Israeli President Isaac Herzog sent an emergency letter Tuesday evening to the presidents and presidents of universities and colleges in the United States. The letter was written and sent against the backdrop of the brutal massacre that struck the State of Israel on October 7, following which there was an increase in manifestations of anti-Semitism expressed verbally and physically against Jews at various universities and colleges.
Memorial ceremony for Paul Kessler murdered at a demonstration in Los Angeles
In his letter, the president demands the immediate treatment of those who support and identify with the actions of the Hamas terrorist organization in any way, and thus writes in his remarks regarding the anti-Semitic incidents: "The events on campuses are not a discussion but a degradation of the university institution and a desecration of its basic principles. How can those who support, encourage, explain and glorify Hamas's atrocities have a place in any academic institution? Or at all – in the civilized and enlightened world."
"We all know that evil ideologies directed at Jews always signal a much broader intellectual collapse. The events we are witnessing are not only a threat to Jewish students, but to the very healthy existence of institutions vital to our human culture, in other words, a threat to humanity itself."
President Herzog in an interview with the BBC, photo: from BBC broadcasts
The President concludes his remarks by calling for the establishment of dedicated task forces: "Each of the institutions of higher education can and should lead the fight against the scourge of antisemitism, inter alia by establishing a task force that will develop a campus and institutional work plan and serve as an important anchor for the entire community."
Antisemitic propaganda on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara,
The letter was sent to some 700 universities, colleges and academic institutions across the United States, and is another step in raising awareness and addressing antisemitism and harm to Jews in the international arena.
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