MESSAGE
| DATE | 2018-12-13 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] hamas at NYU
|
https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/12/12/nyu-jewish-student-center-temporarily-closes-after-bds-supporter-shares-antisemitic-potentially-threatening-posts/?fbclid=IwAR1I8eAhEpAKDdauLB7tPlFl0_b9kJjH8tke3jbfVcW2XXHu3msm4zZ1C18
NYU Jewish Student Center Temporarily Closes After BDS Supporter Shares
‘Antisemitic, Potentially Threatening’ Posts
avatar by Shiri Moshe
The New York University campus. Photo: Cincin12 via Wikimedia Commons.
A Jewish student center at New York University was temporarily closed on
Wednesday after an anti-Zionist student issued threatening messages,
before reopening during the afternoon.
The head of the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at NYU said in
an email sent to community members on Tuesday evening that his team had
recently become aware “of several public online postings by an NYU
student which were antisemitic in nature and potentially threatening.”
Due to “heightened tensions at NYU” — where a resolution supporting the
Palestinian-led boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign
against Israel passed last week — “we are taking all threats seriously
and have notified NYU Public Safety and NYPD,” Rabbi Yehuda Sarna wrote.
“While we do not believe that there is a credible threat, we are taking
every necessary precaution.”
The center resumed normal operations on Wednesday afternoon after
consultations with city and campus police, as well as “other security
experts in the Jewish community,” Sarna said in a statement.
December 12, 2018 4:39 pm
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He added that the center would further enhance its security protocol,
which was already tightened after the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre in
October, including by making “modifications to our building and
[pursuing] active shooter trainings.”
NYU administration told The Algemeiner in a statement on Wednesday
evening that it “is actively reviewing the matter.”
“Although we cannot discuss specifics, the University will take
appropriate steps in accord with our procedures with respect to those
involved,” NYU Spokesman John Beckman said.
While the individual behind the postings was not identified by Sarna or
NYU administration, the campus groups Students for Justice in Palestine
(SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) pointed to Alejandro Villa
Vásquez, an NYU student who wrote on Twitter on December 3rd that his
account was suspended because “i expressed my desire for zionists to die.”
A screenshot of his tweet was circulated online by the anti-BDS group
SJP Uncovered, along with an image of an older tweet from 2014 that
referred to Adolf Hitler positively, and one from October that read,
“remember to spit on zionists, it’s proper etiquette.”
Vásquez separately applauded the passage of a BDS resolution by the NYU
Student Government Assembly on Thursday, writing on social media, “i
hope every zionist kkkunt -at- nyu is crying right now.” The measure —
backed by 35 faculty members and more than 60 student clubs — was
strongly condemned by Zionist campus groups and multiple Jewish student
leaders, and quickly rejected by NYU’s administration.
He claimed to have been apprehended by the NYU Department of Public
Safety over his postings on Tuesday evening, tweeting, “whoever didn’t
have the balls to approach me themselves because i make them ‘feel
threatened’ but had no trouble whining on the phone about my tweets,
come on over sometime, i’d love to talk.”
After inquiries by The Algemeiner, Vásquez said in a statement posted on
Twitter on Wednesday that he “expressed extremely aggressive views”
against Zionists — people who support the Jewish nation’s right to
self-determination — “because they believe in the genocide of ethnic and
religious minorities.”
“My views on Zionism do not reflect my views on Judaism,” he said. “My
views reflect the racist and Islamophobic principles intrinsic in Zionism.”
While rejecting claims of antisemitism, he also expressed “regret” over
the situation, saying it’s been explained to him “why people are taking
my anti-Zionist views the way they are.”
“To anyone that genuinely feel scared, I’m sorry — I would have done
things differently had I known it would actually instill fear in
innocent people,” he continued.
Vásquez said he spoke to the NYU Wellness Center, Office of Student
Conduct and Community Standards, and Public Safety. “They all know that
there is no threat of danger,” he indicated.
Vásquez was listed as a deputy managing editor at NYU’s student-run
Washington Square News earlier this year, while his LinkedIn profile
identified him as an office aide at the NYU Silver School of Social
Work. He denied being currently affiliated with Washington Square, and
said he had not worked at the Silver School in months.
The Silver School confirmed on Tuesday that Vásquez was no longer an
employee, adding that “the language in his post is antithetical to
social work.”
SJP and JVP also disavowed Vásquez, saying that he was not a member and
that his remarks “are not only anti-Semitic, but outright normalize
violence directed at the Jewish community at NYU and at large.”
“Because of threats against the Jewish community, the Bronfman Center
has temporarily closed in fear of an attack upon the Jewish population
at NYU,” they wrote. “We stand in solidarity with our fellow Jewish NYU
students and faculty and want to make it explicit that we do not align
ourselves with anti-Semites or anti-Semitism.”
The recent tensions at NYU come on the heels of an extended BDS campaign
spearheaded by SJP and JVP, which featured a boycott pledge in April
that specifically targeted Zionist student clubs on campus, and a
similar declaration in October that denounced NYU’s study abroad program
in Tel Aviv. Last year, JVP censured the Bronfman Center for its efforts
to bring students to Israel, and launched a boycott of the center’s
trips that was signed by more than 20 student groups, including NYU
College Democrats.
TorchPAC and Realize Israel, the two clubs blacklisted by the April
pledge, warned in a petition before the BDS resolution was endorsed last
week that the campaign was “fostering an intolerable climate on campus
for Jewish and pro-Israel students.”
Realize Israel also released a video earlier this month featuring
testimonies from several Jewish and Zionist students, one of whom warned
that his community was “being targeted and physically attacked.” He
pointed to an incident at a Realize Israel event earlier this year, when
an anti-Zionist student burned an Israeli flag, while one male student
was filmed grabbing the arm of a female peer and forcibly taking her
microphone before shouting, “Free Palestine, end the occupation.”
--
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