Taking a step back from the sound and the fury, isn’t the most fascinating thing about the anti-Israel protests on university campuses in the USA how naturally and seamlessly murderous Hamas has piggybacked on the activists that seem to control those universities?
You hit the nail on the head, especially with the title - the Jihad of Higher Learning. I commented at Michael Oren's blog that my personal university history involved the University of Minnesota where I did my doctorate in Islamic literature 16th c. Hadith in 1978-1983 then was invited to remain on staff as non regular faculty in a small department where I was the only Jewish female - the dept was already marxist anti-israel/anti-semitic. Ultimately I sued the U of MN under the Rajendra Class Action sex discrimination on first appeal the U of MN made an offer but I did not accept bc I could not relocate and I wanted my job back - they forced a second appeal and I petitioned for cert. but the underlying issue was anti-semitism and already back then U of MN was the back door into MN giving us Ilhan Omar. None of what was taught by the department made any sense. It was shear garbage and we see now how it has flourished uninhibitedly.
The utterances and chants, goals and demands of the protesters amount to the crystallization of 40 years of myth building. Academia set foot in the wilderness, leaving critical thinking and reflection, observation and factual analysis for a road of narrative and catechistic belief with an artistic weaving of "intersectionality" of interests irrespective of any real confluence of values. The protesters, their academic neo-theologians, and the craven politicians supporting them either actively or passively by not acting against them, are play acting their destruction of the walls of Jericho. The support for the elimination of Israel and the attendant anti-semitism is the first step in their battle for the end of liberal democracy -- they are intolerant and unwilling to debate or accept differences of opinion, and in fact the flip-side of the neo-fascist/autocratic coin. Jews are different, a tiny minority with their own civilizational values and traditions, and it is differences that they cannot accept as valid. They are on a quest of uniform domination based on their belief and ironically, as you point out the jihadist universities are now leading Western civilization into a contemporary Dark Age.
Thank you Ehud. Africa seems to be forgotten in the media.
About media & reporting, this BBC article about "Governments not protecting free speech" based on the "RSF index 2024" (Aka the French Reporters Without Borders) is another BLATANT proof of ANTI-ISRAEL propaganda.
Citing Israël as "Four of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists" is FALSE information. On their map, the Red Zones are clearly Gaza and Palestinian territory which are not governed by Israël.
This kind of biased manipulated "information" leaves me very upset, disgusted and angry. I'm citing :
"Authoritarian regimes across the Middle East have been tightening their grip on news and information with “increasing vigour”, according to the report.
Four of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists, Israel (?!?!?!?!), Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran, are in the region and continue to detain newsgatherers, according to the RSF report.
At least 100 journalists have been killed in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 1 May 2024, according to the RSF."
My friend, keep your cool. My feeling is that we have seen nothing yet. It is going to get far far worse far quicker than we imagine. Stay the course, document everything you can, but...keep cool. Are you on X? You should be. You are always welcome on my substack but here you have only limited exposure (hopefully that will change :).
Dear Ehud, thank you. I know we've seen nothing yet. I rarely go on X it's way too toxic for me. I'll leave exposure to good writers like you. Meantime I do follow, document when possible and try to get in touch with honest people capable of exposing the truth.
This is a fantastic piece. As someone who graduated recently and watched the miseducation of my generation, I would disagree that many of these people have seen the gruesome footage of the October 7th attacks. The way social media algorithms work, people only see content that is like the other content they’re used to seeing. Additionally, many people say things like, “videos of sexual violence are very triggering to me so therefore I dont been told to prioritize their own feelings of safety that they cannot even bear witness to something that might be hard to watch
You might be right about that, but I have a lingering feeling that once these activists have been primed, they would be amenable to seeing (or being shown) the Jews “getting what they deserve.”
Yes I 100% agree. I think they reject seeing the footage at first when their native conscience would take over, so instead they reject it (or are told to reject it) until they’ve received enough propaganda to believe that this is what the Jews deserve. Sadly I think they’ve studied Goebbels’ strategy down to a tee, and they know how to make people place their conscience aside.
And yet you seemed to have weathered the storm and achieve an education. How so? Are you and those like you in the minority? Majority? Is Penn still worth a hoot (I can't believe I just said that)?
You hit the nail on the head, especially with the title - the Jihad of Higher Learning. I commented at Michael Oren's blog that my personal university history involved the University of Minnesota where I did my doctorate in Islamic literature 16th c. Hadith in 1978-1983 then was invited to remain on staff as non regular faculty in a small department where I was the only Jewish female - the dept was already marxist anti-israel/anti-semitic. Ultimately I sued the U of MN under the Rajendra Class Action sex discrimination on first appeal the U of MN made an offer but I did not accept bc I could not relocate and I wanted my job back - they forced a second appeal and I petitioned for cert. but the underlying issue was anti-semitism and already back then U of MN was the back door into MN giving us Ilhan Omar. None of what was taught by the department made any sense. It was shear garbage and we see now how it has flourished uninhibitedly.
Fascinating Nancy! Thanks for your comment.
The utterances and chants, goals and demands of the protesters amount to the crystallization of 40 years of myth building. Academia set foot in the wilderness, leaving critical thinking and reflection, observation and factual analysis for a road of narrative and catechistic belief with an artistic weaving of "intersectionality" of interests irrespective of any real confluence of values. The protesters, their academic neo-theologians, and the craven politicians supporting them either actively or passively by not acting against them, are play acting their destruction of the walls of Jericho. The support for the elimination of Israel and the attendant anti-semitism is the first step in their battle for the end of liberal democracy -- they are intolerant and unwilling to debate or accept differences of opinion, and in fact the flip-side of the neo-fascist/autocratic coin. Jews are different, a tiny minority with their own civilizational values and traditions, and it is differences that they cannot accept as valid. They are on a quest of uniform domination based on their belief and ironically, as you point out the jihadist universities are now leading Western civilization into a contemporary Dark Age.
That is a powerful statement Jeffrey, maybe more so than my post.
"where there is a spiritual vacuum... demons will pop out their beasty heads" since they've been waiting among us for a very long time.
It's been prepared on university levels for over 4 decades. And for over 100 years by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Islamic califat Jihadis are an underestimated threat to basic human rights, peace and the free world.
In Africa these murdering sociopaths are feasting too causing havoc which is hardly covered by international media.
For these devils the present war against Israël is just the beginning. Social media is poisoned by them. It's beyond comprehension.
Thanks for mentioning Africa. Heartbreaking sorrow.
Thank you Ehud. Africa seems to be forgotten in the media.
About media & reporting, this BBC article about "Governments not protecting free speech" based on the "RSF index 2024" (Aka the French Reporters Without Borders) is another BLATANT proof of ANTI-ISRAEL propaganda.
Citing Israël as "Four of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists" is FALSE information. On their map, the Red Zones are clearly Gaza and Palestinian territory which are not governed by Israël.
This kind of biased manipulated "information" leaves me very upset, disgusted and angry. I'm citing :
"Authoritarian regimes across the Middle East have been tightening their grip on news and information with “increasing vigour”, according to the report.
Four of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists, Israel (?!?!?!?!), Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran, are in the region and continue to detain newsgatherers, according to the RSF report.
At least 100 journalists have been killed in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 1 May 2024, according to the RSF."
RSF Index map : https://rsf.org/en/index?year=2024
RSF Methodology & the 7 members of the expert panel : https://rsf.org/en/methodology-used-compiling-world-press-freedom-index-2024?year=2024&data_type=general
Article source :
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy73gq39219o
My friend, keep your cool. My feeling is that we have seen nothing yet. It is going to get far far worse far quicker than we imagine. Stay the course, document everything you can, but...keep cool. Are you on X? You should be. You are always welcome on my substack but here you have only limited exposure (hopefully that will change :).
Dear Ehud, thank you. I know we've seen nothing yet. I rarely go on X it's way too toxic for me. I'll leave exposure to good writers like you. Meantime I do follow, document when possible and try to get in touch with honest people capable of exposing the truth.
Thank you so much for your attention 🙏🏽
Shabbat shalom
This is a fantastic piece. As someone who graduated recently and watched the miseducation of my generation, I would disagree that many of these people have seen the gruesome footage of the October 7th attacks. The way social media algorithms work, people only see content that is like the other content they’re used to seeing. Additionally, many people say things like, “videos of sexual violence are very triggering to me so therefore I dont been told to prioritize their own feelings of safety that they cannot even bear witness to something that might be hard to watch
You might be right about that, but I have a lingering feeling that once these activists have been primed, they would be amenable to seeing (or being shown) the Jews “getting what they deserve.”
Yes I 100% agree. I think they reject seeing the footage at first when their native conscience would take over, so instead they reject it (or are told to reject it) until they’ve received enough propaganda to believe that this is what the Jews deserve. Sadly I think they’ve studied Goebbels’ strategy down to a tee, and they know how to make people place their conscience aside.
And yet you seemed to have weathered the storm and achieve an education. How so? Are you and those like you in the minority? Majority? Is Penn still worth a hoot (I can't believe I just said that)?