Anti-Israel protesters vandalized Cornell University on Monday, breaking windows in several buildings, and writing graffiti such as “Blood is on your hands” and “Israel bombs, Cornell pays,” in many places.
The protesters claimed the vandalism was a justifiable response to Cornell’s “fascist” and “classist” behavior. “We had to accept that the only way to make ourselves heard is by targeting the only thing the university administration truly cares about: property,” the protesters told the Cornell Daily Sun. “With the start of this new academic year, the Cornell administration is trying desperately to upkeep a facade of normalcy knowing that, since last semester, they have been working tirelessly to uphold Cornell’s function as a fascist, classist, imperial machine.”
William A. Jacobson, a clinical law professor at Cornell, said the vandalism may have occurred because of the university’s weak responses to past violations of campus rules by anti-Israel protesters. “Given the weak response at Cornell last academic year to intimidation tactics by anti-Israel activists, it is no surprise that they have upped the aggressiveness by opening the semester with vandalism and destruction of property….Cornell has refused to come to grips with a toxic situation of its own making – the racialization of the campus under a DEI initiative post George Floyd, which has balkanized students into identity groups, with Jewish students and Israel being falsely portrayed as white colonizers. In such an atmosphere, aggressive protests ‘by any means necessary’ have flourished with only tepid administrative concern for the vast majority of students who simply want to get an education.”
Earlier, Cornell’s president Martha Pollack resigned, after downplaying antisemitism on campus to a Congressional committee, which brought Cornell lots of bad press.
One student captured more than 750 antisemitic online posts written by Columbia students and organizations.” “Students reported being told ‘Kill your fucking self. And I’ll fucking kill you.’”
“One Israeli student reported that when she went to health services in July, no one came in to see her, and she overheard a discussion between two healthcare professionals in another room in which one said they would not treat her because she was Israeli.”
As the New York Post notes,
Pollack’s sudden departure almost certainly resulted from the post-Oct. 7 crisis on Cornell’s campus, which earned the school terrible press, the loss of donations and congressional scrutiny.
Immediately after the Hamas massacre, the campus exploded with support for terrorism under the banner of “decolonization.”
A student threatened to shoot and slit the throats of Jewish students; he’s now awaiting sentencing.
A professor declared that he felt “exhilarated” upon hearing of the Hamas attack. That prompted the crowd to break into genocidal chants of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
This embrace of violence has been repeated throughout the months since, with students at the Cornell tent encampment chanting, “There is only one solution, Intifada revolution!”
Multiple students testified before House committees as to the toxic atmosphere.
