Cornell University police patrols boosted after anti-Semites threatened to rape and kill Jewish students in wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has ordered state police to increase patrols on college campuses after a series of horrific threats were posted on an unofficial Cornell University message board.

Hochul met with Jewish students at the state’s Ivy League university on Monday after they were violently threatened over the weekend by anti-Semites who encouraged others to “slit their throats.”

The governor said she was “inspired by the students … who are showing incredible strength and unity in response to vicious anti-Semitic threats.”

“We will not tolerate hate or violence, and I have directed @nyspolice to increase safety on college campuses and across New York,” she wrote.

The announcement came the same day the Biden administration announced its new efforts to combat anti-Semitism on college campuses.

Protective security experts from the Department of Homeland Security will work with campus law enforcement to identify hate-related rhetoric online.

Cornell — and many other college campuses — have seen an increase in anti-Semitic activity since Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel.

Anti-Semitic graffiti was sprayed on campus sidewalks last week, and before that, a professor — who has now taken a leave of absence — publicly called the Hamas terror attack “exciting” and “enervating.”

On Sunday, a series of vile comments directed at Cornell Hillel’s kosher dining hall appeared on the university’s message board.

One post, which threatened sexual violence against Jewish women, read: “The genocidal fascist Zionist regime will be destroyed.”

Another took aim specifically at the Hillel house: “The Jewish house at Cornell is yet another literal and symbolic form of apartheid and genocide on campus. It stands on land that has been forcibly stolen from indigenous people who have had their identities erased. It maintains strict dietary and religious practices. In my opinion, it should be demolished 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.”

Cornell Hillel said it was aware of the threats and warned students to “avoid construction out of an abundance of caution.” The campus police provide extra security for the building.

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

On Sunday evening, Cornell President Martha E. Pollack wrote a letter to students about the threats.

“Threats of violence are absolutely intolerable, and we will do our best to ensure that the person or persons who posted them are punished to the full extent of the law,” she wrote.

“We will not tolerate anti-Semitism at Cornell… the virulence and destructive nature of anti-Semitism when it is real and deeply impacts Jewish students, faculty and staff, as well as the entire Cornell community.”

“This incident highlights the need to fight the forces that divide us and incite us to hatred. This cannot be what defines us at Cornell.”

The university president added that she had contacted the FBI about the possible hate crime and that Cornell police are actively investigating the incident.

Republican Congressman Nick Langworthy – whose district is near Cornell’s Ithaca campus – was “outraged” by the weekend’s events.

‘This is pure hatred on display’ He wrote. “The Cornell government must immediately deport those responsible and reveal their identities to the world.”

“Institutions, like Cornell, that promote ‘safe spaces’ must prove they mean business when it comes to anti-Semitism and language reminiscent of the Holocaust,” he added.

New York Congressman Ritchie Torres, who represents part of the Bronx and has emerged as a hardline supporter of Israel in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, called the Cornell messages “horrific.”

“The academic establishment can no longer turn a blind eye to the growing rot of anti-Semitism on American college campuses,” he wrote.

While Torres called President Pollack’s statement “crystal clear” in terms of condemning anti-Semitism on campus, others have argued in recent weeks that the actions of university presidents are far too little, far too late.

Many faculty and staff at elite universities across the country have been preaching a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel ideology for decades. The fallout on such campuses in the aftermath of October 7 has proven how toxic these lessons can be.

In the case of Cornell, eight days after the attack, professor Russell Rickford told a crowd of Palestinian supporters in Ithaca Commons that it was “exciting.” It was exciting and stimulating to see the Hamas terrorists killing indiscriminately.

“And if they (the Palestinians) were not excited by this challenge to the monopoly of violence, the shift in power, then they would not be human. I was excited,” he continued.

“Hamas has challenged the monopoly on violence,” he said. “Hamas has shifted the balance of power. Hamas has shattered the illusion of invincibility. That’s what they did.’

As his words made the rounds and were met with disgust and anger, the radical left history professor doubled down on his words.

He said he condemns the killing of civilians but remains angry about ‘ the injustice and hypocrisy of Western support for Israel’s honor war crimesand the equating of any form of Palestinian resistance with terrorism.”

On his third attempt, Rickford apologized for “the pain my reckless comments have caused my family, my students, my colleagues and many others during this time of suffering.”

Shortly afterwards, it was revealed that Rickford had withdrawn from his teaching obligations for the remainder of the semester and taken a leave of absence.