Yeshiva University
Yeshiva UniversityArutz Sheva

A neo-Nazi website has posted photos and names of hundreds of Yeshivah University students and staff over the past year, according to a report by the YU Observer on Friday.

A threat was started on an online forum on Vanguard News Network (VNN), a neo-Nazi website, by Stewart Meadows in June 2018, titled “Jew journalist says her ‘jewish face’ makes her feel ugly." Meadows asked fellow members to comment on the "physical defects" of the journalist's "jewishness."

The thread took off and Meadows posted additional photos of Jews with their names as "more examples of the [Jewish] phenotype.” VNN members responded with comments like “these k*kes are ugly as hell” and saying that Jewish appearances are ugly because of the “money sucked up their big noses.”

Meadows continued to post photos of hundreds of faces of YU students and staff, captioned “Pictures of jews from Yeshiva University.” As of a day ago, the thread has been continuously active, with thousands of photos and names of YU students and faculty (past and present) posted, including many children.

Josh Joseph, senior vice president of YU, stated on Friday afternoon, "“[…]Those photos are part of a much larger collection of images and commentary that includes anti-Semitic and racist language. The content of the online forum targeting members of our community is appalling and offensive. Targeting individuals on the basis of their religion, ethnicity or race is inexcusable. While this situation is obviously disturbing, our security team has investigated and found no direct threat to the individuals appearing in the photos or to Yeshiva University. We do not believe there is reason to be concerned at this time, and our security team will continue to monitor the situation. We encourage you to ignore the site and not seek it out or visit it since experts advise that individuals of this nature seek attention.”

A YU student told the Observer that when she first saw the thread, she “felt sickened, then angry, then scared. An anti-Semitic incident in and of itself is enough of a reason to scream out in pain, but this has proved itself to be a direct attack against our Jewish community.”