 2023, it’s very scary,” he continued.
Every day, at least three police officers stood outside their children’s school, according to their mother.
Rabbi Chaim Pinter, the principal of Yesodey Hatorah, said that while additional measures including extra patrolling and providing counselling have been taken, students are avoiding public transport to save themselves from an attack from those hostile towards the Jews.
Taking to X, renowned author J.K. Rowling shared a newspaper cutting which mentioned that the Jewish students have been advised to cover their traditional skullcaps with baseball caps as she wrote, “We said ‘never again.’ The UK was a safe haven. Now, after the biggest massacre of Jews since the holocaust, British Jewish children are being advised to hide their identities as they walk to school, for their own safety. There should be mass outrage that this is necessary.”
Jews face attacks, verbal abuses and threats in France
Since Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel on 7th October, the French government has reported 24 arrests for more than 100 antisemitic crimes in France, including verbal abuse, people captured with knives near Jewish schools and synagogues, and a drone fitted with a camera discovered over a Jewish cultural centre. An online watchdog has received almost 2,000 reports of antisemitic speech.
The French Education Minister Gabriel Attal who recently visited a Jewish school near Paris said that Jewish students had faced “problems” in their schools, including a student in the wider Paris region who had been attacked by fellow students who ripped his t-shirt.”
Hateful sloganeering against Jews in a pro-Palestine rally in Australia
On Monday (9th October), a pro-Palestinian rally was held in Sydney where the Palestinian supporters raised “f&k the Jews” and “f*&k Israel”, “F*&k Albanese”, and “Allah Hu Akbar” slogans. The Hamas supporters also raised “Gas the Jews” slogans in a vile reference to the holocaust wherein at least six million Jews were brutally mass murdered by Hitler in Nazi Germany and the neighbouring countries it occupied in Europe. The mob hurled black Al-Qaeda flags as they chanted these hateful slogans. This sparked huge outrage in the country and on social media, which prompted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to condemn the hatred spread against the Jewish community. Later, three people were arrested for the hateful sloganeering against Jews.
Australian radio presenter Ben Fordham reported on Thursday (12th October) that anti-Israel material was being handed out at Australian universities with the staff working there also joining them, which has raised concerns among Jewish students studying there.
Meanwhile, the organisers of a pro-Palestinian march in Sydney this weekend alleged that the NSW Police is considering using “draconian” powers however, it will not prevent them from having a peaceful gathering.
Acting Commissioner David Hudson previously stated that NSW Police was considering using “extraordinary” powers to search and identify protesters ahead of the demonstration. He went on to say that if the “extraordinary” powers are granted, police will be able to search protestors without reasonable cause and demand identification, and failing to present essential documents will be considered an offence.
Hudson added that a decision on whether there is sufficient grounds to authorise the powers outlined in the Law Enforcement Act will be taken by Saturday.
Jews face attacks and harassment in the USA
Jewish students in various prominent universities in the United States have been targeted by Palestine and Hamas supporters. On Wednesday, a 24-year-old Israeli student at Columbia University was assaulted by a 19-year-old girl outside the varsity’s Butler Library. The victim suffered minor injuries, including a hand laceration. He attends Columbia University’s School of General Studies.
According to the Columbia Daily Spectator, the university’s student newspaper, the victim claimed he tried to stop a 19-year-old girl from taking down leaflets with the names and photographs of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas terrorists. The victim man got into a furious argument with the woman on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. The altercation escalated, and the accused hit the 24-year-old guy with a wooden stick.
A pro-Palestine rally was held at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where a large crowd had congregated where protesting students were raising “Free Palestine” and “Intifada, Intifada” – a call to murder Israelis and Jews slogans.
At the Cherry Hill High School in New Jersey, pro-Palestine students clashed with Jewish students and allegedly harassed them over the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Apart from the attacks on Jewish students, a synagogue in Salt Lake City, Utah, was forced to evacuate after receiving a bomb threat. The police in the state are looking into threats made against a number of synagogues. A Nazi Hakencruez was spray-painted on the side of a truck in St. Louis, Missouri, apparently mocking the Jews. The incident is reportedly being investigated by police as an act of antisemitic vandalism.
Israel Hamas war
An unforeseen attack on Israel by Hamas dubbed ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Storm’ that combined gunmen violating security barriers with a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza was carried out at dawn on 7th October during the Jewish high holiday of Simchat Torah, killing at least 1,300 people, including children and the elderly, and injuring over 2000 others.
In one of the worst attacks in history, the terrorists also assaulted women and abducted hundreds. In response, Israel launched ‘Operation Iron Swords’ and used Article 40 for the first time since the Yom Kippur War in 1973, effectively declaring war.
Apart from striking Hamas targets, Israel has also cut power and water supply to Gaza, as well as preventing supplies from entering the landlocked coastal strip. It is worth noting that Hamas has declared Friday, 13th October, as the day for global Jihad and has incited antisemitic sentiments around the world.