It is barely the start of the academic year, and the anti-Jewish protests on college campuses, complete with protesters hiding their faces behind masks, have already begun.
The grassroots civil rights movement #EndJewHatred organized a rally outside of Columbia University on August 27 calling on Columbia, and all American universities, to ban people from protesting with masks hiding their identities.
Michelle Ahdoot, director of programming and strategy at #EndJewHatred, opened the rally by reflecting on the havoc which transpired on college campuses this past academic year, and promising to try and ensure that the current year is not “another spiraling, out-of-control disaster.”
“It’s not safe for our children. There’s no value for civil rights when we see these horrific lawless encampments, this pro-Hamas crowd, wreaking havoc, having Jewish students scared to walk across the quad to go from their dorm to classes.”
#EndJewHatred Campus Fellow Maya Cukierman, a freshman at Columbia, stated: “These masked individuals hide their faces, but their message is clear. They want to make us feel unsafe, afraid, and targeted, simply because of our Jewish identity. It’s not the protests themselves that are the issue, it’s the culture of fear they create on campus.
“When people can hide behind masks, they feel emboldened to spread hate and division without any accountability. And we, the Jewish students of Columbia, are the ones who bear these consequences. We walk through campus with a sense of unease knowing that these people who could harm us can do so anonymously without fear of repercussions.”
Mazi Pilip, a Nassau County legislator who was instrumental in the passing of the Nassau County Mask Transparency Act, signed into law on August 14, talked about the history of New York’s mask ban, explaining that it was in place for 175 years to protect people, especially minorities, from masked terrorizers such as the KKK, until it was repealed during the height of COVID.
Speaking to The Link, Pilip elaborated that “because of the new reality of having COVID in our life we made sure that the Mask Transparency Act has an exemption for people who are going to use masks for health purposes. But anybody else who thinks they can hide their faces, harass, intimidate and hurt people—that stopped in Nassau County … and I want Governor Hochul and all the universities to adopt [the same thing].”
Jewish activist Lizzy Savetsky echoed the sentiment that hateful people become emboldened when they are able to hide their identities: “If you’re going to show your hate, you need to show your face. Because if your face is covered, you are much more likely to spew venom in a way that you wouldn’t if your identity was exposed.”
Shabbos Kestenbaum, a recent Harvard University graduate who is suing his alma mater for failure to combat antisemitism, stated: “Whether it is the streets of L.A., the subways of New York or on our college campuses, we as a country are facing a crisis of accountability. Too many are emboldened. Too many know that the law does not apply to them. And whether it’s our policy makers in D.C., whether it’s our university presidents up the road, we are here to say that the Jewish people and Jewish students are not going anywhere.”
Ari Ackerman, an entrepreneur and philanthropist who champions many Jewish organizations and causes, emphasized the importance of protecting Jewish students on campus: “Jewish students … did not ask to be on the front lines of this war against Jewish hatred,” but unfortunately, they are.
Ackerman exclaimed, “Anybody that has any platform, and you all do, no matter the size, [must] do all you can to speak up on behalf of Jewish students around the country right now.”
The rally closed with a passionate plea from Shai Davidai, assistant professor at Columbia Business School, who has been extremely outspoken concerning the university’s failure to combat antisemitism. “Over the past 10 months, I’ve been to dozens of rallies, marches, protests, speaking events, and I have never—not even once—covered my face,” he said.
“Only people that are ashamed of what they are saying, are ashamed of what they are doing, are the people that cover their faces. The KKK covers their faces. ISIS covers their faces. Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists, Yahya Sinwar, covers his face. In Columbia, students and faculty cover their faces. Not us.
“We are here today with a reasonable, common-sense demand, and the demand is one word: consequences. We demand consequences for hate, for violence. … You want to be hateful, that’s your freedom of speech. But show us who you are so we can deal with who you are.”
Ahdoot noted that #EndJewHatred has assembled a petition which will be sent to over 500 campus administrators nationwide, urging the adoption and enforcement of policies to unmask on campus.
As Savetsky stated: “We need to umask the hate. It’s time.”
For more on #EndJewHatred, follow it on instagram @endjewhatred.
Judith Falk is the creator of the Upper West Side Shtetl Facebook Group. You can follow her on instagram @upperwestsideshtetl. She is a lawyer by day and a former legal reporter.
