Top American colleges seek to quell anti-Israel sentiment in wake of Hamas attacks

NEW YORK — Colleges across the country on Tuesday were facing a bitter divide on campuses over Hamas’ attacks on Israel, with administrators at odds with far-left student groups that were pushing a pro-Palestinian narrative.

What started on campus email lists and in student papers quickly spiraled into a battle involving members of Congress in both parties, the lightning-rod conservative Sen. Ted Cruz and Cornel West, the star professor-turned-left wing presidential candidate.

Comments from college presidents calling for calm and compassion have been met with strong condemnation by student associations that took Israel to task over its control of the region. And Pro-Palestinian messaging from students has caused an uproar among political leaders on the left and the right. Harvard, Stanford and Georgetown were among those caught in the maelstrom, which also spread to other top schools.

At New York University School of Law, the president of the student bar association drew swift rebuke Tuesday after writing in the association's newsletter to "not condemn Palestinian resistance."

"This week, I want to express, first and foremost, my unwavering and absolute solidarity with Palestinians in their resistance against oppression toward liberation and self-determination,” Ryna Workman wrote in a newsletter message. “Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life.”

The missive — which was shared widely across X, the platform formerly known as Twitter — was met with scores of outraged comments from leaders, advocates and lawmakers.

"If you are speaking to an Israeli mother whose child has been beheaded, I cannot think of anything more callous and cruel than telling a grieving mother: you had it coming,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) shot back.

The school's Jewish students and alumni also pledged to take action, and university officials sought to distance themselves from the communiqué.

"The statement issued by the Student Bar Association does not in any way reflect the point of view of NYU," John Beckman, an NYU spokesperson, said in a statement. "Acts of terrorism are immoral." NYU President Linda Mills and board chair Evan Chesler dubbed the onslaught a “multi-pronged and deadly terrorist attack on Israel.”

Workman later lost a job offer at Winston & Strawn, a law firm, over the comments.

Campus ideological battles often serve as indicators of national culture war issues — and particularly of divisions within the Democratic Party. Similar discontent was breaking out in coastal U.S. cities, pushing some leading progressives to distance themselves from the anti-Israel rhetoric.

After the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America promoted a pro-Palestinian rally over the weekend, Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) — one of six DSA members in Congress — spoke out against the antisemitic messages from the rally.

Former Harvard University professor Cornel West, an independent presidential candidate, said he agreed in part with a student-led statement pinning the the assault on Israel and rebuked some critics of Harvard for not showing concern for Palestinians.

Some of Harvard’s prominent political alumni, including Cruz (R-Texas) and former Harvard president Larry Summers, slammed the school for not condemning the student statement.

Harvard President Claudine Gay maintained Tuesday that no student group speaks for Harvard or its leadership.

At Columbia University, another Ivy League institution, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine argued the responsibility for the war and casualties "undeniably lies with the Israeli extremist government and other Western governments."

Columbia’s president, Minouche Shafik, said she was “devastated” by the attack and “the ensuing violence that is affecting so many people.”

Stanford University is also under fire for refusing to denounce the banners celebrating the bombardments.

Members of Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine's leadership wrote an op-ed Tuesday arguing that Palestinians have a legal right to resist occupation. Several California chapters of the pro-Palestinian group signed onto a statement saying Hamas’ attack “now stands as a revolutionary moment in contemporary Palestinian resistance.”

Multiple banners hung around campus over the weekend, according to the paper, reading “The Illusion of Israel is Burning,” and “The Land Remembers Her People.” They’ve since been taken down.

Pro-Palestinian students at CSU Long Beach planned a rally Tuesday afternoon, writing in an Instagram post announcing the plans, titled “From Palestine to the Philippines, stop the U.S. War Machine.”

California offices of the Anti-Defamation League were tracking and condemned the student rallies and statements at Stanford, UC Berkeley and CSU Long Beach.

“It is painful to see the glorification of violence by these misguided student groups,” Central Pacific Office regional director Marc Levine, a former Democratic Assemblymember, said.

At Georgetown University, Law Students for Justice in Palestine also reaffirmed their "support and full solidarity" with Palestinians after the university's president, John DeGioia, referred to the offensive as "an unprecedented terrorist act.”

Other groups had a more measured response. The student bar association at Fordham University’s law school criticized all acts of violence against innocent civilians and acknowledged Israeli, Palestinian and American casualties.

“Acknowledging that Israeli-Palestinian conflict often ignites both antisemitism and Islamophobia, we ask that you keep the severity and immediacy of these events in mind over the coming days and weeks, and treat one another with care, respect and kindness as we navigate difficult and sensitive conversations,” Fordham’s student board wrote.

Blake Jones contributed to this report.