As anti-Israel protest encampments continued to emerge on campuses across the United States, Jewish students celebrated the Passover holiday with increased security and defiance over an increasingly hostile academic environment.
At Columbia, where the encampment inspired a Saturday call by several groups to seize campuses to force the adoption of BDS, Orthodox Union Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus Columbia director rabbi Elie Buechler had raised serious alarm about the impact on Jewish students.
Buechler called on Sunday for students to return home until the protests had died down because the administration and police couldn't guarantee their safety amidst calls for further October 7 Massacres and for "Jews to go back to Poland."
Columbia Hillel disagreed that Jews should leave but demanded the university do more to ensure security. Columbia Chabad had also said that the atmosphere was unacceptable.
Columbia and Barnard College Hillel director Brian Cohen issued another statement on Monday, saying that it was unacceptable that he had to issue an email reminding the University to enforce its own rules as students faced "escalating antisemitic harassment and around-the-clock protest activity on and around campus."
"Columbia University must end the on-campus protests that violate the University’s events policies," said Cohen. Off-campus protests need to be moved if the protestors will not end their harassment of students."
Cohen said that the NYPD would be present at the Kraft Center throughout the Jewish holiday, and Columbia Public Safety would provide walking escorts to and from the building, particularly after seders. He said that if students were comforted by "being at the Kraft Center and on campus, they should remain here."
Chabad reported Monday that the local rabbi had hired additional security guards to chaperone students from the Columbia Chabad house to dormitories. They said that they expected over 100 students at the campus seders and would refuse to back down or hide and continue to celebrate with pride.
Chabad encourages students to celebrate Passover
Chabad at Yale also encouraged students to celebrate Passover and join a seder on campus or elsewhere.
"We firmly believe that the best and most effective antidote to hate and antisemitism on campus is to renew our commitment to Jewish engagement with joy and conviction," said Yale Chabad.
"Passover reminds us to stand up for freedom and against ideological conformity in all its manifestations. Be brave and courageous, and let us celebrate next year in Jerusalem."
The Yale Chabad also criticized the administration for what it said were "brazen antisemitism and violations of university policy" at the encampment in Beinecke Plaza.
"The situation came to a head last night when unauthorized protests blocking common areas led to a hostile and dangerous confrontation for Jewish students on campus. A dear and beloved student leader of Chabad at Yale was surrounded and struck by a sharp object and ended up in the hospital.
Regrettably, this disastrous incident should surprise no one. Calls for 'one solution, intifada revolution' and a 'global intifada,' as well as open support for Hamas, have become a regular part of the protests," said Yale Chabad. "We call on Yale to immediately take concrete steps to provide a safe environment for Jewish students."
Yale Friends of Israel posted a simple photograph of students wearing Israeli flags, facing a colorless campus.
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Hillel had to move its seder to another location because the encampment was opposite the original meal location. The MIT Israel Alliance sent a letter to the administration, warning that many students had expressed fear about passing the encampment to attend the Hillel seder.
The Alliance called on the MIT administration to clear the encampment, enhance security, and expel and suspend students in accordance with the school's policy.
"We have been calling for months for MIT to enforce its own rules, and it has now escalated to the point where Jewish students are afraid to leave their dorms or celebrate the Passover holiday," said the alliance.
At NYU, university chaplain and Bronfman Center executive director Rabbi Yehuda Sarna on Monday called on Jewish students to "feel resilience and express joy through the togetherness of the Passover seder" in the face of an encampment being established on the campus.
Sarna praised the administration for their communication, for erecting a barricade in front of the Stern School of Business, and for clearing the plaza when the demonstrators breached the barriers. NYU Palestine Solidarity Coalition decried the move on Wednesday, saying the barriers were an attempt to stifle freedom of movement and speech.
At The New School, the Hillel urged students to stay safe during the holiday.
"Our campus has seen horrendous things happen these last few days," TNS Hillel said on Facebook on Tuesday. "No matter how antagonizing and hateful people might be, always lead with kindness and resilience."