Georgia Jewish Lawmaker Receives Antisemitic Letter

Esther Panitch - Jewish Representative from District 51

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into an antisemitic letter sent to Georgia’s only Jewish lawmaker.

The investigation is happening on the same day Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill making antisemitism part of the state’s hate crime law.

Marietta Republican lawmaker John Carson authored the original bill and has worked for almost three years to get it passed.

He was shocked to learn of the hate-filled letter to Panitch.

“Absurd,” Carson said. “I just feel for Esther and her community. That’s why we fought for this bill in the first place,” Carson said.

The bill passed the General Assembly with mostly bi-partisan support.

Kemp said he was honored to sign it into law, a law that goes into effect immediately.

“There is no place for hate in this great state,” Kemp said.

The law defines antisemitism in Georgia code, so if investigators determine one of a list of crimes was motivated by antisemitism, prosecutors can prosecute under Georgia’s hate crime law.

Jewish Safe Housing at California University Vandalized With Pro-Palestine Message

Between the night of November 9th and the morning of November 10th, a Jewish student’s residence in University safe housing was vandalized with graffiti reading “FREE PALESTINE.” The student, kept anonymous for fear of retribution, spoke with the Review. The student was moved to the University’s designated safe housing after they reported feeling unsafe in their dorm. Their new housing location was kept hidden, and the student did not share the location of their new residence.

After the vandalism, the student reported the incident to the police and Stanford’s administration, but the incident was not publicized to the wider Stanford community. The Jeanne Clery Act “requires institutions to issue Timely Warnings to the campus community about specified crimes (the Clery-reportable crimes) that occur on Clery geography, when these crimes are considered to pose a serious or ongoing threat to students and employees,” yet no campus-wide notification was issued.

The Stanford Daily reported the incident in its weekly Police Blotter post. However, there was no mention or description of the vandalism in the Daily, and no campuswide alert was sent out. 

Stanford has previously alerted the community about alleged hate crimes through the AlertSU system, including through the university’s new Protected Identity Harm Reporting process. As of this article’s publication, no post has been made on the Protected Identity Harm Reporting database regarding the incident.

The vandalism is unlikely to have been random. There are hundreds of buildings on Stanford’s campus and dozens of student dormitories, and this student safe housing, in particular, was unadvertised. Any inquiry as to why this building was vandalized would likely lead to the near-certain conclusion that the act was targeted against its Jewish resident.

Though it is not antisemitic to simply state “Free Palestine,” the targeting of a Jewish student’s residence through vandalism with the phrase is clearly an antisemitic act that should not be tolerated on campus. It is free speech to shout “Free Palestine” at a protest; it is not free speech to vandalize a Jewish student’s dormitory with the phrase.

Stanford’s Protected Identity Harm Reporting system has made mountains out of molehills many times before: Tipsy students jokingly posing with Mein Kampf and dilapidated tire swings construed as nooses, to name just a few examples, have warranted either identity-specific or campuswide emails and notifications. It is disheartening to see that Stanford fails to respond when met with real identity-based hate.

This latest incident is yet another example of the double standard unveiled since October 7th—that is, the promotion of crony safetyism except for when Jewish students are in harm's way. Although universities have said that language can be violent, ballooned their DEI bureaucracies, and pushed for the silencing of professors who violate the social justice social contract, they turn silent when Jewish students are actually discriminated against.

Take the case of Ameer Loggins, a lecturer in the first-year COLLEGE program who was suspended after he separated Jewish and Israeli students and referred to them as “colonizers.” Though he was suspended, a large swath of students has rallied around him, arguing that because Jewish students felt Loggins should be suspended, he was smeared as an antisemite. A petition demanding his reinstatement has garnered 1,700 signatures. Or take the case of just last week, when protestors outside of a forum addressing campus antisemitism told Jewish students to “go back to Brooklyn,” and chanted “resistance is justified”—implicitly justifying the brutal pogrom of October 7th that killed 1,200 Israelis. 

Though Stanford should not use the very real issue of antisemitism to justify safetyism, the University's treatment of this vandalism incident exposes the mental gymnastics of Stanford’s DEI bureaucracy. It consistently cries out for safe spaces and speech restrictions, yet it sweeps real instances of hate under the rug. 

Virginia High School Teacher Defends Hamas to Students

A Virginia high school teacher went on a 12-minute rant saying the United States is funding a “genocide” in Gaza while attempting to convince children to become activists for the cause, according to an audio recording obtained by the Washington Examiner.

Catherine Massalha, a history teacher at Deep Run High School in Henrico County, Virginia, just outside Richmond, claimed the warfighting in the region is a “holocaust” against Palestinians, calling Israel an “occupying” regime and members of the terrorist group Hamas “resistance fighters.”

“It is a resistance to the occupation,” Massalha said, according to the recording.

In the audio, recorded by a student in a freshman history class, the teacher can be heard accusing Israel of committing war crimes. The student’s father sent the audio to the education advocacy organization Defense of Freedom Institute.

“There’s only one [unintelligible] hospital still standing right now. The rest have been destroyed. Did you know that destroying hospitals in war is called a war crime? Killing innocent civilians is a war crime,” Massalha said in the December talk. “This is not even a war because Gaza has no army. Gaza does not have aircraft, they do not have navies, they do not have any of that. They don’t have tanks — any weapons they have, they literally got from Israel. It’s really important to understand that. This isn’t a war. It didn’t start on Oct. 7. It started before.”

“But what’s happening right now, we started funding. After Oct. 7, our government gave even more money to Israel, and weapons, to attack Gaza,” she continued. “So, your taxpayer money is going to attack Gaza right now. It’s going to destroy those hospitals.”

The recording comes as school districts across the country grapple with a yearslong reckoning over the left-leaning themes they teach in the classroom. Since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attack on civilians in Israel, a growing disdain for the Jewish state, and in some cases a rise in antisemitism, has stirred controversy on college campuses.

Massalha, who said her family is Palestinian, said it was her duty to tell the students about the conflict because of her view of Henrico County Public Schools’s status as a “system of equity,” one that should use “culturally responsive education” and “anti-racist” practices. Those terms are often used by activists to refer to the ideology behind critical race theory.

The school district downplayed concerns about Massalha’s speech in a comment to the Washington Examiner, characterizing the teacher’s overt call to action as simply normal classroom discussion.

“Current events are often used as real-world learning opportunities for students, especially in history and civics classes. Age-appropriate discussions generally include ties to previous learning and opportunities for students to consider personal — and differing — perspectives on local, national, and global issues,”the school district said. “At all times, students and teachers are encouraged to be respectful and tolerant of varying viewpoints.”

In a conversation with the father of the student, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution from the school and surrounding community, the Washington Examiner was told that the student knew to start recording because Massalha frequently attempts to push her ideology on the students in her classes and that this has been going on for several years.

The father went on to say that the school and school district, which are consistently ranked highly for academics both in Virginia and nationally, are both left-wing and that he knew he could not bring the issue to the principal of Deep Run or any member of the school board because they would “bury it.”

“They’re not going to do a doggone thing about this. They don’t care how antisemitic she is,” he said. “This woman is calling this terrorist organization a humanitarian effort, and she’s a sympathizer.”

“She’s doing this job because it’s a way of indoctrinating these children,” the father claimed, explaining that this kind of discussion is what fuels antisemitic sentiment on college campuses once students reach that stage in their education. “This is just one example of an extreme case of teacher who’s just gone completely rogue. I don’t want you to teach my kids your opinion. I want you to teach them history.”

In the recording, Massalha can be heard making emotional pleas, seemingly on the verge of tears, and telling the children they will not have to feel guilty in the future if they act now.

“This is a holocaust. It’s happening to Gazan people. And you need to think about what are you going to do because your government is doing the wrong stuff. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to stand by and say, ‘It’s not my problem. I can’t. I can’t do anything’? I’m going to tell you: You can do something,” she said. “Kids do things. You can send letters to your congressman. All you’ve got to do is look it up: ‘How do I contact my congressman?’ ‘Ceasefire now’: Look it up. It’ll tell you to sign this petition, go on a march, tell people, make people aware, just educate yourself and others.”

A Defense of Freedom Institute spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that Massalha “took advantage of having a captive audience to spread antisemitic hate,” criticizing the school system and saying the Department of Education may need to get involved.

“Schools have not just a moral obligation, but also a legal one, to protect their students from anti-Semitic discrimination, and when schools fall down on this responsibility, the U.S. Department of Education needs to investigate,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “If this student and parent had not both stepped up to call out wrongdoing, very few people would ever know it had happened.”

While the school did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner, Massalha defended her speech, saying, “I have never had a pro-Hamas discussion in or out of my classroom, and there is nothing pro-Hamas in the transcript of the recording you sent in the email.”

“The discussion was on my concerns about what was happening to the Palestinian people,” she continued. “My concerns about the ethnic [cleansings] and forced displacement of thousands of innocent people is valid. If this discussion was about the people of Ukraine and advocating for their safety and right to exist, would you have been concerned or have written this email or article? I think not.”

Explosive Found Near Israeli Embassy In Sweden

An object believed to be an explosive device was found inside the grounds of the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm on Wednesday and destroyed by the Swedish national bomb squad, in an incident labeled as “an attempted terror attack” by Israel’s ambassador.

Embassy staff had notified police of the object, triggering a large response from law enforcement, police said.

The device was later detonated in a controlled manner, a police spokesperson told the broadcaster TV4.

Police declined to give any detail on the nature of the object, or of how it had got into the embassy grounds.

The daily Aftonbladet reported, citing unnamed sources, that the object was believed to be a hand grenade that was thrown over the embassy fence, landing close to the building.

The embassy building was cordoned off at a distance of about 100 meters (yards).

Israel’s Ambassador to Sweden Ziv Nevo Kulman said in a statement that the embassy was “subjected to an attempted terror attack.”

“We thank the authorities for their swift response. We will not be intimidated by terror,” he added.

Israelis around the globe have been cautioned to be on alert since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, which has fueled intensified anti-Israel sentiment in parts of the world.

In December, an explosion occurred near the Israeli embassy in New Delhi, causing no injuries. Indian news networks said that a letter addressed to the Israeli ambassador, Naor Gilon, had been found close to the scene of the explosion.

Reports said the typed and “abusive” letter addressed to Gilon had been signed by “Sir Allah Resistance,” mentioned Israel’s military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and included the word “revenge.”

Earlier this month, intelligence agencies said Hamas runs a network of operatives in Europe commanded by terror leaders in Lebanon working to launch attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets abroad.

Several of the group’s Lebanon-based commanders, including Saleh al-Arouri and Khalil Harraz, were killed in airstrikes earlier this month attributed to Israel, as Jerusalem pursues Hamas in Gaza and beyond.

Hamas cells in Denmark, Germany, and Holland were arrested in December on suspicion of plotting to attack Jewish targets in Europe.

Jamaal Bowman Loses Endorsement from Jewish Organization Over Antisemitism

J Street pulled its endorsement of New York Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman, citing his “framing and approach,” a sign of how alliances on the Jewish left are shifting after Hamas’ October 7 invasion of Israel.

Bowman was one of the earliest and most outspoken members of Congress to call for a ceasefire following Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7 and the outbreak of the ensuing war in Gaza. He has also described Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as “genocide.”

J Street, while critical of Israel’s wartime conduct, has not called for a ceasefire in the conflict. The liberal Israel lobby also adamantly rejects the use of “genocide” to describe Israel’s counterstrikes after October 7, and opposed South Africa’s bringing genocide charges against Israel in the International Court of Justice.

“We have been pleased to work with Congressman Bowman for over four years to promote a shared set of values and principles rooted in the pursuit of justice, equality and peace,” said J Street’s statement, which was issued on Friday. “The past few months have, however, highlighted significant differences between us in framing and approach.”

The announcement comes as Bowman faces a primary challenge in his district, which encompasses parts of Westchester County and a slice of the Bronx. His rival, George Latimer, the Westchester County executive, has earned the endorsement of the PAC run by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.

Bowman is seen as the most vulnerable member of the “Squad,” the group of outspoken progressive Democrats that is uniformly critical of Israel and its conduct of the war.

Latimer spoke Saturday night at the Westchester Jewish Council gala, where he received an enthusiastic reception. “You are not alone,” he said, a message that has resonated with liberal Jewish New Yorkers, some of whom have felt alienated by progressive criticism of Israel.

Bowman’s campaign did not reply to requests for comment.

The announcement is also significant as J Street is vying to act as the voice of mainstream Democrats on Israel, as opposed to its rivals to the right, including AIPAC and a more centrist pro-Israel PAC, Democratic Majority for Israel.

J Street, along with other Jewish Democrats, has for years accommodated and at times endorsed even the toughest criticism of Israel, including from Bowman. In its announcement on Friday, J Street pointed to Bowman’s support for a two-state solution, a signature issue for J Street. But since October 7, some Jewish progressives have felt rattled by the rhetoric they’ve heard on the left, including from those who have downplayed the October 7 attack or accused Israel of genocide.

In an interview, Jeremy Ben-Ami, the lobby’s president, said Bowman’s rhetoric was a step too far.

“When the rhetoric, the framing and the approach go too far, that’s where we are going to hold our line,” Ben-Ami said. “And that’s when we felt that Bowman crossed the line here.”

Ben-Ami cited the use of the term “genocide”, which Bowman has used multiple times in the months since the war began, as a breaking point. “The rhetoric around genocide, the singling out of Israel, and at times Jewish people, that happens in some of these events — that needs to be called out in real time,” he said.

Policy was previously J Street’s only red line; before this, it has withdrawn an endorsement just once, in 2018, when Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib made clear late in the election cycle that she favored a single, binational state in place of Israel.

Another Jewish group, the New York-based Jewish Vote, which is affiliated with Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, has endorsed Bowman. JFREJ has also called for a ceasefire and accused Israel of genocide.

Employee Union At Elite Canadian University Pressures Teachers to Be Anti-Israel

Union members at York University, the country’s third largest, have been instructed to condemn Israel, according to a training booklet distributed by the university’s employee union.

The union, CUPE 3093, says Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, is operating in the war with “unrestrained confidence to carry out genocidal violence… through the discursive levitation and material support of Western imperialist nations.”

The 15-page booklet, titled “A Toolkit on Teaching Palestine,” also calls Israel a “murderous colonial project,” and calls organizations such as Hillel a “Zionist cultural institution.” The booklet also seeks to educate professors how to approach anti-Israel discourse in class, giving an example: “Today, I open up our classroom to bring our attention on Gaza, to speak up and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian liberation movement, and contribute in ending Canada’s and York’s complicity with genocide and the settler-colonial occupation of Palestinian land and life.” It also gives the tells professors they will be supported by the organization if attacked for such discourse.

CUPE 3093 tells professors “We all have a moral, professional, and collective human imperative to speak, teach, and be in solidarity with Palestine.” More so, they offer resources in how to dispel “Israel’s pink/rainbow-washing, as well as other resources on identifying and combating the myths of Zionism.”

As if to conflate their entire existence with the Palestinian cause, the employee union even added the Palestinian flag into their logo. The university itself condemned the union, saying “York’s commitment to support and uphold academic freedom, and freedom of expression within the limits of the law, remains the same. It is true that there will be some courses and seminars where dialogue about events in the world can be relevant; it needs to happen in a respectful manner that allows for the expression of diverse perspectives in an inclusive learning environment. In this regard, the university informed the community that we do not find the ‘Toolkit on Teaching Palestine’, which calls on union members to divert their teaching from the curriculum, to be consistent with the university’s expectations as an employer, the needs of the students and the legitimate claims of the community.”

The union has a history of anti-Israel sentiment, saying shortly after the war started when Hamas terrorists killed over 1,200 Israelis and took hostage more than 240 during their invasion of southern Israel that it was Israel’s fault, and due to the “apartheid, genocide and violence on the part of [Israel.]”

More Swastikas Discovered at New York Middle School

Antisemitic graffiti was reportedly recently found in a Long Island middle school.

Three swastikas were reportedly found in a boy's bathroom at Weber Middle School in Port Washington last week and on Monday.

Port Washington Police said in a statement Tuesday, "An instance of graffiti was reported yesterday by Weber Middle school administration. It is being investigated by the School district as well as the PWPD."

The superintendent of Port Washington Union Free School District wrote in a letter to the community on Thursday, saying in part:

"I'm writing to inform you that this afternoon, a student in Weber Middle School reported to building staff that they had found a swastika symbol written on a student bathroom stall. The District immediately opened an investigation. Following the completion of that investigation, appropriate disciplinary action, if warranted, will be taken. It is of great concern to us that one of our students may be responsible for this type of deeply disturbing behavior."

Superintendent Michael J. Hynes went on to say the district has zero tolerance for any form of antisemitic behavior and the district is "committed to taking action to prevent such occurrences from happening in the future."

Adam Ruttner, a Port Washington parent and Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center board member, told CBS New York the news is upsetting.

"When there's a swastika in my own town, deeply affected by it, mortified. It's incredible to me that this is happening. I never imagined it would be happening here," he said.

Ruttner is also the grandson of four Holocaust survivors.

"The lessons of history teach us that the small isolated events can spread to something much more vile and sinister," he said.

The graffiti was one of the topics on the agenda at Tuesday night's school board meeting. Parents showed up looking for answers.

"I don't know what it's rooted in, and that's kind of my question. Is it just mischief? I'm at the point where I don't want to accept that," parent Orly Dotan said.

Bias incidents are on the rise. A recent FBI report states 10% of reported hate crimes in 2022 happened at schools and college campuses across the country.

Some at Tuesday's meeting believe more interaction with Holocaust survivors will have an impact.

"My dad was a Holocaust survivor, so I think that hearing from either survivors or their children would be important," Dotan said.

The Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center works closely with the district and is proposing curriculum. The school board says it's open to suggestions.

"I know that there's further conversations happening between our administrators and other providers of curricula for this topic," Port Washington School Board President Adam Smith said.

While video surveillance has helped narrow the investigation, the superintendent says custodians now make more frequent trips to conduct bathroom inspections, and they won't stop until they find the person responsible.

Sidewalk Near New York Synagogue Sullied with Nazi Symbol

A resident of West Brighton was walking to the local temple for her daughter’s Hebrew school on Sunday morning when she encountered a swastika inscribed into the sidewalk just feet from her destination.

The symbol was scratched into the sidewalk on Forest Avenue between Hart Boulevard and Oakwood Avenue, just half a block from Temple Israel Reform Congregation.

“Fortunately my daughter wasn’t with me at that moment, so she didn’t see it, I didn’t have to explain it to her,” the resident, who wishes to be anonymous, said. “But that doesn’t mean other kids haven’t seen it.”

Since Hamas launched a terror attack against Israel on Oct. 7,New York City has experienced a spike in hate crimes. One such investigated incident was the removal of an Israeli flag from a synagogue in Willowbrook. However, despite this tension, the West Brighton resident believes this symbol is unrelated to recent events.

“It looked like it had been there a long time and had previously been covered up with cement,” the resident said. “But maybe with the snow and the salt, that covering had come up. It’s not new, it’s old cement, and it’s an old symbol, but it’s now visible.”

Upon investigation on Tuesday, the Advance/SILive.com found the symbol remained visible on the scene.

According to NYC.gov, displaying a swastika is a criminal offense punishable by New York State law.

Jewish Organization's Billboard Criticizing Hamas Defaced in Kentucky

Three pink billboards with messages condemning antisemitism put up by JewBelong, a nonprofit organization that offers support for Jewish people and those in Jewish communities across the country, have been vandalized less than two months after being installed.

Each billboard message read: "Let's be clear, Hamas is your problem too." They were installed as part of a nationwide campaign to deter hate against Jews during the ongoing Israel-Hamas War, The Courier Journal previously reported.

Of the original billboards, two have been torn down. The billboard that remained in place as of Monday — near Interstate 65 and Arthur Street — was tagged with the phrase "Free Palestine." The billboards that were removed were located at I-65 and Eastern Parkway, and near I-264 and Louisville Avenue.

JewBelong spokesperson Katie Goulding Green said Monday that the organization plans to replace each billboard "in the coming days."

In a statement from JewBelong, co-founder Archie Gottesman said Hamas is an "oppressive organization" that should be condemned by all Americans.

“JewBelong believes in the goal of peace for Palestinian and Israeli people and recognizes the fact that Hamas is standing in the way of that peace," Gottesman said.

Louisville Metro Police received a report of vandalism from JewBelong in reference to the billboards and the case has been assigned to a detective, LMPD spokesperson Aaron Ellis said.

Israel declared war on Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs Gaza, shortly after the group launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Israel's government estimated the attack killed around 1,200 Israelis. Since the war began, an estimated 26,600 people in Gaza have died, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Massachusetts Man Arrested After Threatening to Kill Synagogue Members

A Millis, Mass. man was arrested by federal authorities today for allegedly threatening to kill members of the Jewish community and bomb places of worship.

John Reardon, 59, was charged by criminal complaint with one count of using a facility of interstate commerce to threaten a person or place with harm via an explosive. Reardon was arrested this morning and will appear in U.S. District Court in Boston at 2 p.m. today. Reardon was previously arrested by local law enforcement Jan. 25, 2024 and has remained in custody since.

“The allegations here about the series of threats Mr. Reardon made against the Jewish community are deeply disturbing and reflect the increasing torrent of antisemitism across our country and right here in Massachusetts. The numbers do not lie — incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia are spiking. We will continue to work every day with our federal, state and local partners to track down people who allegedly engage in such hateful conduct,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy.

“John Reardon is accused of using his words as a weapon, leaving a threatening message to frighten members of the Congregation Agudas Achim,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division. “No one should have to fear becoming the victim of physical violence at the hands of an angry stranger. While the FBI does not and will not police ideology, we take all threats to life seriously, and so should anyone thinking about making one.”

According to the charging documents, on the morning of Jan. 25, 2024, Reardon allegedly called Congregation Agudas Achim, a synagogue in Attleboro, Mass. and left a voicemail making the following statements:

• “You do realize that by supporting genocide that means it’s ok for people to commit genocide against you;”

• “With supporting the killing of innocent little children, that means it’s OK to kill your children;”

• “From the river to the sea;” 

• “People are going to use your logic against you, you stupid f**ks;”

• “Guess what? We are going to use your logic —if you can kill the Palestinians, we can kill you;”

• “If you can bomb their f**king places of worship we can bomb yours, if you can kill their children we can kill yours;”

• “You people need to stop the f**king genocide;”

• “End the genocide, or it is time to end Israel and all the Jews;” 

• “I supported Jewish people though. Not anymore. A matter of fact I think we should kill you(s) all;” and

• “Have a lousy day and oh don't be surprised if there's pig blood on your steps tomorrow.”

It is further alleged that, within 10 minutes of leaving the voicemail at the Congregation Agudas Achim, Reardon called another local Synagogue as well as a local Jewish affiliated organization. Reardon was arrested by local law enforcement after the calls were made. 

The charge of using a facility of interstate commerce to threaten a person or place with harm via an explosive provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Acting U.S. Attorney Levy and FBI SAC Cohen made the announcement today. The Attleboro and Wrentham Police Departments; Massachusetts State Police; Bristol County District Attorney’s Office; and Bristol County Sheriff’s Office provided valuable assistance in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Riley-Cunniffe and Torey B. Cummings of the Civil Rights & Human Trafficking Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Antisemitic Flyers Found In Virginia Neighborhood

Flyers containing hateful rhetoric were left on porches and cars across Lynchburg. "For the average person, this is definitely terrifying," Dennis Martin, who received three flyers at his home said.

The flyers claimed to link Jewish people to the slave trade and called for reparations, as well as for people to boycott Israel.

Martin said he was disgusted that someone left these flyers in his neighborhood.

“People don't want to live that way," he said. "You know, you shouldn't have to live that way. Looking over your shoulder at every moment or thinking about why I was targeted, maybe it may escalate to something else."

The topics range from racist and antisemitic remarks to circumcision and child abuse.

Martin said he found two flyers on his truck and one in his backyard.

ABC13 spoke with others who received the flyers as well, but they didn't want to go on camera. They called the act cowardly and said it's scary to see these things in their community.

Penny Millson-Martula, the President of Agudath Sholom Congregation in Lynchburg, said people in her congregation also saw these flyers in their neighborhoods, and they're calling for it to stop.

It's not something we want in this country. It's something that can be very very harmful," Millson-Martula said. "Not just to us, but to everyone, to any minority."

Millson-Martula said the rhetoric is false.

"They're false, they're libelist, they're also disgusting," she said. "They need to consider what their actions mean."

She said the Lynchburg community is very supportive of their temple, and she hopes they'll continue to stand by as these flyers circulate.

When they hear it in speech, they will stand up for us, and when they see it happen, they will stand up for us," she said.

New York Jewish College Students Bombarded With Antisemitism

Jonathan Telsin has been compiling images and videos of what’s been happening on campus at The New School since October 7. Here are a few samples of these antisemitic incidents.

Israeli music student Jonathan Telsin, a 21-year-old trumpet player from Tel Aviv, has been living in New York City since the fall, where he’s studying jazz at The New School in a joint program with the Tel-Aviv-based Israel Conservatory of Music.

Telsin was looking forward to an amazing opportunity: getting to learn from top teachers and students; performing at world-renowned jazz clubs and sitting in at jam sessions around town; the excitement of being at the epicenter of the jazz world.

Then October 7 happened, and nothing has been the same.

Following the devastating attack on Israel by Hamas, other New York City universities – Columbia, NYU, and Cooper Union in particular – have been in the spotlight for antisemitic and anti-Israel activism. Reports of threats, intimidation, and physical and verbal violence against Jewish students have been logged on campuses across the country, culminating in the congressional farce where the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn could not state clearly that calling for the genocide of a minority group violated their schools’ codes of conduct.

But things have been just as horrific for Israeli and Zionist students at The New School.

Telsin has been compiling images and videos of what’s been happening on campus since October 7. Among the clips are the following, which he said is just a small sample:

• Posters plastered around campus, including those screaming “Zionists f*** off.”

• Several videos of masked pro-Hamas protesters inside The New School’s front gates – on private property, not on the street, where it could be argued they’re within their right to free speech – holding signs accusing Israel of “genocide” and stating “Intifada until victory.”

• At the same rally, protesters chanted, “Is it right to rebel? Israel, go to hell.” To paraphrase a skit from Eretz Nehederet (the Israeli equivalent of Saturday Night Live), “If it rhymes, it must be true.”

• The New School’s Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards published a letter saying that blocking school entrances was against The New School’s policies. Antisemites annotated that letter to read, “F*** all the Zionists that go to this school [and who are] taking pics of us. Sincerely, go to hell.” Well, at least they were sincere.

• More f-bombs: A video of a man outside The New School with a megaphone shouting, “F*** you, Israel” and “F*** you, bitch.”

• In the ninth-floor women’s bathroom: “Abolish the settler state.” In a men’s bathroom: “Zionism is terrorism.”

• A group dubbed “The Socialist Revolution” makes clear the anti-Western bias of many of the protesters as they promote an event that “will cut across the imperialist lies and provide the communistic perspective for Palestinian liberation.”

• Perhaps most egregiously for Telsin, protesters barred the entrances to three separate New School buildings with large Palestinian flags. In one video, a woman pleads, “Let me in, I have a class.” A protester flashes a sign at her that reads “Support decolonization.” Or else what, you can’t study?

Inside the walls of the campus buildings, things were not much better, as Telsin shared a video of Amin Husain, a professor at NYU, who has built a reputation for spreading hate speech in his lectures. In the video, Husain was invited into a New School classroom, where he claimed that all the atrocities Hamas meticulously documented – the murders, rapes, mutilations, and beheadings – were all “fake news” and “Zionist propaganda.”

What does Telsin want from The New School?

“We want to be protected. We ask the school to take measures against students who violate their code of conduct, to not give an opportunity for students in an academic institution to call for the elimination of an entire population or community.”

He said he’s been attending “up to three meetings a day” with The New School administration – to no avail. “They crossed the line long ago. When a student says to another student, ‘I wish you had been in Israel on October 7 so you would have been raped, too,’ or ‘I hope you get stabbed on the street,’ the meaning does not rely on understanding the ‘context.’ Someone has to stop that student and let him know there will be consequences.”

Instead, a New School administrator told Telsin to “get out of here, leave the building; it’s too dangerous for you now.’ I said, ‘If you think it’s dangerous for me, why don’t you do anything?’ He just gave me a blank look.”

That jives with what Shai Davidai, an Israeli professor at Columbia, has been saying in videos and articles that have gone viral since October 7. “Jewish students are encouraged to stay in hiding, while those who celebrate Hamas are allowed to hold their events,” he notes.

Does Telsin regret choosing to go to The New School? No, he said. “I came here to study music. It was a legitimate choice. But now I’m spending all this time in meetings. Tomorrow, I have an exam. I have so many papers to write and projects to do. But it’s our obligation to fight, for ourselves and for other students – and not just the Israeli and Jewish students – because they will be next.” 

Principal at a New York School Asks Teachers to Attend Anti-Israel Event

The head of New York’s first virtual school has encouraged teachers to attend an event held by Educators for Palestine to discuss teaching about the “ongoing genocide on Gaza”.

Terri Grey, principal of Virtual Innovators Academy, sent the letter to public school teachers of children aged four to 18 about a “virtual curriculum share”.

However outraged parents have started a petition calling for the “dangerously biased” virtual event to be cancelled.

Grey’s letter states: ”Teachers will have the opportunity to hear from a panel of organizers and legal experts on how to combat censorship as we strive to create classrooms that foster justice, understanding and healing

“Teachers will have the opportunity to present and share original lessons and material they have developed on topics such as Palestinian history, the history of Israel occupation and the ongoing genocide in Gaza

“Every teacher who attends the curriculum share will leave with a collection of lessons they can use with their students

“Our hope is that by creating space to share resources and build meaningful connections, that we can empower each other to serve as changemakers within our individual schools.”

The petition by parents against the event states: “Schools are meant to be neutral zones for teaching students, not to indoctrinate them with propaganda about a highly complex situation.

“Using words like "occupation" or "genocide" are such offensive, non-factual forms of misinformation that will no doubt lead to antisemitism and hate.

“If current events are on the lesson plan, a teacher should appropriately present both sides for such young children. This lesson sharing planned for February 3rd will be alienating and extremely painful for your Jewish staff members and students.

“Children are not born with hate. Hate is taught. These harmful lessons will promote hate and antisemitism in an already sensitive time.

“This curriculum share must be stopped immediately. The principal must be disciplined. NYC educators need to be clear that perpetuation of this type of indoctrination is prohibited.”

Nathaniel Styer, press secretary for NYC Dept of Education, said: “As Chancellor Banks has repeatedly said, schools must be places for exploration and learning, not bias or bigotry.

“All reported allegations are investigated by the appropriate office, and our response is tailored to each individual matter to ensure we are meeting the Chancellor’s standards.

“In most cases we will not publicly report on outcomes, but the necessary steps are taken whether they are visible or not.”