America’s Jew-hating cadres love publicity, and they love anniversaries. They surely plan to mark October 7, the first anniversary of the Hamas slaughter of Israelis, with commemorative actions. American college and university presidents, in particular, should be prepared to keep order on their campuses.
Islamist terrorists often seek to commemorate milestones with more slaughters. Al-Qaida tried repeatedly to commit terror acts on subsequent anniversaries of September 11. On January 3, the Islamic State blew up 84 mourners of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on the fourth anniversary of his death. On September 6, the FBI arrested Pakistani Muhammad Shahzeb Khan. “The defendant is alleged to have planned a terrorist attack in New York City around October 7th of this year with the stated goal of slaughtering, in the name of ISIS, as many Jewish people as possible,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
As October 7 approaches, American law enforcement must be on alert for terror attacks, and every synagogue in America should have extra security planned. But college and university presidents also should be ready to respond to coordinated thuggery meant to mark campuses around America as pro-Hamas territory.
Professional pro-Hamas organizers and funders have done a great deal to instigate illegality on American campuses. Anyone can look at a picture of the identical tents in the “encampment” at Columbia University to see evidence of coordination. The terror sympathizers who celebrated the October 7 attacks by creating pictures of paragliders—vehicles that facilitated the murder of Jewish civilians—surely intend some similar affirmation of atrocity to mark one year since the massacre. Their free expression, however reprehensible, should be protected; illegal or violent activities should not.
Maybe these groups intend to set up further “encampments.” Maybe they will harass Jewish centers on campus. Maybe they will seize administrative buildings. Something worse is even possible. They could pursue numerous illegal ways to turn a day for remembrance, grief, and resolve into a day of jubilation for the mass killers of Hamas and Hezbollah, and their sympathizers or apologists in America.
Those allies include far too many college administrators—even college presidents. We may expect some to act like ostriches, planting their heads in the sand. We didn’t expect anything like this to happen, they’ll say if the anti-Semites do something horrible. There was no way that we could have prepared. You can’t blame us. The excuses will be well rehearsed.
They should not be allowed to feign ignorance about the potential threat. Governors and state boards of trustees should talk with public university presidents about October 7. Similar conversations should go on at private universities across the country among trustees and leading alumni. In New York, Mayor Eric Adams should consult with the presidents of Columbia and New York University, and with the presidents of every CUNY campus, and ensure that the New York Police Department is set to move quickly to any college campus in the city, should the need arise. The risk is real.
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images