Cornell Grad Denounces School Administration’s Policy Toward Antisemitism on Campus

MIKE LACHANCE

JUN 19, 2024 8:00 AM

Talia Dror recently testified before congress about her observations on this topic.

From her remarks:

Hearing on the Crisis on Campus: Antisemitism, Radical Faculty, and the Failure of University LeadershipChairman Smith, Ranking Member Neal, and Members of the Ways and Means Committee:Thank you for inviting me back to testify today.My name is Talia Dror. I’m a recent graduate of Cornell University.Seven months ago, I described how, directly after the October 7th attacks, my campus erupted in celebration. I explained how the antisemitic environment fostered by pro-Hamas students, professors, and administrators led to a Cornell student threatening to bomb our kosher dining hall and slaughter every Jew on campus.I am here today to tell you that since then, blatant violations of Cornell’s code of conduct continue, appeased and rewarded by my university. Now, these violations have been exposed for what they truly are: expressions not just of Jew hatred, but of a burning hatred for the United States itself.In December, students occupied our main campus building, vandalizing it with genocidal slogans and hoisting a Palestinian flag on an American flagpole.In January, student protesters chanted, “Houthis Houthis make us proud, turn another ship around.” The Houthis are a U.S.-designated terrorist organization whose slogan is “God Is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam.”Throughout the month of February, protestors held weekly die-ins. I was in the library during the first die-in. I watched as hundreds of masked students lay down on the floor and began screaming antisemitic chants. As I watched alongside visibly-disturbed students, I saw an administrator just watching, doing nothing to enforce Cornell’s policies.A Jewish freshman who was studying there recognized me and began sobbing in my arms. As I held this girl, whose name I did not even know, I realized the gravity of the moment. Cornell’s administration had made a decision – to protect hateful radicals at the expense of everyone else. In the following weeks, Cornell’s policy of appeasement resulted in classes constantly being interrupted and exams being moved as the pro-Hamas group wreaked havoc.Anti-American students stifle intellectual disagreement by threatening anyone who does not conform to their orthodoxy. On March 3rd, a Jewish student was accosted by a fellow student who approached her and yelled: “F*CKING ZIONIST SCUM… YEAH I’VE SEEN YOU AROUND… GENOCIDAIRE… GOD FORBID A ZIONIST FEEL UNSAFE.” The university’s investigation has been open for over three months, with no resolution in sight.