Jewish students from across US describe rampant campus antisemitism at House hearing: 'Wasteland of hatred'

Jewish students from across the country testified about the rampant antisemitism they are facing at their college campuses at a congressional hearing last week.

The House Committee on Education invited students to testify about their experiences on Thursday. The students described vicious antisemitic incidents happening at Harvard, Columbia, UC Berkeley and several other universities.

"Dirty. Dirty Jew monster. Colonizer. Child killer. These are the names we were given at Stanford. Labels that strip us of our humanity, our dignity and our identity. These are the names a dozen Stanford students hurled in my face one night in November as they surrounded me," Kevin Feigelis of Stanford University told lawmakers.

"They called my people dirty Jews that were disgusting monsters, that makes them sick to look at me. Me, who has been to Israel only once. Me, who grew up in New Jersey, one of the most diverse states of the country. Me, who was raised in a broken household by a single mother. Me, who had to fight tooth and nail to get where I am today. Why? They know nothing about me besides the fact that I wear a kippah on my head. That I am a Jew," he continued. 

He added: "It's open season for Jews on our campuses." 

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Jewish students from across the country testified about the rampant antisemtism they are facing at their college campuses at a congressional hearing last week. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)

Another student, Joe Gindi, said antisemitism was surging at Rutgers University as well, arguing that some of the university's staff and administrators are "complicit" in the spread due to their inaction, and – in some cases – encouragement.

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"It is time to wake up America and understand what is happening on our college campuses," he said.

Shabbas Kestenbaum, a student at Harvard, said he and his classmates are resorting to legal measures.

California's Legislative Jewish Caucus called on university leaders to address the growing problem of antisemitism on campuses and protect Jewish students. (Getty Images)

"The situation at Harvard is so bad that we really only had two options. One was to come here, which we are doing, and the other was to hold them accountable in a court of law. We filed a lawsuit. I'm one of six plaintiffs who are making sure that if Harvard won't amend the terrible plague of antisemitism, that a court of law will. In terms of what you can be doing as United States Congress, number one subpoena, subpoena, subpoena. You would be horrified to see what is going on behind the scenes," he said.

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The students asked to participate in the hearing were Kestenbaum, Gindi and Feigelis as well as Noah Rubin, University of Pennsylvania; Talia Khan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Eden Yadegar, Columbia University; Hannah Beth Schlacter, University of California, Berkeley; Yasmeen Ohebsion, Tulane University; and Jacob Khalili, Cooper Union.

Student testimony in Washington came just days after California high school students walked out in protest after a Jewish student was called a "dirty Jew" and attacked last week. (Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)

Their testimony came just days after California high school students walked out in protest after a Jewish student was called a "dirty Jew" and attacked last week.

Danielle Eshed, 15, said a student screamed antisemitic comments before attacking her in late February.

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"He called me a dirty Jew, and then I said something out of defense," Eshed told KTLA-TV Channel 5. "He said he was going to beat me up, and I didn’t believe him until he got up, pushed me and started punching me repeatedly in the neck and the back."