OPINION:
I, like millions of others, was filled with revulsion and disgust as I witnessed news footage of many students and faculty at our colleges and universities applauding and supporting Hamas as the terrorists kidnapped, raped, tortured and mutilated innocent men, women, children and old people (“Harvard alumni in Congress call for university’s president to resign,” web, Oct. 13).
Their comments have exposed the rotten fruit of antisemitism nurtured by the political far left and imbedded in our schools. Less than a week after the massacre, the Jew haters had already scurried out of the woodwork to celebrate the butchery.
As of this writing, I have counted 83 student organizations across U.S. colleges and universities that are supporting this depravity. The following are just a few examples of their statements.
Harvard: “The apartheid regime is the only one to blame.” Yale: “Fight to shake off the grip of Zionist occupation.” The University of Virginia “unequivocally supports Palestinian liberation.” George Mason: “Call for a free Palestine, from the river to the sea.” Stanford: “Israel’s breathtakingly violent actions are illegal collective punishment.”
Even more alarming is the hostile or nonexistent response by faculty. The following X post by Yale professor Zareena Grewal captures the tone and sentiment at many institutions: “My heart is in my throat. Prayers for Palestinians. [Israel] is a murderous, genocidal settler state and Palestinians have every right to resist through armed struggle, solidarity. #FreePalestine.”
I am reminded of the lyrics of a song from the musical “South Pacific,” which premiered on Broadway in 1949. “You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear. You’ve got to be taught from year to year. It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear. You’ve got to be carefully taught.”
I pity the parents who spend tens of thousands of dollars to send their sons and daughters to institutions that harbor and provide sustenance for such bigotry. How sad and frightening. God help us.
RON PHIPPS
Annapolis, Maryland
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