Houston college students are suffering from a disturbing amount of anti-Semitic social media posts and violent threats against them, according to a report by Algemeiner. Local Jewish groups have banded together to support Houston college students, after the threats were brought to light. The social media threats were exposed by a covert campus watchdog group.
Lee Wunsch, president and CEO of the JFGH (Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, said that the violent posts — which included praise for Hitler and a poll asking people if they would be willing to press a button to “kill all Zionists” if doing so would also murder “every Jew out there” — had the group’s full attention.
“The chairman of our board has been in close contact with the general counsel of the university and they have been very responsive in regards to any issues that would create a hostile environment for Jewish students on campus,” he said.
ADL (Anti-Defamation League) representatives said that they had been in touch with law enforcement authorities over the campus situation and were also offering their resources to students and campus officials.
Houston students say they are grateful for the support. Tatiana Uklist — president and founder of the university’s chapter of grassroots advocacy group Students Supporting Israel — said the Texan-Jewish community has “rallied behind us.” Uklist said that many in Houston have a personal interest in the issue, as “several members of the community sit on the board of the university or are major donors.”
Rabbi Kenny Weiss, executive director of Houston Hillel, noted that many groups have reached out to students to offer advice and guidance.
Some individuals associated with the social media harassment are affiliated with the Houston University chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Muslim Student Association (MSA), as well as with the BDS movement.
According to a Canary Mission representative, the group found a number of “antisemitic and threatening catch-phrases repeated over and over again in various forms, such as ‘Jews are dogs’ and ‘Jews should be cursed.'”