Bill Maher makes scathing joke about rise in anti-Semitism in wake of Israel-Hamas war and mocks ‘radicals’ at Cornell University after threats against Jewish students: ‘We’ve gone from Mel Gibson to Kanye’

Bill Maher made a scathing joke about the rise of anti-Semitism in the aftermath of the Israel-Hamas war, mocking “radicals” at Cornell University.

“The threat level, they say, has gone from Mel Gibson to Kanye,” he noted of the wave of anti-Semitism, taking aim at two celebrities on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

Maher also dedicated a joke to the “radicals” at Cornell University, referencing recent anti-Semitic incidents that have occurred at the prestigious Ivy League school.

“Israeli forces are building after building, hoping to root out Hamas-supporting radicals. And if it works there, they’re going to try it at Cornell,” he said.

The Friday night episode of the show featured Ian Bremmer and Fareed Zakaria as panelists. Maher also interviewed Congressman Dean Phillips, a Democratic primary challenger from Minnesota.

One of the celebrities Maher targeted was 67-year-old Gibson, who has been repeatedly accused of making anti-Semitic and racist comments.

His participation in the 2023 New Orleans Parade was rejected by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans and the Greater New Orleans Rabbinic Council.

The Oscar-winning actor was later dropped as Co-Grand Marshal, with organizers citing “threats and security” concerns in their statement.

“The Krewe of Endymion has received a lot of feedback regarding our Grand Marshal announcement. Some of this commentary contained threats that are of great concern to us.

In 2020, Gibson responded to explosive claims from Winona Ryder that the actor and director made anti-Semitic and bigoted comments, accusing the Stranger Things star of lying about their interactions.

The Heathers actress claimed the Braveheart star asked her if she was an “oven dodger,” an apparent reference to her Jewish faith, in an interview with the Sunday Times.

Gibson’s rep later denied the claims and said sohis is 100 percent false. She lied about it over a decade ago when she spoke to the press, and now she’s lying about it.”

The 67-year-old star was also famously arrested in California in 2006 after being caught drink-driving.

The devout Roman Catholic is said to have told the police officer who stopped him: ‘F****** Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.’

Rapper Kanye West, now known as Ye, was banned from Twitter last year and lost a series of lucrative sponsorship deals after making a series of anti-Semitic statements.

He wrote: ‘I’m a little sleepy tonight, but when I wake up I’m going to die. 3 About JEWISH PEOPLE.

‘The funny thing is that I can’t actually be anti-Semitic, because black people are actually Jewish too. You have played with me and tried to smear anyone who ever opposes your agenda.”

Earlier this year it was announced that the rapper and his former friend and business partner Alex Klein split after Ye’s anti-Semitic comments.

Klein, who created Ye’s Stem Player for his Donda 2 album, told the BBC’s Mobeen Azhar: ‘We turned down $10 million. Kanye was very angry, you know he said ‘I feel like I want to hit you’ and ‘You’re just like the other Jews’

“I asked him and I said, ‘Do you really think Jews are working together to stop you?’ and he said, ‘Yes, I do, but it’s not even a statement I have to take back.

”’Because look at all the energy around me right now. Without that statement I would not become president.”

Maher also mocked “radicals” at Cornell University after a junior engineering student was charged earlier this week of threaten to carry out one mass shooting And violence against Jewish students at Cornell University

Patrick Dai, originally from Pittsford, New York, was arrested on a federal criminal complaint, which could see him serve five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

Last week, a series of vile messages emerged at the Ivy League university in upstate New York that threatened Cornell’s Jewish community and, in particular, its kosher dining hall.

One post threatened to shoot Jewish students on campus, others called for more explicit violence, and a third said the Jewish student center – like Israel – should be eliminated altogether.

One read: ‘The genocidal fascist Zionist regime will be destroyed.’

Another specifically targeted the Hillel house: “The Jewish house at Cornell is yet another literal and symbolic form of apartheid and genocide on campus… In my opinion, it should be torn down and the illegal settlers relocated.”

A third, posted by someone with the username “kill killing jews,” threatened to “shoot up 104 West,” the kosher dining hall on campus. ‘Glory to Hamas!’ wrote the user.

Other messages warned campus Jews that “jihad is coming” and told them they are “human animals” who “deserve a pig’s death.”

Anti-Semitic graffiti was sprayed on campus sidewalks, prompting a professor — who has now taken a leave of absence — to publicly call the Hamas terror attack “exciting” and “enervating.”

Rabbi Ari Weiss, director of Cornell Hillel: ‘Students are afraid. They are concerned about their safety.”

On Monday, the White House announced a larger mobilization effort from the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Education to combat hate speech on campuses across the country.

DOJ and DHS have shared public safety information with campus law enforcement, and the Justice Department has expedited the referral of anti-Semitic complaints to the Civil Rights Division.

If successful, the idea is to streamline the analysis and feasibility of Title VI complaints, which are tied to federal funding going to U.S. universities.

During a news conference at the White House on Monday, Karine Jean-Pierre said the president had the Cornell community in mind.

“President Biden has been clear: We cannot stand by and remain silent in the face of hate. We must denounce anti-Semitism without hesitation. We must also denounce Islamophobia without hesitation,” she said from the podium.