What part of “Never again” do they not understand?
For decades, the two words have been used as a declaration that nothing like the Holocaust of the 1930s and ’40s would ever again be visited upon the world’s Jews.
Never. Again.
That’s why Israel was reconvened.
“Never again” was once a common phrase on the campuses of leftist universities with large numbers of Jewish students and faculty.
Not anymore.
America’s elite universities are being torn apart by pro-Palestinian activists — foreign and domestic — launching vicious demonstrations against Israel’s defense of itself following the Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7.
And, no surprise here, the vitriol is not limited to Israel — it is targeting Jews. Some receive abuse just walking down the street.
One woman, a Columbia graduate student wearing an Israeli flag, said she was hit with anti-Semitic hostility upon exiting a New York City subway, according to National Review.
“I can tell you in the past 30 seconds that I got off the train I was called a ‘Zionist b****,’” she said. “I’ve been called a ‘genocidal b****.’
“I’ve been called 30 other forms of ‘genocidal b****’ within the last 30 seconds just walking over to the street. And that’s very typical of an experience for a Jewish student on this campus today.”
The woman told of a fellow student spit upon “just because she looks Jewish.”
We’ve seen this before. Not just in Germany, but for centuries, almost as long as there have been Hebrews on God’s Earth.
Now New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has chimed in on the campus rallies against Israel. So has a fellow Democrat, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman.
Since Ocasio-Cortez always seems to be on the wrong side of history, she, of course, favors the pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Fetterman, who continues to surprise despite his party affiliation, is opposed.
AOC celebrated the anti-Israel protests while speaking Monday at an Earth Day event in Virginia with President Joe Biden.
“It is especially important that we remember the power of young people shaping this country today of all days, as we once again witness the leadership of those peaceful student-led protests on campuses like Columbia, Yale, Berkeley and many others,” she said.
The leftist congresswoman has at least one fan in a powerful place.
“Representative Ocasio-Cortez of New York — you know, I learned a long time ago: Listen to that lady. Listen to that lady,” Biden said.
Biden recognizes AOC: “You know, I learned a long time ago listening to that lady, listening to that lady — we’re gonna talk more about another part of the world, too, real quickly” pic.twitter.com/advDYpAtdO
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 22, 2024
In the wake of Ocasio-Cortez’s comments, the ugliness intensified at Columbia and spread south to the campus of New York University, where demonstrators clashed with police.
#BREAKING massive police presence begins MAKING ARRESTS as NYU protesters continue to defy NYPD orders to disperse as they join Columbia University by setting up ‘Liberated Zone’ occupation on NYU campus.
Video by @yyeeaahhhboiii2 [email protected] to license pic.twitter.com/mJXtT8XUst
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) April 23, 2024
As things continued to escalate, Columbia announced Monday night that classes would be hybrid through the end of the spring semester.
“Safety is our highest priority,” the university said in a memo to students and faculty — seemingly acknowledging how unsafe Jewish students have been feeling.
While AOC celebrated the supposedly “peaceful protests,” Fetterman had a different view.
“These protests are antisemitic, unconscionable, and dangerous,” the senator said in a Sunday post on X.
He called upon Columbia President Minouche Shafik to “do your job or resign.”
I fully agree with the White House—these “protests” are antisemitic, unconscionable, and dangerous.
Add some tiki torches and it’s Charlottesville for these Jewish students.
To @Columbia President Minouche Shafik: do your job or resign so Columbia can find someone who will. pic.twitter.com/azqfpWE5fx
— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) April 22, 2024
As Shafik testified before Congress last week, protesters were on campus chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and accusing Columbia of supporting genocide, according to National Review.
Before the House Workforce and Education Committee, the university president said she had not witnessed any “anti-Jewish” demonstrations on campus.
Rather, Shafik allied herself with Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ocasio-Cortez’s close political ally and fellow “squad” member, who said the campus demonstrations are focused only on the issues of pro-war and anti-war.
President of @Columbia Univ., Minouche Shafik, tells @IlhanMN that she hasn’t seen any anti-Jewish protests at her school pic.twitter.com/CwaoIlhV5K
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) April 17, 2024
So far, I’ve heard no one in the current turmoil voice the words “Never again.”