Throughout the exhibit, signs and videos recount the randomness that determined life or death on that fateful day. Credit: Instagram.
By: Mario Mancini
In the heart of downtown, a solemn yet poignant exhibit has emerged, a testament to tragedy and resilience. With a haunting display of battered shoes, recovered cell phones echoing frantic messages to loved ones, and immersive video installations capturing the confusion and terror of the day, the new downtown exhibit commemorating the Oct. 7 Nova music festival massacre invokes memories akin to the solemnity of the 9/11 Memorial and the somber reflection of Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Museum.
“It’s not an exhibition about Nova. It is Nova — we want them to feel — to feel the journey, the light in their hearts before” the attack, Feingold emphasized, highlighting the essence of the experience.
. Co-founder Ofir Amir, still bearing the physical scars of the attack, expressed the exhibition’s purpose: to honor the 370 souls lost to the violence orchestrated by Hamas.
Thousands of artifacts, ranging from burnt-out cars to bullet-pierced port-o-potties, were painstakingly assembled to recreate the harrowing scenes of the attack. Each item serves as a poignant reminder of how moments of peace were shattered by the onslaught of rockets.
“This wasn’t a terror attack. This was something much bigger – it’s biblical,” Amir remarked, underscoring the magnitude of the tragedy and the ongoing struggle for survival.
Reut Feingold, the exhibit’s creator, director, and writer, sought to transport visitors back to the festival’s joyous atmosphere before the invasion. Survivor Natalie Sanandaji and Nova Foundation Chairman Reef Peretz stand in the exhibit’s “healing room,” where the words “we will dance again” offer a beacon of hope amidst the darkness.
“It’s not an exhibition about Nova. It is Nova — we want them to feel — to feel the journey, the light in their hearts before” the attack, Feingold emphasized, highlighting the essence of the experience.
Throughout the exhibit, signs and videos recount the randomness that determined life or death on that fateful day. The violence unleashed on the music festival is depicted with unflinching honesty, as one rescue volunteer recalled the gruesome discovery of bodies burned beyond recognition.
Visitors with shell-shocked expressions traverse the dimly lit 50,000-square-foot space, culminating in a luminous healing tent and lighthouse, symbolizing the resilience and the collective determination to overcome tragedy with the rallying cry, “We will dance again.”
Tickets, starting at $1, offer access to the exhibit, with options to contribute additional donations to support survivors and their families. In this space of remembrance and reflection, the Nova music festival lives on, not just as a tragic event but as a testament to the human spirit’s enduring strength in the face of adversity.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has decided to cease donations to his alma mater, Columbia University, due to the violent pro-Hamas student protests on campus. Credit: Wikipedia
Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots and an alumnus of Columbia University, has expressed his decision to cease donations to his alma mater amid ongoing pro-Hamas protests on the university’s campus in New York City. This decision comes as the raucous demonstrations enter their sixth consecutive day.
Kraft, who graduated in 1963, conveyed his dismay over the clearly marked increase in hostility emanating from the pro-Hamas students on the Morningside Heights campus and across the nation. “I am deeply saddened at the virulent hate that continues to grow on campus and throughout our country,” he stated. He further expressed his concerns about the university’s ability to ensure the safety of its students and staff, prompting his withdrawal of financial support until the university takes corrective measures.
The situation at Columbia University has escalated with over 100 individuals arrested since the start of the protests, which are centered around the call for a cease-fire in Gaza and demands for the university to divest its investments in Israel. Some protesters have established tent encampments on the university grounds.
Jewish students have reported feeling unsafe, as chants from the protesters such as “Resistance is glorious” are replete with clear anti-Semitic overtones. In response to the growing tensions, Columbia’s president, Minouche Shafik, has transitioned classes to remote learning in an effort to de-escalate the situation. Despite these measures, Kraft has exhorted the university leadership to take a firmer stance against the hateful actions by demanding an end to the protests.
At one such protest that took place on Sunday, the pro-Hamas student protesters screamed anti-Semitic epithets at Jewish students, telling them to “Go Back to Poland,” In the last few days, other pro-Hamas student protesters have threatened Jewish students with a replication of the October 7th massacre in which 1200 Israelis and others were brutally slaughtered and 250 were taken hostage. Currently, 133 Israeli hostages remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza.
Kraft’s philanthropic contributions to Columbia have been substantial. He played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life in 2000 and also contributed to the naming of an athletic field after him in 2007, in recognition of his generous donations. These gestures illustrate his deep connection and gratitude to the institution that granted him a full academic scholarship, which significantly shaped his educational and professional journey.
Reflecting on his past experiences and the current climate at Columbia, Kraft remarked, “It was through the full academic scholarship Columbia gave me that I was able to attend college and get my start in life and for that, I have been tremendously grateful. However, the school I love so much—the one that welcomed me and provided me with so much opportunity—is no longer an institution I recognize.”
He expressed hope that the Kraft Center will continue to be a haven of security and safety for all Jewish students and faculty amidst these troubling times. However, his disappointment is palpable as he grapples with the changing landscape of his beloved alma mater,
This sentiment is echoed in similar movements across Massachusetts, where tent protests inspired by the events at Columbia have sprung up at such institutions of higher learning such Emerson College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, signaling a broader unrest and concern within academic communities.
The Yale University campus in New Haven, Conn. Credit: f11photo/Shutterstock.
By: Aaron Sibarium
Pro-Palestinian protesters at Yale University this weekend occupied a World War II memorial, tore down an American flag that flew there, and sent a Jewish student to the hospital as administrators stood by and refused to break up the protest, which violated several university rules.
The protest on Beinecke Plaza—a quad in the center of campus dedicated to Yale students who fought in WWII—focused on the university’s investments in military contractors and included graduate students participating in a “hunger strike,” now in its second week.
The investments comprise a tiny share of Yale’s $40.7 billion endowment: The school holds just $21,000 worth of stock in military contractors.
Those minuscule holdings triggered an uprising on Friday as students occupied the plaza and camped out overnight, in violation of university policies. The students tore down an American flag flying at the memorial, according to the Yale Daily News, but were not ejected from the quad despite threats of disciplinary action from administrators.
The encampment continued throughout the weekend. By Saturday evening, a Jewish student had been injured by a flag-wielding protester with no end to the chaos in sight.
Yale police are waiting to take action, an officer told a Jewish student on Saturday, until the administration gives them the green light to disperse the protest, according to a recording of the phone call between the officer and the student reviewed by the Free Beacon. The university declined to say when, or whether, it would give that order.
The inaction comes as pro-Palestinian students—often with the support of faculty—have occupied school buildings and commandeered public spaces on campuses across the country. Tensions reached a new high this week after Columbia University arrested 100 students camped out in the middle of campus. The arrests attracted hundreds of additional protesters, both from Columbia and outside of it, who have told Jewish students to “go back to Poland” and called on Hamas to kill pro-Israel counter protesters.
At Yale, protesters erected an altar to Walid Daqqa— a Palestinian terrorist convicted for his role in the 1984 murder of an Israeli soldier—as well as tributes to Leila Kahled, the first Palestinian woman to hijack an airplane.
On Saturday afternoon, the crowd started chanting “smash the settler Zionist state,” according to footage obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Later that evening, a Jewish student, Sahar Tartak, attempted to film the demonstrators—only for one of them to hit her in the face with a Palestinian flag, she wrote on X. Tartak was then surrounded by protesters and pinned against a wall, according to footage shared on X, formerly Twitter. She eventually made it to the hospital after a heated interaction with a protest marshal, who blocked her from pursuing the student who injured her, she said in a post.
A Yale University spokesman told the Free Beacon that university police were investigating the incident as a possible assault.
“The university does not tolerate violence, threats, harassment, or intimidation of members of our community,” Yale’s communications office said, “and is providing support to a student who made the report.”
At least a hundred students stayed put Saturday night after the university reiterated that they could face discipline if they did not vacate the plaza. So far, no arrests have been made.
Yale’s milquetoast response comes as other schools have taken a tougher line on disruptive protest in recent weeks.
TheTikTok building in Culver City, California. The House passed legislation that would ban TikTok in the US if its China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake. Credit: AP/Damian Dovarganes
By: Mary Clare Jalonick & Haleluya Hadero
The House passed legislation Saturday that would ban TikTok in the United States if the popular social media platform’s China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake within a year, but don’t expect the app to go away anytime soon.
The decision by House Republicans to include TikTok as part of a larger foreign aid package, a priority for President Joe Biden with broad congressional support for Ukraine and Israel, fast-tracked the ban after an earlier version had stalled in the Senate. A standalone bill with a shorter, six-month selling deadline passed the House in March by an overwhelming bipartisan vote as both Democrats and Republicans voiced national security concerns about the app’s owner, the Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd.
The modified measure, passed by a 360-58 vote, now goes to the Senate after negotiations that lengthened the timeline for the company to sell to nine months, with a possible additional three months if a sale is in progress.
Legal challenges could extend that timeline even further. The company has indicated that it would likely go to court to try and block the law if it passes, arguing it would deprive the app’s millions of users of their First Amendment rights.
TikTok has lobbied hard against the legislation, pushing the app’s 170 million U.S. users — many of whom are young — to call Congress and voice opposition. But the ferocity of the pushback angered lawmakers on Capitol Hill, where there is broad concern about Chinese threats to the U.S. and where few members use the platform themselves.
“We will not stop fighting and advocating for you,” TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said in a video that was posted on the platform last month and directed toward the app’s users. “We will continue to do all we can, including exercising our legal rights, to protect this amazing platform that we have built with you.”
The bill’s quick path through Congress is extraordinary because it targets one company and because Congress has taken a hands-off approach to tech regulation for decades. Lawmakers had failed to act despite efforts to protect children online, safeguard users’ privacy and make companies more liable for content posted on their platforms, among other measures. But the TikTok ban reflects widespread concerns from lawmakers about China.
Members of both parties, along with intelligence officials, have worried that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over American user data or direct the company to suppress or boost TikTok content favorable to its interests. TikTok has denied assertions that it could be used as a tool of the Chinese government and has said it has not shared U.S. user data with Chinese authorities.
The U.S. government has not publicly provided evidence that shows TikTok shared U.S. user data with the Chinese government or tinkered with the company’s popular algorithm, which influences what Americans see.
The company has good reason to think a legal challenge could be successful, having seen some success in previous legal fights over its operations in the U.S.. In November, a federal judge blocked a Montana law that would ban TikTok use across the state after the company and five content creators who use the platform sued.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley speaks in London. London’s police commissioner will meet with senior members of the Jewish community on Monday. (James Manning/PA via AP, File)
By: Danica Kirka
London’s police commissioner will meet with senior members of the Jewish community on Monday after the force bungled its apology for suggesting an “openly Jewish’’ man’s presence along the route of a pro-Palestinian march risked provoking the demonstrators.
Amid calls for his resignation, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley is also expected to meet with London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Home Secretary James Cleverly, who together are responsible for law and order in the city.
“We remain focused on doing everything possible to ensure Jewish Londoners feel safe in this city,” the Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement Sunday. “We know recent events and some of our recent actions have contributed to concerns felt by many.”
The meeting comes as London police struggle to manage tensions sparked by the Israel-Hamas war, with some Jewish residents saying they feel threatened by repeated pro-Palestinian marches through the streets of the U.K. capital.
The marches have been largely peaceful. However, many demonstrators accuse Israel of genocide and a small number have shown support for Hamas, the group that led the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and which has been banned by the U.K. government as a terrorist organization.
The Metropolitan Police force has deployed thousands of officers during each of the dozen major marches as it seeks to protect the rights of the pro-Palestinian protesters and prevent clashes with counterdemonstrators and Jewish residents.
In addition to meeting with leaders of the Jewish community, senior police officers wrote to the man at the center of the latest controversy, offering to meet with him to apologize and discuss what more could be done to “ensure Jewish Londoners feel safe.″
Gideon Falter, chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, was wearing a traditional Jewish skullcap when he was stopped by police while trying to cross a street in central London as demonstrators filed past on April 13.
One officer told Falter he was worried that the man’s “quite openly Jewish” appearance could provoke a reaction from the protesters, according to video posted on social media by the campaign group. A second officer then told Falter he would be arrested if he refused to be escorted out of the area, because he would be “causing a breach of the peace.”
Metropolitan Police initially apologized for the language the officer used in describing Falter’s appearance, but said counterdemonstrators had to be aware “that their presence is provocative.”
The department later deleted that apology from its social media accounts and issued a second statement.
“In an effort to make a point about the policing of protest we caused further offense,” the force said on Friday. “This was never our intention. … Being Jewish is not a provocation. Jewish Londoners must be able to feel safe in the city.”
A woman holds a “Free Azov” sing during a rally. Credit: AP/Francisco Seco
By: Samya Kullab & Elise Morton
Ukrainian and Western leaders on Sunday welcomed a desperately needed aid package passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, as the Kremlin warned that passage of the bill would “further ruin” Ukraine and cause more deaths.
Ukrainian commanders and analysts say the long-awaited $61 billion military aid package — including $13.8 billion for Ukraine to buy weapons — will help slow Russia’s incremental advances in the war’s third year — but that more will likely be needed for Kyiv to regain the offensive.
The House swiftly approved $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies in a rare Saturday session as Democrats and Republicans banded together after months of hard-right resistance over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had warned that his country would lose the war without U.S. funding, said that he was grateful for U.S. lawmaker’ decision.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Zelenskyy said that the aid package would “send the Kremlin a powerful signal that (Ukraine) will not be the second Afghanistan.”
Zelenskyy said Ukraine would prioritize long-range weapons and air defenses to “break the plans of Russia” in an expected “full-scale offensive,” for which Ukrainian forces are preparing.
The aid package will go to the U.S. Senate, which could pass it as soon as Tuesday. U.S. President Joe Biden has promised to sign it immediately.
It still could take weeks for it to reach the front line, where it is desperately needed.
“With this we can stop (Russian troops) and reduce our losses,” said infantry soldier Oleksandr. He has been fighting around Avdiivka, the city in the Donetsk region that Ukraine lost to Russia in February after months of intense combat.
Ammunition shortages linked to the aid holdup over the past six months have led Ukrainian military commanders to ration shells, a disadvantage that Russia seized on this year — taking the city of Avdiivka and currently inching towards the town of Chasiv Yar, also in Donetsk.
“The Russians come at us in waves — we become exhausted, we have to leave our positions. This is repeated many times,” Oleksandr told The Associated Press. He didn’t give his full name for security reasons. “Not having enough ammunition means we can’t cover the area that is our responsibility to hold when they are assaulting us.”
In Kyiv, many welcomed the U.S. vote as a piece of good news after a tough period that has seen Russia grind out gains along the front line, and step up attacks on Ukraine’s energy system and other infrastructure.
“I heard our president officially say that we can lose the war without this help. Thanks very much and yesterday was a great event,” said Kateryna Ruda, 43.
Tatyana Ryavchenuk, the wife of a Ukrainian soldier, noted the need for more weapons, lamenting that soldiers “have nothing to protect us.”
“They need weapons, they need gear, they need it. We always need help. Because without help, our enemy can advance further and can be in the center of our city,” the 26-year-old said.
Other Western leaders, who have been scrambling to come up with ways to fill the gap left by stalled U.S. military aid, also lauded Congress’ decision.
“Ukraine is using the weapons provided by NATO Allies to destroy Russian combat capabilities. This makes us all safer, in Europe & North America,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg posted on X.
Columbia has become the ultimate hotbed of Jewish hate as pro-Hamas students have seized the campus while intimidating Jews.
Credit: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
By: Lieba Nesis
Does it make you mad that on Sunday April 21st Columbia Chabad Rabbi Elie Buechler told the 1,500 Jewish students, over a quarter of the school, to leave campus since it was no longer a safe place to learn? Or that out of the thousands of anti-Jewish protestors spewing venom on Jewish students for the past 6 months the only two who remain suspended by Columbia through May 2025 are Jews who sprayed harmless fart spray on these protestors? Or that Columbia hasn’t fired one anti-Semitic professor since October 7th?
Chilling video from Columbia University last night.
Or that Governor Hochul fails to call in the National Guard to arrest Columbia students protesting, throwing things and punching Jewish students on campus with more rabid anti-Semites surrounding the gate leading other college campuses to follow suit? Or that President Minouche Shafik doesn’t consider calls for the annihilation of Israel or glorifying the intifada anti-Semitic? Or that after months of Columbia professors praising Hamas’s atrocities the only professor being investigated, according to Shafik, for harassment was the lone Jewish voice fighting back Shai Davidai? Or that Jewish students, who are over a quarter of the campus, are hiding in their dorms, as chants calling for their death reverberate in their beds!
🚨 HAPPENING NOW: Teacher’s Rant Promotes Anarchy.
⚠️ “Don’t work, don’t go to class, don’t research. Act out your Marxist and post-colonial ideas!”
The shocking fact that Columbia and Barnard have closed their campus to non-students, resulting in hour long waits for students to scan ID’s to enter, means the thousands of radical Islamists photographed on campus holding Arab prayers and screaming “Fuck Israel” and praising Hamas martyrs are matriculated students-meaning this problem isn’t going anywhere.
Columbia’s President Minouche Shafik testified before a congressional House committee over the failed university’s response to a burgeoning Jew hatred. Credit: AP Photo/Miriam Zuhaib
Those outside the gates are even more venomous pushing and assaulting people as the NYPD helplessly watches without any directive from party hopping Mayor-Eric Adams-who talks a good game with slogans like “Never Again is Now” while “never” producing concrete results. Who exactly are the terrorists screaming and assaulting others outside the gates? They are a domestic terrorist group called “Within Our Lifetime” led by head Jew hater Nerdeen Kiswani who flouted her ban from Columbia’s campus for incitement of violence as she was pictured in the past few days lauding Hamas calling for the eradication of Israel and the takeover of universities. While the NYPD on campus is banned by Columbia: Violent Jew hater Nerdeen Kiswani is welcomed with a wedding ceremony.
🚨 HAPPENING NOW: Teacher’s Rant Promotes Anarchy.
Witnessing the pathetic testimony on Wednesday of Shafik along with her supercilious, incompetent supporting cast: professor David Schizer and Board of Trustees Co-chairs Claire Shipman and David Greenwald was astounding. They admitted within the last six months they had been unable to come up with a definition for anti-Semitism ultimately allowing students to scream “fuck Jews” with no repercussions.
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No parent paid to send their children to be indoctrinated into radical jihadism by rogue racist Professors.
Columbia University turned into a Hate Camp for spoiled children with weak minds.
Despite Shafik’s fake British accent her three hour performance-in the words of the Brits-was bloody awful. She lied, obfuscated, hesitated, and was completely overwhelmed by the questioning after preparing for months. When asked if Shafik was hiring more professors to combat the anti-Semitic bent of the Middle East Department or if professor’s views on Israel were being taken into account her repeated response was “no but moving forward” we will.
Rep. Mike Lawler criticizes the antisemitic protests on campuses like Columbia University:
“Every single one of these college and university presidents who refused to take action should immediately resign in disgrace, and if they don’t resign—their asses should be thrown out! I… pic.twitter.com/tk0h3GCIh5
The phrase “moving forward” by a current president means “I stink at what I do”, “I am totally unprepared for this hearing” and “I have been derelict in all my current duties.” The congressional House committee, led by Virginia Foxx, saw right through her as they relentlessly questioned her failed response to a burgeoning Jew hatred that has become de rigueur in the halls of academia making this horror show readily predictable.
🚨 Instead of removing the antisemitic Hamas supporters from campus, Columbia University is removing the one Jewish professor standing up to their hate. pic.twitter.com/3UwKQPcRNE
On that fateful Wednesday April 18th a five-day-protest began where unlawful Gaza solidarity encampments littered the campus requiring the NYPD to make over 108 arrests- the first time they have been called to the Columbia campus in over 50 years. All those hate spewing anti-Semites were released hours later after claiming to be emboldened by their ability to shut the campus down and receive nationwide attention. The Keffiyeh clad protestors told Jewish students October 7th would be repeated over 10,000 times while pro-Jewish Israeli Arab Yoseph Haddad was punched in the face as anti-Jewish violence becomes commonplace.
“There is no god but Allah and martyr is beloved of Allah”, Columbia University students shout. What does Allah have to do with war between Israel and Palestine? Maybe they want a holy war in USA? pic.twitter.com/kUyFRQoDiw
The origins of these hearings began December 5th 2023 when Harvard, University of Pennsylvania and MIT failed to answer Rep. Elise Stefanik’s simple question as to whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated their code of conduct- ultimately resulting in the removal of both Harvard and U of Penn’s Presidents Claudine Gay and Elizabeth Magill. Minouche Shafik’s absence in December was due to “a scheduling conflict” biding herself a much needed four months to prepare her testimony and implement phony safeguards for Jewish students.
Unfortunately for Shafik, being the sole focus of a three hour inquiry proved detrimental as she revealed she was feckless and uninformed as the beleaguered administrator failed to check if anti-Semitic professor Joseph Massad was still teaching and admitted she was lax in combating anti-Semitism. Acknowledging she prepared hundreds of hours with dozens of lawyers for this inquiry made Shafik’s admissions more reprehensible and attested to her unsuitability for the presidency.
Protestors at Columbia University call Jews “pigs” and claim “we are Hamas” and “long live Hamas.”pic.twitter.com/D8NIXjDFqX
Shafik, newly appointed as of July 2023, manifested at Wednesday’s hearing that the school’s out-of-control pervasively violent anti-Semitism during the past six months is no accident; House members were in concurrence that at best Shafik was clueless and weak as her campus was overrun by Hamas supporters. At worst she is a covert anti-Semite allowing claims of freedom of speech to outweigh Jewish students concerns over personal safety as she fails to close down the campus and throw out unlawful protestors. Since when is 24-hour trespassing and sleeping on University property allowed? The newly signed petition of 100 Jewish students requesting to learn remotely, means the school is no longer safe for alternative pro-Jewish political views and as such Columbia University must close its doors immediately.
Who is Columbia University’s president who is allowing Hamas supporters on campus to target and terrorize Jewish students?
Who is Minouche Shafik and how did she become President of Columbia after an unimpressive stint as President of the London School of Economics for 6 years? An acolyte of Bill and Melinda Gates who serves on their foundation Board the 62-year-old Minouche is Egyptian born and counts arabic as one of her first languages. Born in Alexandria to a wealthy landowning family she fled Egypt when she was 4 after the Egyptian government seized her father’s property forcing her family to move to Savannah, Georgia in the mid-1960’s. Despite a recent New York Times profile and dozens of articles written about Minouche her parents names are nowhere to be found and so we are left with the quandary as to why her family remains so enigmatic and what their true identities are. Her parents are referred to as educators on Wikipedia and yet where and what they have taught remain a mystery. Shafik’s prominent position at Columbia University can be attributed to her close connection to Bill and Melinda Gates who have donated more than $70 million to Columbia since 1999.
At the Palestine CHAZ-style occupation at @Columbia University, extremist Muslims praise and encourage martyrdom for Islam. (“Mother of the shahid, how lucky you are.”) Many Muslims believe in killing and dying to further their religion. pic.twitter.com/qvDFFsMapo
Over the past nine months Shafik’s tenure at Columbia has been unremarkable-that was until October 7th when Columbia University became Ground Zero for dangerous demonstrations with keffiyeh wearing students overtaking the campus as chants of “fuck the Jews”, “long live the intifada”, “we will honor all the martyrs”, “there is no safe place death to the Zionist state”, “we will distract you in the streets and turn your life into nightmares” have become typical intimidating jargon greeting Jewish students on campus while Shafik remains missing in action.
Rep. Elise Stefanik questioned Columbia President Minouche Shafik during the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on “Columbia in Crisis: Columbia University’s Response to Anti-Semitism on Capitol Hill. Credit: House.gov
Since the October 7th massacre where Hamas raped, murdered and beheaded thousands of Israelis a blatantly naked anti-Semitism has emerged resulting in the tearing down of hostage posters depicting infants and teenagers tortured by Hamas. Columbia has become the ultimate hotbed of Jewish hate as pro-Palestinian students who signed an October 9th letter empathizing with Hamas’s “military action” were subsequently backed up by 170 Columbia faculty members on October 30th urging Columbia’s leadership to protect Jew hating students while themselves labeling Israel an apartheid state.
It wasn’t until top Columbia donors such as Leon Cooperman threatened to boycott that Shafik outlawed Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on November 10th after weekly demonstrations on Columbia’s campus supporting Hamas and calling for the violent elimination of the Jewish people and Israel made the campus unlivable. In March, Columbia considered reinstating these dangerous organizations while tacitly permitting them to endure as they held weekly unauthorized demonstrations threatening Jewish students.
The videos posted last night on Columbia University’s Chabad are shocking.
Student bodies never exist in a vacuum as dozens of Columbia teachers promulgate and encourage rabid Jew hatred. The most glaring is Joseph Massad a tenured professor of modern Arab politics and history who has been teaching at the Ivy League School for the past 25 years and has called Israel a racist state while praising Hamas’s October 7th attack as “awesome” “astounding” and a “stunning victory for the Palestinian resistance”.
MASS DEPORT every one of these students at Columbia University
— Marjorie Taylor Greene Press Release (Parody) (@MTGrepp) April 23, 2024
He also chairs the Academic Review Committee and when asked by House Committee Members Tim Walberg and Elise Stefanik if he was still chair Minouche falsely responded no and claimed he was reprimanded while conceding she was unsure if he still teaches. Massad refuted these claims in a written statement to CNN by saying he is not under any Columbia investigation, has never been reprimanded nor removed as chair of the Academic Review Committee. In fact his chair, Gil Hochberg, told Massad she and her Israeli 14-year-old son applauded his descriptive anti-Israel article.
This is just one of many lies told by Shafik who claimed the University had suspended 15 students in relation to antisemitism when in fact according to Chairwoman of the House Committee Virginia Foxx only three students were given interim suspensions between October and March all of which had been lifted. Seeing there are no consequences to pay has made Columbia the ultimate breeding ground for Jew hatred.
Honestly sending your kids to University of Phoenix online would probably be a better choice than sending them to Columbia University at this point, they’re getting the same type of remote education at a fraction of the cost
— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) April 23, 2024
Other Jew hating professors include Mohamed Abdou who was brought on as a visiting Columbia scholar for the Spring 2024 semester to teach a weekly class on “Decolonial-Queerness and Abolition” after having posted immediately after October 7th “Yes I’m with Hamas and Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.”
When asked by House member Kevin Kiley if he had been fired Shafik could not respond adequately instead saying he had been asked to leave and that she was unsure when but placed it a couple of weeks ago-coincidentally close to the hearing. He has recently been seen on campus participating in “fuck Israel” protests. As a visiting professor he was asked not to come back and never actively fired despite his reprehensible remarks. Shafik waited until April 7th to denounce the horrific “Hamas terrorist attack in Israel” right before the hearings producing snarks from a weary student body.
The list of Shafik’s transgressions are endless: Professor Rashid Khalidi a former PLO spokesman who said in 2016 that the pro-Israel Trump team members had “infested the government” and called Israel a “colonial power engaging in ethnic cleansing and legalized lawlessness” continues to teach. Current Iranian studies and literature professor Hamid Dabashi continues unscathed despite a Facebook post in 2018 calling Israel a “key actor in every dirty treacherous ugly and pernicious act happening in the world” and said “these laughing hyenas-the Zionists the Saudis and the US neocons are fucking with the wrong country.” Shafik said none of these professors had been spoken to since there were no complaints against them.
This festering anti-Semitism has gone unchecked for decades as Shafik told representative Kevin Kiley she was unsure if chants of “free Palestine from the River to the Sea” “long live the intifada” or calls for BDS-boycott, divestment and sanctioning-were anti-Semitic. Paradoxically, Columbia’s own Anti-Semitism Task Force established in March refuses to say what anti-Semitism is revealing it encourages pro-Palestinian hate speech.
Muslim man at Columbia University calling for students to MARTYR themselves! 😱
Despite the threats of violence and intimidation and the storming of classrooms the only students that remain suspended until May 2025 under Shafik are Jewish students who sprayed a harmless fart spray on anti-Israel protestors in January which Israel hating Ilhan Omar, whose net worth is $83 million, incorrectly referred to as a “noxious chemical substance” that required student hospitalization. Predictably, Shafik did not dispute Omar’s faulty characterization. In fact, Omar’s Barnard attending daughter “whom she was enormously proud of” was temporarily suspended at the protests-as the Jew hating apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
The only teacher out of the 3700 faculty members to stand up to Columbia’s pro-Hamas bullies is Shai Davidai, an assistant professor at Columbia Business School who was quickly thrown under the bus by Minouche who claimed under questioning from Omar that Davidai, who called Minouche a “lying coward”, was being investigated for 50 harassment complaints by students.
As students overrun an already frightening campus anti-Semites such as 77-year-old actress Susan Sarandon and machete carrying ex Cooper Union professor Shellyne Rodriguez run to the Columbia campus to enjoy the Jew hating fun fest. After calling the NYPD after over ten hours of Jew Hating chants on Thursday April 18th because Shafik said “extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary steps” all 108 arrested students were released from custody that evening and the Gaza encampment was moved to the opposite lawn.
Columbia U has become “Ground Zero” for dangerous demonstrations with keffiyeh wearing students overtaking the campus with chants of “fuck the Jews”, “long live the intifada” and “we will honor all the martyrs.” Credit: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
The fact that Shafik considered the removal of violent threatening students “an extraordinary step” is noteworthy, as the following day their protests continued unfettered with an escalation in aggression. With only Columbia and Barnard students permitted on campus half hour lines to enter the University continue to make the situation untenable as hate group “Within Our Lifetime” (WOL) berates students outside.
After Columbia University’s successful protests Anti-Israel Non Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) have been emboldened to seize campuses across the USA to force BDS with Yale, Harvard, Brown and Princeton following suit. This unchecked takeover is reminiscent of the 1940’s where hateful rhetoric ultimately led to the death of 6 million Jews. Jewish students are currently being forced out of institutions they helped build. This weekend has become a watershed moment in the takeover of hate speech as Jewish students flags are torched, while Jewish students are pushed and threatened with death-a triumph for Hamas and all its terrorist spewing acolytes.
UNRWA employee outside the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza, Nov 17, 2020. (Majdi Fathi/TPS)
This is because UNRWA doesn’t revoke refugee status for Palestinian terrorists.
By: Mike Wagenheim
Critics of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, have long noted its unique approach among United Nations agencies in granting perpetual refugee status to Palestinians, while other U.N. agencies seek to resettle those displaced by war or violence.
A JNS investigation reveals another manner in which UNRWA is an apparent aberration at the global body: It does not revoke refugee status of Palestinian terrorists.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees oversees the global body’s services to all refugees worldwide, except for Palestinians, who fall under the purview of UNRWA.
The latter is being investigated following Israeli charges that some of the U.N. agency’s staff participated directly in Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel and that a larger number of UNRWA employees are tied to Palestinian terror organizations.
Those involved in acts of terrorism under globally-defined criteria are subject to exclusion from refugee status at UNHCR, which also may exclude refugees who belong to organizations that carry out or incite violence.
JNS sought comment several times from UNRWA and from the office of António Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, about whether the agency also excludes terrorists as refugees.
Hillel Neuer, executive director of the nonprofit U.N. Watch, told JNS that for many years, Suhail al-Hindi, a school principal elected to chair UNRWA’s Palestinians’ workers union, was on Hamas’s Gaza politburo with the terror group’s Gaza head Yahya Sinwar.
Al-Hindi was eventually forced out of UNRWA not due to a violation of agency policy, but because UNRWA suffered too much embarrassment, Neuer said.
“They asked him to resign, meaning he’s probably still collecting pension,” Neuer said. “He’s now in Turkey, and he’s regularly quoted endorsing the atrocities of Oct. 7. It’s not only that they don’t deny them aid, but they allow them to serve in leadership capacity.”
“To the extent that UNHCR does have this exclusion clause, with UNRWA it would be the opposite,” Neuer said of the U.N. agencies’ approach to refugee status of terrorists.
JNS sought clarity from the United Nations and UNRWA several times about whether the agency would strip the refugee status of staff members that the U.N. investigation corroborates were involved in or connected to terrorism.
When Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of UNRWA, terminated the contracts of UNRWA staff members whom Israel accused of participating in the Oct. 7 massacre, he said publicly that the reason was “to protect the agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance.”
Loose interpretation
People can be excluded from refugee status if they violate the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, per UNHCR’s Resettlement Handbook.
More specifically, those about whom there are “serious reasons” to believe they committed a “crime against peace, a war crime or a crime against humanity” or a “serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge” prior to being admitted to that country as a refugee or who have “been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations,” can be excluded.
Elsewhere in the handbook, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees notes that most acts of violence commonly called “terrorism” qualify, “particularly if they indiscriminately endanger or harm civilians.”
The 1951 convention, which the handbook cites, states that “This convention shall not apply to persons who are at present receiving from organs or agencies of the United Nations other than the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees protection or assistance.”
Israel is preparing to escalate its military campaign against the Hamas organization in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Credit: AP
Israel is preparing to escalate its military campaign against the Hamas organization in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, just weeks after the IDF withdrew most of its ground forces from southern Gaza.
The prime minister issued a video message in Hebrew Sunday, highlighting the upcoming Passover festival, which begins Monday at sundown, and announcing plans for increased military and diplomatic “pressure” on Hamas to return the 133 Israeli captives remaining in Gaza.
“On this night, 133 of our dear brothers and sisters are not around the Seder table, and they are still held hostage by Hamas in hellish conditions,” Netanyahu said.
“We have already freed 124 of our hostages and we are committed to returning them all home – the living and the deceased alike. And why is this night not different?”
“That in every generation they rise up to destroy us, and the Holy One, blessed be He, saves us from them.”
Netanyahu blamed Hamas for the stalled hostage talks in Cairo, highlighting comments by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accusing the Gaza terror group of not negotiating in good faith.
“Unfortunately, until now, all proposals for releasing the hostages have been rejected outright by Hamas. Therefore, the American Secretary of State rightly said that Hamas has refused every proposal that it has been presented with. In his words, the only thing preventing a hostage release deal is Hamas.”
The Israeli premier compared Hamas to the biblical Pharaoh, and pledged that the IDF would strike “painful blows” to the terror group in the near future.
“Instead of withdrawing from its extreme positions, Hamas is counting on a rift among us. It draws encouragement from the pressure being directed at the Government of Israel.”
“As a result of this, it has only hardened its conditions for the release of our hostages. It is hardening its heart and refusing to let our people go. Therefore, we will strike it with additional painful blows – and this will happen soon.”
“In the coming days, we will increase the military and diplomatic pressure on Hamas because this is the only way to free our hostages and achieve our victory.”
Responding to reports over the weekend that the Biden administration plans to blacklist the IDF’s ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion, Netanyahu said his government would do everything possible to defy the sanctions.
“I will strongly defend the IDF, our army and our fighters. If somebody thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit in the IDF – I will fight this with all my powers.”
“As our soldiers are united in defending us on the battlefield, we are united in defending them in the diplomatic arena.”
The Shin Bet denied a report on Sunday by the British Daily Mail that intelligence gathered by Israel’s internal security service is leading to fears that only 40 hostages out of the 133 being held by Hamas in Gaza are alive.
According to the report from the London-based tabloid, a dwindling number of captives have survived after 253 were kidnapped during the Hamas-led rampage across the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7.
The report cites the Shin Bet and anonymous sources to make the claim.
“The publication in question is not true and does not represent the opinion of the Shin Bet,” the agency said.
“The numbers mentioned in the article are based on the writer’s opinion only and are not based on information from the Shin Bet.”
The IDF has confirmed that 34 of those taken to Gaza on Oct. 7 are dead, and others are feared to be no longer alive.
A total of 1,200 mostly civilians were murdered and thousands of others were wounded during the attack, which included widespread atrocities.
A truce reached last November saw 105 captives released, with three other hostages freed in military rescue operations and four freed separately.
The bodies of 12 hostages have been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military.
Negotiations to release the rest of the hostages have been going on for months.
They have been mediated by the Americans, Egyptians and Qataris with the involvement of the Israelis and the Hamas terrorist group and have taken place in Cairo, Doha and Paris.
“Negotiating is a lost cause. We cannot possibly negotiate dead bodies for the release of hundreds or thousands more terrorists,” a security source told the Daily Mail.
Meanwhile, Israel’s War Cabinet will convene on Sunday evening to discuss the deadlock in hostage release negotiations following the response by Hamas to a U.S. proposal.
The meeting was supposed to take place last week but was postponed due to the Iranian attack on Israel.
The meeting is being held at the behest of Ministers-without-Portfolio Benny Gantz and Gadi Eizenkot.
JNS also reported on Sunday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan should be “ashamed” after he met at his office in Istanbul with Hamas terror leader Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday, Israel’s foreign minister said.
“Muslim Brotherhood: Rape, massacre, desecration of corpses, burning babies. @RTErdogan, you should be ashamed!” Israel Katz tweeted in Turkish alongside a picture of Erdoğan and Haniyeh shaking hands during their hours-long meeting. He tweeted the same message in Hebrew.
Ankara has given full-throated support to Hamas after its Oct. 7 massacre and during the ensuing war in Gaza.
The NATO member has also started a trade war with Jerusalem over the ongoing war to defeat Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and other governments.
According to Erdoğan’s office, the president, whose party recently suffered a historic defeat in nationwide local elections, urged Palestinians during the meeting to unite for “victory” against the Jewish state.
Also discussed were efforts to achieve a ceasefire and increase the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
Hamas still holds more than 100 Israeli hostages in Gaza taken during the Oct. 7 rampage in the northwestern Negev, with many feared to be dead.
Perhaps the most famous component of Israel’s air defense system, the Iron Dome protects against short-range missiles and other airborne attacks, and has been extremely active in the past six months, bringing down airstrikes launched by Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Photo Credit: YouTube.com
By: NoCamels Team
The world watched on its screens and Israelis watched live in the skies above them. Almost every single one of the hundreds of drones and missiles that Iran’s fundamentalist regime fired at Israel on Saturday night were intercepted, thanks to Israel’s allies and the innovation for which the country has been renowned for decades.
Israel’s air defenses today are multi-tiered – providing layers of protection that are an overwhelmingly successful answer to the threat from terror groups, enemy states and their proxies in the region.
So how does it work?
Iron Dome (Hebrew: Kipat Barzel)
Perhaps the most famous component of Israel’s air defense system, the Iron Dome protects against short-range missiles and other airborne attacks, and has been extremely active in the past six months, bringing down airstrikes launched by Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iron Dome batteries are mobile and placed within civilian areas (the “whoosh” of the system deploying can be heard during attacks by those in the vicinity) and activated when an attack begins.
The system, which was first brought into operation in 2011, uses radar to detect a missile attack on Israel, sending to a command center all information about the trajectory and speed of the projectiles that were fired.
The computers in the command center then calculate where the incoming missile is expected to strike, and personnel decide whether to intercept based on the threat to areas that are populated or of strategic importance.
The David’s Sling missiles (called stunners) are launched almost vertically and have a steering system at the front and the rear, as well as an onboard radar system and multiple sensors to track the attacking missile. The stunners also use radar on the ground to help guide them. Each David’s Sling battery consists of 12 stunners. The batteries are stationary, but are believed to be able to defend the entirety of the State of Israel, with a range of 250 km. Photo Credit: YouTube.com
If the missile is predicted to land in an open area, no interception is required. However, if the missile is expected to strike a populated area, the warhead-laden interceptors are launched to neutralize the threat in the air.
The system has a successful interception rate of around 90 percent.
The defense system was developed jointly by the state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, with assistance from the United States.
The system reportedly costs around $50,000 per interception from a launcher’s battery of 20, although the complete system (radar, computer and three or four launchers) is believed to run to $100 million apiece.
David’s Sling (Hebrew: Kela David)
This medium-to-long range missile defense system first became operational in 2017, jointly developed by Rafael and the privately owned US defense contractor Raytheon (RTX).
Formerly known as Magic Wand (Sharvit Ksamim), the system is designed to intercept projectiles such as cruise and ballistic missiles as well as drones.
Unlike Iron Dome, the system has no warhead, instead striking its target directly to intercept it. The defense system works in two stages, first identifying and tracking the incoming strike and then targeting it.
The David’s Sling missiles (called stunners) are launched almost vertically and have a steering system at the front and the rear, as well as an onboard radar system and multiple sensors to track the attacking missile. The stunners also use radar on the ground to help guide them.
Each David’s Sling battery consists of 12 stunners. The batteries are stationary, but are believed to be able to defend the entirety of the State of Israel, with a range of 250 km.
Each stunner costs a reported $1 million to produce. Like Iron Dome, its success rate is said to be over 90 percent.
Arrow (Hebrew: Hetz)
The Arrow (versions 2 and 3) anti-ballistic missiles are Israel’s long-range defense mechanism, and considered among the most effective missile defense systems in the world.
Both versions of the Arrow use hypersonic speed (more than five times the speed of sound) – although the Arrow 3 is lighter, allowing it to travel faster and higher and for a longer range.
The Arrow 2 destroys its targets in the upper atmosphere while the Arrow 3 can intercept missiles beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, but both are designed to strike an incoming projectile before it begins to descend.
The Arrow works by identifying, tracking and intercepting long-range missiles by directly colliding with them. The Arrow 2 also uses fragmentation warheads, which splinter as they explode, sending fragments in multiple directions.
The system, which unlike the David’s Sling is mobile and can be launched from the back of a truck, became operational in 2000, and was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries alongside the US Missile Defense Agency.
Each Arrow missile is said to cost $3.5 million.
Iron Beam (Hebrew: Keren Barzel)
An experimental technology that is still officially in development although it is expected to be operational in the near future.
The mobile system consists of two pivoting laser guns, a surveillance system to track the incoming projectile and a control center staffed by personnel who issue commands to the system.
The laser gun creates a high-energy beam that can bring down missiles, mortars and drones at a reported maximum range of 10 km. The laser heats its target to incredibly high temperatures very quickly, rendering it obsolete.
While the system is still not operational, Israel says it will be massively less expensive than the existing costly tiers in Israel’s missile defense system, with unlimited interceptions and requiring less operators and maintenance.
The Arrow works by identifying, tracking and intercepting long-range missiles by directly colliding with them. The Arrow 2 also uses fragmentation warheads, which splinter as they explode, sending fragments in multiple directions. Photo Credit: Wikipedia.org
However, its critics say that the system would struggle to function in cloudy weather, and because the beam requires several seconds to heat the target, it would struggle to stay locked on a fast-moving object. Furthermore, a heat-resistant coating could also thwart its effectiveness.
The system was also created by Rafael, and, according to Israel, an interception by Iron Beam would cost just $2, compared to the tens of thousands of dollars spent on each Iron Dome launch.
The Arab-Israeli conflict may be the precursor to WWIII.
Based on international law, Israelis have the right to live anywhere in the British Mandate for Palestine, their ancestral homeland.
Muslims see the conflict as a religious war. Non-Muslims are Dhimmi. They are to be dominated and humiliated. The Arab term for blacks is Abeed, meaning slave.
The first Arab-Jewish conflict occurred in Medina. In 622, the Prophet Mohammed found shelter among the Quraysh Jews after being rejected in Mecca. The Jews operated camel caravans and were prosperous. They signed the Constitution of Medina, ensuring co-operation and laying the foundation for a Muslim community.
However, in 629, the Prophet abrogated his agreement, beheaded the Jewish men and boys and took the women captive.
The principal of lying to the Infidel to gain an advantage is called Taqiyya and is enshrined in the Koran.
The Arabs spread out of Arabia, conquering and colonizing much of the known world, from Asia through southern Euro and North Africa. They believe any land, once Muslim, is Muslim forever.
In World War One the allies defeated Germany and the Ottoman Empire. The San Remo Accords established mandates for Palestine, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
The 1920s saw the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the rise of Nazism in Europe. The Brotherhood’s aim is to spread the Caliphate world-wide.
The leader of the mandates’ Arabs was Nazi war criminal Haj Amin al-Husseini, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. He instigated pogroms against Middle East Jews from the 1920s. In Germany during WWII, he formed the Bosnian Muslim 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar.
Following the defeat of Germany and its Arab partners in World War Two, the United Nations suggested splitting the British mandate, promised the Jews by the League of Nations and Article 80 of the UN Charter, into Arab and Jewish states. The Jews agreed. The Arabs did not and launched the Nakba to ‘drive the Jews into the sea’.
Before 1964, only Jews were called Palestinians. In 1964, the Soviet KGB created the Palestine Liberation Army to thwart America influence. They called Israel, ‘Palestine’ and non-Jews, ‘Palestinians’. Terrorism was their tool to focus attention on the ‘Palestine’ narrative.
Seventy-five years after the establishment of the state, Islamo-fascists still have not accepted Israel as a permanent part of the Middle East.
Israel is the 10th most powerful country in the world and the 5th happiest. It is a liberal democracy with robust political parties. Its per-capita GDP exceeds that of Canada, New Zealand, Australia or the UK. Its hospitals have Jewish and Arab staffs and patients.
It’s time for Islamists and the useful idiots who support them, to face reality and to solve the horrible refugee problem created by corrupt Arabs and the United Nations.
Sincerely Len Bennett, Author of ‘Unfinished Work’
Ideas on Presidential Debates
Dear Editor:
Why host a series of debates on Sunday night alternating between both Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates after Labor Day up to the last Sunday prior to Election Day? Each debate should deal with a specific topic, questions and answers from the candidates. They should be allowed to comment on each other’s responses. Issues to be covered under each debate could be general domestic, general foreign affairs, economy and inflation, border security, urban crime and dealing with solving our long term national debt. Any candidate who refuses to show up, should have an empty chair representing them on the dais.
Sincerely, Larry Penner Great Neck
Unfair Sanctions on Israeli Army Unit
Dear Editor:
I was outraged to read, in your April 20 issue, that the Biden administration has imposed sanctions on an Israeli army unit consisting of Orthodox Jews. Meanwhile, numerous members of the Palestinian police and security forces are actually involved in acts of terrorism, yet Biden has never sanctioned them. In fact, he won’t even criticize them. And he calls himself a friend of Israel?
Sincerely, Fred Bergman Flatbush
John Fetterman Speaks Up for the Hostages
Dear Editor:
Thank you, Senator John Fetterman, for promising to keep speaking out publicly about the hostages in Gaza (article in your April 20 edition). I notice Sen. Chuck “Shomer” never speaks about them. And, of course, neither do groups like J Street or even our own State Department. Could you imagine if Israelis were holding a bunch of Gazans hostage? All these so-called humanitarians would be screaming day and night. But when Jews are held hostage, well, I guess that gets in the way of their particular political agenda. What a tragedy!
Sincerely, Del Goren Brooklyn
Netanyahu Rising in Popularity
Dear Editor:
Senator Charles Schumer must be horrified by the news (as reported in your April 20 edition) that the latest polls show Prime Minister Netanyahu continuing to rise in popularity among the Israeli public. Schumer’s recent demand that Netanyahu resign was a gross violation of Israel’s internal affairs and disregard for the views of Israeli voters. The new polls are another reminder of how un-democratic this so-called Democratic senator really is.
Sincerely, Ethel Brogen Boro Park
The Silence of Jewish Faculty Members
Dear Editor:
So the dean of students at Northwestern University, Mona Dugo attended an anti-Israel protest outside the campus Hillel building last week. She claimed she was doing it “to protect the right to free speech” (according to your April 20 article). Well, I for one don’t believe her. Why? Because if white supremacists were demonstrating outside a campus building where African-American students were meeting, do you think Dugo would be out there, marching with them? Not a chance.
So why are the Jewish faculty members at Northwestern silent? Why aren’t they raising their voices to protest what their dean is doing? Dugo ought to be fired, and the Jewish professors at Northwestern should have the courage to say so.
Columbia president Minouche Shafik and two other officials were questioned by the same committee that has been investigating the surge in anti-Semitism at American universities and that had grilled the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in December. Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
The strength of America’s commitment not to tolerate hate is being tested by liberals who are supporting pro-Hamas protesters spewing Jew-hatred.
By: Jonathan S. Tobin
Any doubt about whether Columbia University understood the anger that its toleration of routine Jew-hatred on its campus had generated was removed this week on the day after school officials testified before the U.S. House of Representatives. And what followed represented a rare effort to enforce some consequences against the anti-Semitic mobs that have become a regular feature of American urban and college life in the last six months. But while the sight of police arresting illegal demonstrators howling bigotry against Jews was a relief to those who worried about the free pass such people seem to have gotten from authorities, the willingness of so many liberal pundits in the corporate press to defend the mobs is a sign of just how dangerous this moment in history has become.
Columbia president Minouche Shafik and two other officials were questioned by the same committee that has been investigating the surge in anti-Semitism at American universities and that had grilled the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in December.
As historian Niall Ferguson has written in his seminal Free Press essay, “The Treason of the Intellectuals,” what is happening on American campuses today is a frightening replay of what was going on in European universities in the 1920s and ’30s. Just like a century ago, the intellectual fashion of the day has made the Jews the scapegoats for everything the educated and credentialed classes don’t like. Photo Credit: Wikipedia.org
That trio shocked the country when they told the committee that it depended on “the context” as to whether advocacy for the genocide of Jews was against the rules of their respective institutions. Shafik didn’t commit the same mistake. Still, she had no good answer when asked why she has not only been tolerating a hostile atmosphere for Jews on campus in the aftermath of Hamas’s massacres in southern Israel on Oct. 7 but also refusing to enforce the school’s rules against unauthorized demonstrations. At the time she testified, one such “pro-Palestinian” encampment on the university’s South Lawn in front of the iconic Butler Library remained, despite the fact that those involved were told to remove it. There, the students were—as they have done for months—not only spouting the same lies about Israel committing “genocide” in Gaza but calling for the destruction of the one Jewish state on the planet (“from the river to the sea”) and in favor of terrorism against Jews (“globalize the intifada”).
Calling in the cops
Shafik’s decision to ask the New York City Police Department to enter the campus on Manhattan’s Upper West Side was surprising to many who know the university. Normally, the NYPD does not enter the Morningside Heights campus since it has its own Public Safety Department. Shafik rightly understood that removing the demonstrators was beyond the school’s capacity. So she called in the police to evict the tent dwellers though, as the Times reported the next day, they were soon back in place with no sign of law enforcement following up.
Those who watch the videos of the police action will be struck by both their restraint and professionalism, as well as by the vicious nature of the students, who were angered by the decision of the university to rein them in. The spectacle of entitled Ivy League students—many of whom come from privileged backgrounds—venting their contempt and calling police officers, who generally come from the working class, “pigs,” as well as expressing hatred for America itself, is as shocking as it is illustrative of the divisions in contemporary society.
Other videos from that day’s actions shared on X by witnesses were equally appalling as they recorded for posterity the way Columbia students—many of them wearing masks to conceal their identity for the same reason that members of the Ku Klux Klan wore white hoods—chanted their support for Hamas and their intolerance for the presence of “Zionists” on campus and said that they looked forward to more Oct. 7 massacres of Jews. Photo: Joshua Briz/AP
Other videos from that day’s actions shared on X by witnesses were equally appalling as they recorded for posterity the way Columbia students—many of them wearing masks to conceal their identity for the same reason that members of the Ku Klux Klan wore white hoods—chanted their support for Hamas and their intolerance for the presence of “Zionists” on campus and said that they looked forward to more Oct. 7 massacres of Jews. Indeed, nothing could better illustrate how critical race theory and intersectionality, which falsely label Jews and Israel as “white” oppressors, grant a permission slip for the kind of open hatred that was long thought to be confined to the margins of American life where only right-wing extremists dwell.
As historian Niall Ferguson has written in his seminal Free Press essay, “The Treason of the Intellectuals,” what is happening on American campuses today is a frightening replay of what was going on in European universities in the 1920s and ’30s. Just like a century ago, the intellectual fashion of the day has made the Jews the scapegoats for everything the educated and credentialed classes don’t like.
Scenes like these have been playing out all over the country this week as pre-planned pro-Hamas demonstrations were held on April 15, featuring masked thugs spouting propaganda about Jews committing genocide and shouting their support for Hamas as they blocked key highways, bridges, tunnels and transportation hubs.
Uncivil disobedience
We have come to expect such stunts and other acts of intimidation by left-wing activists in what can only be termed an epidemic of uncivil disobedience. But as the president of Columbia learned, many Americans are sick and tired of seeing public spaces commandeered by extremists engaging in hate speech and want to see authorities take action to see to it that these people are not allowed to engage in this sort of behavior without consequences. Students who transgress their school’s rules about hate speech and who seek to turn their campuses into no-go zones for Jews and supporters of Israel need to be punished, suspended or expelled. Citizens also expect to see city governments similarly protect the public by having such persons not only arrested but charged and prosecuted for violating the law.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) spoke for many when he posted on X that he believed that citizens who are being obstructed by pro-Hamas demonstrators should “take matters into your own hands to get them out of the way.” He then added another post with a video of someone roughly hauling leftists out of a street where they had laid down to halt traffic to show their sympathy for “Palestine.”
Cotton was attacked by the left for a 2020 New York Times op–ed demanding that the National Guard be called out to halt the “mostly peaceful” Black Lives Matter riots that were tearing America’s cities in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of police. That essay prompted a revolt in the Times newsroom by woke staffers who didn’t believe that the paper should publish anything that contradicted their ideological orthodoxies, which led the newspaper to purge the editors that had approved its publication.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) spoke for many when he posted on X that he believed that citizens who are being obstructed by pro-Hamas demonstrators should “take matters into your own hands to get them out of the way.” He then added another post with a video of someone roughly hauling leftists out of a street where they had laid down to halt traffic to show their sympathy for “Palestine.” Credit: AP
This time, Sen. Cotton was again widely lambasted for what his critics said was advocating violence, though that seems pretty rich when you consider that the demonstrators are there to show their support for the survival of a genocidal terrorist movement. A better suggestion would be for the police to do the job rather than for ordinary citizens to take matters into their own hands. But even the police aren’t always able to cope with this problem. Departments are short of personnel after years of “defund the police” activism from BLM advocates and their liberal fellow travelers. Many urban prosecutors—elected as part of billionaire George Soros’s campaign to make America’s criminal justice system more criminal-friendly—are also refusing to charge those who break the law in this manner even when violence is involved.
As a result, the public is often held hostage by leftist antisemitic thugs.
Defending hate
Just as troubling is the willingness of many in the chattering classes to defend the protesters and pretend that expressions of anti-Semitism are a matter of free speech rather than hate. The Guardian’s Moira Donegan attacked Shafik in a column for what she described as “colluding with the far right” by calling in the police to enforce the university’s rules. She treated the entire idea that anti-Semitism was present as a right-wing talking point rather than an awful reality for Jewish students, whose plight interested her not at all.
The Times’ Michelle Goldberg sounded a similar theme in her denunciation of both the House committee investigating anti-Semitism and Shafik.
Both quoted comments by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a committee member whose questions were aimed at denying the anti-Semitic nature of the mobs that had transformed Columbia into a hotbed of Jew-hatred. That someone who has been censured by the House for her own repeated anti-Semitic rhetoric should sit on such a committee (or in Congress itself) is an irony completely lost on leftists. Both Donegan and Goldberg thought it was an outrage that Omar’s daughter—a junior at Barnard College—was among those participating in the pro-Hamas demonstration and rightly suspended from the school, though that piece of information was not generally known when Omar was trying to sabotage the hearing.
As with the rest of the debate about whether the antisemitism being vented on college campuses in the six months since Oct. 7 should be protected free speech, most of the arguments in defense of these mobs are disingenuous. The notion that the pro-Hamas activists are defending free speech is risible considering that most of their efforts are focused on silencing defenders of Israel and the Jews. These are not idealists acting out their sympathy for Palestinian victims but, rather, ideologues who have embraced the cause of a terrorist war to destroy the Jewish state.
What must also be acknowledged is that the crusade on the part of much of the liberal commentariat to defend or rationalize this epidemic of anti-Semitism is profoundly illiberal. This applies to those who, like the Times’ foreign-policy columnist Nicholas Kristof, have sought to mainstream blood libels against Israel. Their goal is to change the conversation about the war against Hamas from a necessary campaign to eradicate terrorists to an effort to legitimize a genocidal movement and its Western apologists.
The saddest aspect of this debate is the way it has been politicized by the left to make it appear that the fight against anti-Semitism is a Republican issue. It is deeply unfortunate that much of the liberal activist base of the Democratic Party that has been captured by advocates for critical race theory and intersectionality has taken sides against Israel in the war against Hamas. It’s also true that—as the daily drumbeat of incitement against Israel and its Jewish supporters in the Times, The Washington Post and MSNBC show—left-wing journalists are doing their utmost to legitimize anti-Jewish hate.
Both quoted comments by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a committee member whose questions were aimed at denying the anti-Semitic nature of the mobs that had transformed Columbia into a hotbed of Jew-hatred. That someone who has been censured by the House for her own repeated anti-Semitic rhetoric should sit on such a committee (or in Congress itself) is an irony completely lost on leftists. Credit: AP
The effort to curb the surge of anti-Semitism in this country should not be conducted along party lines. Democrats and Republicans, liberals as well as conservatives, should be lining up against those who agree with Omar and her cheering section that anti-Semitic mobs are principled idealists rather than self-entitled hate-mongers. All decent Americans should—if not agreeing with Cotton about roughly preventing illegal protesters from taking over our public squares—be actively seeking to treat these antisemitic agitators with the disdain and punishment they deserve. If the defenders of the mobs prevail, the alternative is a nation where anti-Semitism is mainstreamed and Jewish safety a thing of the past.
Purées are a blank canvas upon which you can showcase a short rib or chicken breast.
By: Naomi Ross
Purées are wonderful as a side dish or background accompaniment; they are a blank canvas upon which you can showcase a short rib or chicken breast. Potatoes may be the most common ingredient because there are so many varieties, and it is the ubiquitous food when it comes to Passover. No need to use the plain-old white potato; vary your mash.
Try this with kohlrabi instead of celeriac for a slightly sweeter variation (the combination actually tastes like cauliflower).
What did people use before food processors? The food mill! It’s a great tool for blending foods into specific textures with precision and total control. The fine disc is perfect for completely smooth purees like baby food, and the medium disc makes perfectly textured applesauce while holding back unwanted skins.
Cook’s Note: I like using a food mill for the best texture and total control; if using a food processor, pulse just until you reach desired consistency.
Celeriac and Potato Purée (Dairy or Pareve)
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
1 large celeriac (aka celery root), peeled and chunked
4 large or 6 srmall potatoes, peeled and chunked
kosher salt to taste, plus 1 teaspoon
1-2 Tablespoons butter or olive oil
freshly ground black pepper to taste
fresh minced hebs such as dill, parsley, etc. (optional)
Directions:
Fill a large pot with salted water. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a rolling boil.
Add celeriac and potatoes. Return to a boil and simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until celeriac is tender and easily pierced with a fork.
Remove from heat. Set a food mill fitted with a medium blade over a large bowl.
Using a slotted spoon, remove celeriac and potatoes (reserve some of the cooking water) and transfer to the food mill. Rotate food mill until all of the celeriac and potatoes are puréed; you may need to do this in batches.
Add butter or olive oil to the hot milled mixture; stir to dissolve and blend.
(Alternatively, you can use a food processor fitted with an “S” blade. Process the celeriac and potatoes with butter or oil by pulsing until puréed.)
Add a little of the reserved cooking water to the mixture onlyas needed to thin the consistency if too thick.
Season to taste with plenty of salt and pepper, as well as herbs, if desired.
Celeriac Purée. Photo by Baila Gluck.
Roasted Garlic Variation:
For a stronger flavor, add 2 roasted garlic cloves (peels removed) to the food mill prior to puréeing.
Spiced French Roast With Dried Fruits (Meat)
Serves 6-8
This braised meat is perfect for seder night or any special time of year. A super aromatic spice rub infuses the meat with flavor overnight, so plan to marinate it a day ahead. This recipe can be used interchangeably with brisket or top-of-the-rib. Amounts double easily for a larger cut of meat.
Cook’s Note: For a thicker sauce, transfer cooking liquid into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes, reducing until thickened to desired consistency.
Make Ahead: This can be made two to three days ahead of time. For the best slicing success, slice when cold; rewarm covered in a 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes.
Spiced French Roast With Dried Fruits. Photo by Baila Gluck.
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
¾ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1 (3-pound) French roast
2-3 Tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
2 medium onions, sliced (about 3 cups)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup dry kosher red wine
2 small or 1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 small or 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
½ cup whole pitted prunes
½ cup dried apricots
2 Tablespoons water
1½ Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
chopped parsley for garnishing (optional)
Directions:
Combine the salt, coriander, cumin, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice together in a small bowl. Arrange the roast in a large roasting pan; rub the spice mixture evenly over both sides. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Heat 2 tablespoons of canola oil in a very large skillet over high heat. Carefully place the roast in the skillet. Brown for 1 to 2 minutes per side, turning once. Remove the roast from the pan and transfer to a plate.
Lower heat to medium and add another tablespoon of oil to the pan if it looks dry. Add onions and garlic, and sauté, stirring often, about 5 to 6 minutes or until translucent. Pour wine into the pan and deglaze, scraping up the browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
Transfer mixture to a roasting pan, arranging the roast on top, fat side up. Surround the roast with parsnips, carrots, prunes and apricots.
In a separate small bowl, mix the water, honey and tomato paste. Stir to blend and then pour over the top of the roast, spreading to cover. Cover pan tightly with foil and bake until tender, about 2½ hours (or longer for larger cuts). Meat is done when a fork pierces and releases easily. Allow the meat to rest and cool for about 30 minutes.
Transfer the roast to a cutting board or work surface. Using a very sharp carving knife, thinly slice the roast against the grain on a slight diagonal.
Transfer slices to a serving platter, and surround the meat with the roasted vegetables and fruits. Garnish with chopped parsley.
From where can we learn to transcend ourselves? Mostly from our mothers.
Let’s all leave ourselves behind this Passover
By: Tzvi Freeman
Every morning and every night, a Jew has to remember two things:
G‑d is one.
He took us out of Egypt.
They’re the bookends of the Shema Yisrael declaration. It begins with our affirmation that “G‑d is One” and ends with His affirmation that “I am G‑d, your G‑d, who took you out of the land of Egypt to be your G‑d.”
It may seem bizarre that the two come wrapped in a single package. What does G‑d’s oneness have to do with leaving Egypt?
But the answer is simple: They are both about self-transcendence.
We leave Egypt every day by transcending ourselves, embracing the state of consciousness that G‑d is one and we are part of that oneness.
With that we are free, and all freedom stems from there.
Art by Sefira Lightstone
Leave Yourself at the Door
From where can we learn to transcend ourselves? Mostly from our mothers.
My mother had gone through much pain in life, a delicate woman who had to learn to bounce back again and again. At sixteen, she had immigrated from a palatial mansion in India to a life of struggle in Canada. Her first marriage had been an abusive one, we were not easy kids to raise, and her health was always just on the verge of collapse.
There were times when she spoke to me as though she were a sister, sharing her most inner feelings.
Like one afternoon in my adolescence, when she sat on the sofa in the living room, hugging her coffee mug and staring listlessly into space. The sight shook even a self-absorbed teenage boy such as myself.
“Mom, are you okay?” I asked.
“I’ll be just fine,” she answered, “as soon as I stop thinking about myself and start caring for others.”
Years later, that memory resonated when I heard a story of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi.1
The rabbi had a wealthy disciple who had fallen into heavy debt and could no longer fulfill his commitments. The man came to him and poured out his heart. After listening attentively to the man’s sorrows, the rabbi answered.
“You’ve told me all that you need. You haven’t said a word about why you are needed.”
“The world needs you to enlighten it with your Torah and the labor of your heart,” he continued. ”G‑d needs to provide you with a living and all your needs. You do what you need to do and let Him do what He needs to do.”
It might sound a little harsh. The guy’s in pain. He’s an honest man and he wants to keep his financial commitments. He needs a loan, not a swift kick. In fact, the story goes, the man passed out and had to be carried out of the rabbi’s study and revived.
But the rabbi gave him a gift greater than any loan. He gave him the key to happiness. Dwell on your own self and circumstances and you’re guaranteed to become depressed.2 Get out of yourself. See the big picture and find your place within it. You’ll be much happier and the entire world will benefit as well.
From the dawn of human consciousness, we have been clutching for the magic doorknob that takes us out of ourselves.
Getting Back to the Garden
From the dawn of human consciousness, we have been clutching for the magic doorknob that takes us out of ourselves.
How did we get locked in this prison? Nachmanides wrote that we entered the cell of self-knowledge and lost contact with the transcendent when we surrendered to our sensual impulses in the Garden of Eden.
Noah, the Zohar explains, attempted to escape that prison of self by means of a psychotropic produced through the fermentation of grapes, a.k.a. strong wine.
He failed. Humanity only became yet more entangled within its own web. But that hasn’t prevented others from attempting similar ventures, up to this very day.
Not all such attempts involve chemicals. In the 1950s, neurophysiologist William Grey Walter discovered he could induce hallucinogenic states by flashing lights on closed eyelids at the same frequency as alpha brainwaves. That inspired artist Brion Gysin to create the “Dreamachine”—billed as a drug-free avenue to spiritual enlightenment for the masses. The machine was recently reincarnated and is booked to travel this summer across Europe. It even has its own roadies: a team of neuroscientists to cull data from the experiences of participants.
Today, researchers at several prestigious institutions are experimenting with inducing self-transcendent states through forms of meditation, exposure to awe-inducing stimuli such as towering Tasmanian eucalyptus trees, or even transcranial focused ultrasound.
Indeed, few shifts in our society are as tectonic as the rising prominence of the search for self-transcendence in mainstream psychology. A simple n-gram in Google Books shows a 600% climb in the usage of the term since 1960, mostly beginning around 1985, and increasing almost every year since.
The truth is, the benefits achieved through these methods in the treatment of pain and depression are impressive. But I don’t think anyone believes this is Moses coming to liberate us and take us to the Promised Land. Or back to the garden. We’re still repeating Noah’s folly.
For one thing, other than the mindfulness practice path—which by all accounts takes the greatest investment of time and effort—all these interventions are extrinsic. How, then, could they effect any real and lasting inner change? No pain, no investment, no gain.
In Vancouver in the 70s, we had a wise old man from India nicknamed the Gastown Guru. He used to tell psychedelic trippers, “If you didn’t take yourself there, you never arrived.”
But, more importantly, entangled within a valuable truth, a serious misconception guides all these journeys.
The truth they contain is that people do not become free just because no one is telling them what to do. If every dictator on the planet would die tomorrow, humanity would remain enslaved. Freedom demands a higher state of perception and consciousness. True.
The fallacy is that freedom could be a private affair, a personal enlightenment, unshared, held deep inside. Seductive. But a lie.
No one can claim to be free while living in an oppressive world. No pill, no psychedelic hallucination, not even your own state of blissful enlightenment can render you free while the guy next to you continues to suffer.
Freedom cannot be achieved until we break down the walls of our own egos and feel the other person’s joy and pain just as we do our own. It is by definition a communal state, in which we discover the other guy’s world as we reach beyond our own.
Neither surrender to the suffering of this world or escape from it are acts of freedom. Feeling empowered to do something about it is. We transcend by connecting and each becoming part of a transcendent whole that is capable of real growth, resilience, and transformation.
The only path to freedom, then, is by creating a society of transcendence.
From the dawn of human consciousness, we have been clutching for the magic doorknob that takes us out of ourselves.
Tools for a Society of Self-Transcendence
Two women who have given us real evidence-based tools for a self-transcendent society are Lisa Miller and Pamela Reed.
In the world of nursing, Pamela Reed’s theory of self-transcendence has become textbook material for nursing. That’s mostly because it has proven itself as a highly effective means to help the elderly cope with the anxiety and depression that plagues the final years. But it has also proven a beneficial intervention in many of the most difficult events of life, such as post-partum depression and chronic illness.
In Reed’s model, nurses help their patients to reach outside of themselves, both by connecting with others, and by seeing the big picture of life and the universe. In other words, this is a psychology that doesn’t see the patient as a lone wolf, but as an integral thread within both a social network and a great big world. It’s a social medicine.
With addictions counseling, the situation is similar. It’s well established by now that if you want a former addict to stay clean after leaving rehab, you must teach him to reach outside of himself, to help others, and to hang on to faith in a higher power. That’s a crucial message for a society in the midst of the largest addictions epidemic in history.
If you have any doubt that we are wired for self-transcendence, look into Professor Lisa Miller’s twenty years of research into spirituality (defined as “a personal relationship with the transcendent”), especially spirituality in children. It’s not just that children are naturally inclined towards a spiritual view of the world around them. Spirituality, as she has demonstrated in multiple studies, provides kids with “significantly more positive markers for thriving including an increased sense of meaning and purpose, and high levels of academic success.”
Vitamin A is found in foods such as beef liver, sweet potato, carrots, and spinach. (Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock)
This fat-soluble vitamin helps keep your eyes healthy, supports immunity, fights free radicals, and is critical for fetal development.
By: Mercura Wang
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin with multiple vital functions in the body. It supports normal cellular reproduction and is essential for optimal vision. In addition, vitamin A plays a critical role in the proper development of an embryo and fetus.
Vitamin A deficiency is prevalent in developing nations but rare in developed countries. Less than 1 percent of the American population was deficient in 2013. Some experts believe vitamin A toxicity from synthetic supplements is more common in the United States than deficiency.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Vitamin A Deficiency?
A prolonged vitamin deficiency within the diet causes primary vitamin A deficiency. Secondary vitamin A deficiency can result from reduced bioavailability of provitamin A carotenoids (a particular food’s normally absorbable fractions of vitamin A) or from interference with the normal absorption, storage, or transport of vitamin A. Medical conditions such as celiac disease, cystic fibrosis, pancreatic insufficiency, duodenal bypass, chronic diarrhea, bile duct obstruction, and cirrhosis may lead to interference with the absorption or storage of the vitamin. Prolonged protein-energy undernutrition can also contribute to deficiency due to both dietary insufficiency and impaired vitamin A storage and transport. Zinc deficiency in alcoholics may also result in secondary vitamin A deficiency.
Limited research indicates genetic variability in the conversion rates of beta carotene into vitamin A. Specific variations (polymorphisms) in the BCMO1 gene have been identified, which can reduce the activity of the BCMO1 enzyme in humans.
Mild deficiency symptoms include fatigue, vulnerability to infections, and reproductive challenges. More notable vitamin A deficiency signs and symptoms include:
Night blindness: Night blindness is often the initial indication of vitamin A deficiency. Since vitamin A plays a critical role in regenerating visual pigment, insufficient levels can result in night blindness due to impaired regeneration of visual pigment in retinal rods.
Conjunctival xerosis: This is the dryness of conjunctiva, the clear, thin membrane that protects our eyes.
Corneal xerosis (corneal dryness).
Bitot’s spots: Bitot’s spots are irregular and foamy patches formed by the buildup of keratin on the white of the eyes. They typically manifest in children between the ages of 3 and 6.
Keratomalacia: Keratomalacia occurs when the cornea becomes ulcerated and begins to liquefy. It is one of the most severe signs of deficiency and has the potential to penetrate and destroy the cornea within days. It also portends to the death of children in developing countries, with 50 percent dying within a year of losing their vision.
Retinopathy: Retinopathy refers to a group of disorders affecting the retina. It’s the leading cause of preventable blindness.
Dry skin or hair.
Complications
The complications of vitamin A deficiency include:
Xerophthalmia, the collection of signs and symptoms of vitamin A deficiency related to the eyes (listed above).
Poor immunity: The lack of vitamin A generally leads to impaired immunity.
Stunted growth.
Thickened organ linings: The linings of the lungs, intestines, and urinary tract become thicker and less flexible.
Anemia.
Higher risk of respiratory illness.
Permanent vision loss or blindness: Many symptoms of vitamin A deficiency can lead to blindness.
Infertility.
Death: Over 50 percent of children experiencing severe vitamin A deficiency may not survive.
What Are the Health Benefits of Vitamin A?
When we consume foods with vitamin A (in the form of retinyl esters, a combination of fatty acid and retinol), our body absorbs it mainly in the small intestine, where these retinyl esters are broken down into retinol. A small part of the vitamin A we consume is also converted into retinoic acid in the cells of the small intestine.
We also consume foods with carotenoids, such as orange and yellow vegetables and fruits. After being absorbed, some carotenoids are converted into vitamin A (retinaldehyde) in different organs and tissues.
Around 90 percent of the vitamin A we obtain from our diet is stored in the liver. When our body needs vitamin A, the vitamin is taken from this storage in the form of retinol. Once released from the liver, retinol travels in the bloodstream, and about 95 percent of it attaches to a protein called retinol-binding protein (RBP), which helps transport vitamin A to different parts of the body.
After being used by various organs and tissues, vitamin A is removed from the body through feces and urine. Retinol can be further converted into retinoic acid, which exits the body through bile and feces. The time it takes for half of the retinol (i.e., half-life) to be removed can vary, ranging from two to nine hours. However, the overall half-life of vitamin A (including all its forms) is about 12 days.
Vitamin A is essential for the following functions:
Vision health: The retina has two types of light-sensitive cells called rods and cones. When light particles enter the lens, rods and cones turn them into electric signals for the brain to understand. In low-light conditions, retinaldehyde (vitamin A compound) permeates rod cells, where it combines with a protein to make a visual pigment. Light hitting it triggers a reaction, leading to an electric signal that travels to the brain through the optic nerve, creating the sensation of sight. After doing its job, the retinaldehyde converts back into retinol to start the process again. Similar cycles occur with cone cells, which help us see different colors. Vitamin A is crucial for this entire process, as well as for eye development.
Cellular differentiation: Vitamin A is essential for normal cell differentiation—which occurs during cell renewal—especially in tissues such as the skin and mucous membranes. Vitamin A also has widespread effects on metabolism, interacting with hormones such as thyroid, insulin, and corticosteroids. This interaction is especially important for wound healing, as it boosts the growth and reproduction of skin cells, blood vessels, and collagen.
Gene regulation: In our cells, vitamin A takes different forms, such as retinoic acid. This acid acts like a hormone, affecting gene expression and various body processes. The active forms of vitamin A bind to specific proteins, which act as on-off switches for genes. These switches can pair up or mix and match, regulating gene activity. Vitamin A can also interact with other hormones, including vitamin D and steroids, thus influencing a broad range of genes. Vitamin A’s involvement in cellular processes affects over 500 genes. It’s also linked to insulin resistance and has implications for lipid metabolism and heat production in fat tissue.
Reproduction function: Retinoic acid is critical for the proper development of embryos and plays a key role in shaping their limbs, hearts, eyes, and ears. Imbalances in vitamin A levels, both excessive and deficient, are recognized for their potential to induce birth defects.
