By Seth Mendel, Melody Kaye, JNS
After federal scrutiny under Title VI, the university has finally acted. Far more must be done.
If you believe the headlines, the recent eruption of anti-Israel activism at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., is simply a visceral reaction to current events, either to the conflict in Gaza or a controversial Israeli speaker near campus. But for Jewish students on the ground, that’s not just inaccurate but insulting.
Yale’s lack of national scrutiny compared to other schools has allowed Jew-hatred to fester.
This hostility is the result of years of unchecked rhetoric, institutional complacency and an activist culture that has made antisemitism increasingly acceptable under the guise of social justice. For Jewish students, the question isn’t whether Yale has a problem. It’s how much longer they’re expected to endure it.
The last few weeks tell the story clearly.
On March 28, Yale Law School fired associate research scholar Helyeh Doutaghi after it was revealed that she was affiliated with Samidoun, an organization linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and had praised Hezbollah and Hamas.
Days later, on April 6, a visibly Jewish student was physically blocked from crossing campus by protesters. Yale said nothing. The next day, the Yale College Council passed a resolution shielding masked protesters from disciplinary consequences and offering legal aid. Later, more than 200 protesters repeated the genocidal chant, “From the river to the sea,” near the president’s inauguration.
On April 8, less than a year after condemning Yalies4Palestine for supporting Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, Yale’s Slifka Center turned around and hosted a student thesis titled “Reports on Israeli Apartheid” in its chapel. It promoted the same false accusations that Yalies4Palestine had used to justify Hamas.
By April 15, activists retaliated against the Ivy League university’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s working definition of antisemitism by plastering anti-Israel signs on campus.
They were back on the quad two days later, chanting against IHRA as prospective families toured campus. That same day, a Jewish student reported being cursed at by an American studies professor, a telling sign of faculty complicity. The next day, Yale’s MENA Cultural Center co-sponsored a screening of the anti-Israel film, “Encampments,” with Yalies4Palestine.
On April 22—the eve of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day—Yalies4Palestine held what they called a “vigil for martyrs” on the quad without distinguishing between civilian and terrorist deaths. On Yom Hashoah itself, they erected an encampment in the center of campus. Jewish students crossing campus were blocked and called “scum.” Protesters shouted, “How many kids did you kill today?” and one hurled a water bottle at an Israeli speaker.
And this year wasn’t out of the norm. In 2024, protesters chanted “Intifada, revolution,” displayed vile cartoons on campus and glorified a Palestinian terrorist. A Jewish student was even stabbed in the eye with a flagpole.
Two days after Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, anti-Israel activists published an endorsement of the Palestinian Arab mass murder of Jews.
Through it all, Yale’s administrators, faculty and students largely stood by. Even the Hillel Slifka Center, meant to protect Jewish life, failed the Jewish students.
According to CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, Slifka staff allegedly pressured students to delete videos documenting harassment, and stood by while extremists took over their communal spaces.
Now, after federal scrutiny under Title VI, Yale has finally acted: Revoking Yalies4Palestine’s recognition, initiating disciplinary measures and issuing long-overdue statements.
But these reactive steps raise a deeper question: Is it already too late?
Some faculty still refuse to face reality. In a recent Yale Daily News op-ed, humanities professors Greta LaFleur and Catherine Nicholson defended the encampment as a peaceful protest that was unjustly punished. They framed the demonstration that blocked access and glorified terrorism as a noble act. Their essay doesn’t defend free speech; it defends impunity. It’s a staggering inversion of moral clarity, emblematic of a faculty culture more interested in ideological posturing than in teaching or protecting Jewish students’ rights and safety.
Yale’s recent decision to revoke Yalies4Palestine’s recognition, initiate disciplinary proceedings and issue public statements condemning antisemitism are important and overdue. If the school really wants to rebuild trust, these actions must mark the beginning, not the end, of accountability.
The university must commit to a sustained, public course correction:
These are not radical demands. They are the bare minimum to restore safety, fairness and dignity. These measures do not suppress speech. Bigots are free to spew their views until they trample others’ rights. This would only help ensure that Jewish students can thrive without fear.
If Yale, with all its prestige, refuses these protections, the question isn’t how to fix the school. It’s whether Jewish students should stay at all.
