“This blatant anti-Semitism is reprehensible and dangerous – and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere else in our country,” the statement said.
The president and the White House often issue holiday greetings for various faiths, but the latest statement stands out for its political references. He points out that Passover comes at a difficult time for Jews who are still suffering the attacks of October 7, when Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took many hostages.
Earlier Sunday, the White House issued a separate statement directly in response to anti-Israel protests at Columbia, which continue this week as students occupy university grounds in tent encampments.
“While every American has the right to peaceful protest, calls for violence and physical intimidation aimed at Jewish students and the Jewish community are blatantly anti-Semitic, unacceptable and dangerous,” said Andrew Bates, deputy press secretary for the White House.
Monday marks the start of Passover, a celebration of the liberation of Jews from slavery in Egypt.
The demonstration at Columbia University took place the same week as numerous other demonstrations across the country intended to highlight Israel’s war in Gaza. Protesters blocked major highways in New York and San Francisco as well as access roads to airports in Chicago and Seattle.
But the situation at Columbia received greater political attention after its president, Minouche Shafik, was called to testify Wednesday before a House committee investigating anti-Semitism on campus.
The next day, Shafik summoned NYPD officers in riot gear to campus. The arrested students, who put up little resistance, were charged with trespassing. Shafik told the New York Police Department in a letter that the students involved in the protest would be suspended.
The students returned to the occupied sites on Sunday, sparking new concerns and condemnations.
Elie Buechler, rabbi at Hillel University in Columbia, told Jewish students in a WhatsApp message on Sunday morning that they should leave campus until security measures improve, he confirmed at the Washington Post.
“What we are witnessing on and around campus is terrible and tragic,” Buechler’s message said. “The events of recent days, especially last night, have made clear that Columbia University Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee the safety of Jewish students in the face of extreme anti-Semitism and lawlessness. »
Brian Cohen, director of Hillel at Columbia, said in a statement Sunday that the university’s Jewish Student Life Center would remain open. Chabad of Columbia directors also encouraged students on social media to join the organization’s Passover activities.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) said in a statement Sunday evening that more New York police officers were stationed near the Columbia campus. He said a protester at the university shouted “We are Hamas.”
“As mayor of the city with the largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel, the pain these protests are causing to Jews around the world is not lost on me,” Adams said. “I also see and hear the pain of those protesting in support of the innocent lives lost in Gaza. »
Since Israel’s war in Gaza began following deadly Hamas attacks, universities have struggled to balance freedom of expression and freedom of protest. A protest recently broke out on the campus of Yale University, where more than 500 people gathered in an encampment Saturday evening, according to the Yale Daily News.
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