Dr. Phil condemns 'disturbing' anti-Israel protests at elite universities: 'Intellectual rot'

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Student speaks out after anti-Israel rally tries to swarm library

Cooper Union student Taylor Roslyn Lent and The Lawfare Project senior counsel Gerard Filitti reflect on the protest on 'The Story.'

Dr. Phil McGraw strongly condemned university leaders for their tepid response to "disturbing" student protests after the Hamas terror attack, saying there was an "ivy-covered intellectual rot" on college campuses.

The no-nonsense television host began his message scolding those who were softening language in describing the Hamas terrorists.

"The Hamas invaders were not soldiers; they were assassins," McGraw said in a video posted by the Dr. Phil Show and TBN Israel. "The Hamas charter calls for the ultimate annihilation of all Israeli Jews, followed by the annihilation of Jews around the world. Sound familiar?" he remarked while photos from the Holocaust played in the background. "Sadly, some people, including some right here in America, actually celebrated the slaughter and blame those being murdered, raped, and kidnapped," he said.

McGraw called out Harvard, Yale, Georgetown, UCLA and Stanford among the dozens of other universities which he said have "indulged" and "sanctioned" protests in recent weeks. "These student organizations' response to the Hamas attack revealed a disturbing degree of ivy-covered intellectual rot," he warned.

HARVARD STUDENTS STAGE MARCH, ‘DIE-IN’ BLAMING ISRAEL FOR HOSPITAL BLAST, ‘GENOCIDE’ IN GAZA

Dr. Phil called out elite universities for 'sanctioning' anti-Israel protests 'celebrating murder' after the Hamas terror attack. (Getty Images)

McGraw turned his ire onto university leaders who've allowed demonstrations which he claimed were"celebrating the murder" of Israelis.

"The leadership of these supposedly highly sophisticated schools are so busy virtue-signaling and coddling students who think that words are violence, but violence, horrific, inhumane violence, is social justice, that they have forgotten it is their job to teach their students to think and to test reality," he ranted.

"Instead of training tomorrow’s leaders," he added, "they are profoundly demagnetizing our culture’s moral compass among the college population."

He went on to say that "enlightened, woke" universities were failing miserably at educating students and training them in critical thinking.

SUPPORT FOR HAMAS VS ISRAEL AMONG COLLEGE-AGE STUDENTS SHOWS GENERATIONAL DIVIDE: POLL

Supporters of Palestine gather at Harvard University to show their support for Palestinians in Gaza at a rally in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 14, 2023. ((Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images))

"Seriously, have some of these people gotten together and collectively lost their minds?" he asked, bewildered. "We know right from wrong, and we must stand up for what we believe and know is right. We must call out these institutions. How is any of this acceptable to anyone? How is it not recognized as incredibly racist? How do elite educators not recognize this is a huge teachable moment in these students’ journey?"

McGraw admitted he's not an expert in the Middle East conflict, but said one does not need to be to immediately denounce this terror attack as "utterly sick, twisted, disgusting, and inexcusable."

The Dr. Phil Show did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An anti-Israel protester in Cambridge on Monday shouted slurs at the pro-Israel counter-protesters, calling them "pigs" and "Nazis."  (Kassy Dillon/Fox News Digital)

After the October 7 Hamas terror attack, over two dozen student groups at Harvard published a letter blaming Israel.

Students from over 100 universities across the country also hosted walk-outs this week protesting Israel's "genocide" against Palestinians, according to the national chapter of the far-left Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

The SJP chapters put out statements in support for the terror attack, claiming that the actions by Hamas are part of a "liberation movement."

The rise in protests has led some educators and activists to warn that colleges are "normalizing Jew hatred."

Jewish students at a New York City college were locked inside a school library on Wednesday as a pro-Palestinian rally moved through the building, with protesters banging on the doors and chanting "free, free Palestine," according to videos on social media.

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Fox News' Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.