This Cornell Student is Fighting Back

Walking to her sorority house one afternoon, Amanda opened up her phone to see a personal Instagram message calling her a Zionist pig and disparaging her as a disgrace to the human race. Laced throughout the message were several expletives.

Amanda couldn’t believe her eyes! Although she doesn’t have definitive proof, she has reason to believe that the post was sourced from a fellow Cornell student. After all, Amanda has become an easy target; she is the Vice President of Chabad, a board member of the Cornellians for Israel and the house manager for her Jewish sorority, Sigma Delta Tau. She also walks around campus with a water bottle with an Israeli flag and wears a dog tag to remember the hostages in Gaza.

With daily rallies led by pro-Palestinian groups getting louder and increasingly more aggressive, being a Jew on campus has become more than uncomfortable. Yet, Amanda, who grew up in New Jersey, always dreamed of attending Cornell and is determined not to back down. Both her siblings graduated from Cornell and she was excited to follow in their footsteps.

Although her siblings had experienced a tinge of antisemitism, she was ready to expose herself to a diverse group of people. “Unless you plan to attend Yeshiva University or Stern College, no matter which college you choose, you are going to encounter antisemitism. It’s an issue that is deeply ingrained in the fabric of the universities across the country.”

Amanda testifying in front of the House Judiciary Committee

Amanda believes that these ideologies are espoused by professors in a systematic manner. Many of the staff employed by Cornell, are indoctrinating students with their own political ideologies.

Professor Russell Rickford spoke at a rally on Oct 15th, just days after the Oct 7^th massacre. “He claimed that he was exhilarated and energized by these atrocious and barbaric attacks. He was placed on a leave of absence for a short time but is now back.  Today, he is still found marching through classroom halls, leading the students with despicable chants.”

She believes that professors are taking advantage of impressionable students to spread their personal agendas. They are creating ‘indoctrinated robots’ who consist of students from all backgrounds, chanting for the genocide of the Jewish people with “From the River to the Sea!” and “Globalize Intifada!”

Jewish students taking exams hear the chants of pro-Palestinians through the halls, right outside their classroom door. “The Jewish students are irritated and want to be left alone. Ultimately, they sheepishly sink down into their chairs, keep their heads down and do nothing.”

At one point, the cafeteria had to be locked down because of the multitude of threats, while Jewish students stayed in their rooms waiting out the night to see what would happen.

A few days after the cafeteria closure, students were informed that Patrick Dai, a junior, was arrested for posting graphic and threatening comments about the Cornell Jewish community online.

Amanda and other students are shocked by what they see is a similar pattern of Nazi Germany propaganda resurfacing. “Antisemitism on campus is inescapable unless you seclude yourself and create a bubble.”

A few weeks ago, Amanda was walking to Shabbat dinner when several organized anti-Israel organizations were having a vigil for Aaron Bushell, the service man who lit himself on fire in front of the embassy while screaming “Free Palestine!”

“The vigil attendees praised Bushell’s self-immolation as noble. Romanticizing suicide at a university with one of the highest suicide rates in the country is unacceptable.”

She decided to call out, “Bring them home!” as she walked by.

They taunted her with, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and moments later, “No wonder you're so ugly.”

“They are nothing more than bullies with bullhorns whose goals are merely to silence students into submission.”

Cornell anti-Israel groups have posted many one-liners: “All Zionists must die!” “Zionism is a death cult that is only satiated by the blood of Palestinians.”

Amanda explained that these blood libels are a result of years of policies promoting this antisemitic and anti-Israel programming. “This is not a switch that can be flipped and easily reversed. It is going to take a lot of effort from administration to reevaluate their choice of professors that they put in these places of power.”

Cornell refuses to take action and hold individuals responsible, claiming that this falls under the category of “free speech.” “They are cloaking their antisemitism under the guise of a social justice issue and academic freedom of speech,” explains Amanda.

Amanda refuses to back down. “To hide is to concede. It’s what Jews had to do in the Holocaust. We should not have to deal with this in 2024.”

Amanda testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee. Initially, it was supposed to be a hearing primarily about free speech. However, it shifted towards how to contend with antisemitism.

Amanda stated that these groups are demonizing Israeli and Jewish students while the Cornell administration throw their hands up and claim that ‘there is nothing they can do to stop it.'

Amanda believes that this makes reversing the situation a near impossible task. Especially when you consider that Cornell is receiving the highest amount of funding from Qatar. “It’s no coincidence that Cornell takes an exorbitant amount of money from Qatar.”

Since the administration is not stepping up, Amanda organized a massive rally with Mosab Hassan Yousef (Son of Hamas), Montana Tucker and Mandana Dayani.

While 22% of the undergraduates are Jewish (approximately 3,000 students), only 700 attended.

“It's difficult to motivate students to care enough to show up,” Amanda said. Meanwhile, the pro-Palestinian vigils are well attended with droves of students from all walks of life.

“What's happening is that these Palestinian groups twist the narrative by falsely assigning Israel and Jewish people as the white colonizers and the Palestinians as the oppressed. They pretend that they are advocating for what is moral and just. If you’re saying the other side is supporting murder and you want justice and peace, it’s a compelling pitch. Most college students do not care enough to do their due diligence. If you're presenting that simplistic world view, it is truly difficult to resist it. People do not care to look beyond that.”

Being a student at Cornell has forced Amanda to step up and fight against continuous on-campus antisemitism.

Amanda, center, with Montana Tucker, right, and Mandana Dayani, left, at a Jewish Unity rally she organized.

“Even though it has detracted from other parts of my college experience, parts that I should be enjoying, I would not change a thing. Every day that Jews remain on campus, we may be able to change someone’s mind about Israel and the Jewish people. Today we have a voice. We can say no and fight back. In honor of the six million who perished in the Holocaust and countless of millions before who died in the face of antisemitism, we have a duty to remain resilient and push back when confronted by ignorant students with posters and chants who want to destroy us.”

For Amanda Zionism was a badge of honor. “It is something that showcased our eternal values. Now it's being weaponized as an epithet to taunt students and make them feel inferior and demonize them.”

She offers practical advice to students everywhere: “Do not listen to those who get their news from a 15-second TikTok video. Get more involved in pro-Israel groups on your campus. We are not afraid, and we must not allow ourselves to be intimidated. Our strength will drown out their attempts to silence us.”

She urges other students to be proud about being Jewish and to strengthen their Jewish communities on campus. “That's how we demonstrate our fearlessness and our refusal to surrender. We have to show that our love is stronger than their hate.”