Anti Semitism

Harvard President Claudine Gay will remain leader of the prestigious Ivy League school following her comments last week at a congressional hearing on antisemitism. Gay came under intense scrutiny following the hearing in which she and two of her peers struggled to answer questions about campus antisemitism. Their responses provoked backlash from Republican opponents, along with alumni and donors who say the university leaders are failing to stand up for Jewish students on their campuses. The Harvard Corporation, the university’s highest governing body, released a statement Tuesday saying it unanimously supports Gay.

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill has resigned amid pressure from donors and criticism over testimony at a congressional hearing where she was unable to say under repeated questioning that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews would violate the school’s conduct policy. The university said Saturday evening that the chairman of the Ivy League school’s board of trustees, Scott Bok, also resigned, just hours after Bok announced Liz Magill’s departure as president. Magill had been under fire from some donors and alumni this fall over the university’s handling of various perceived acts of antisemitism.

A man arrested for firing gunshots outside a Jewish temple in upstate New York been federally charged. An FBI spokesperson says Mufid Fawaz Alkhader has been charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Officials say Alkhader fired two shots outside  a synagogue in Albany on Thursday. The episode in New York’s capital happened on the first night of Hanukkah amid rising fears of antisemitism worldwide and fallout from Israel’s intensifying war in Gaza. Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins said the man suspected of firing the gunshots said “Free Palestine” when officers arrested him.

Officials say a man fired a shotgun twice outside a Jewish temple in upstate New York, then said “Free Palestine” as he was taken into custody. Gov. Kathy Hochul said no one was injured Thursday afternoon, hours before the start of Hanukkah. Police say the shots were fired outside of Temple Israel, and a 28-year-old man is in custody. Hochul said he was a local resident. Police say the shooting is being investigated as a hate crime. The episode took place amid rising fears of antisemitism worldwide and fallout from Israel’s intensifying war in Gaza, which faces heightened criticism because of the mounting Palestinian death toll.

President Joe Biden marked Jewish American Heritage Month on Tuesday by highlighting his administration’s efforts to combat rising antisemitism, at a White House reception that featured performances from the stars of the Broadway revival of “Parade.”