Editorial Board
WSJ, Feb. 29, 2024
“When the hate directed at Jewish students on campus is so extreme that the university can’t protect them, the failure rests with school officials as much as with the harassers.”
Antisemitism took a frightening turn Monday at the University of California, Berkeley, where a pro-Palestinian mob surrounded a campus auditorium, broke a window, and harassed Jewish students trying to enter the building.
Israeli lawyer Ran Bar-Yoshafat was invited by a Jewish student group to address the subject of Israel and international law. This included “the rules of wartime conduct and how the [Israel Defense Forces] can better protect civilians,” according to an Instagram post by Students Supporting Israel at Berkeley.
But the speech never happened, as besieged Jewish students gathered inside a nearly empty auditorium in Zellerbach Playhouse while some 200 protesters chanted “intifada” and “free Palestine” and banged on windows, surrounding and shouting at those trying to enter. Students and the speaker were evacuated for their personal safety.
Shouting down unpopular speakers is common on campus, but the vitriol directed at students sets this incident apart. One student captured on a video clip said the protesters shouted “Jew Jew Jew” in his face and spat at him. Other students reported heckling and harassment as they tried to get past the mob. There’s no way to know how many other students stayed away out of fear of the mob or social ostracism merely for showing up.
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