DV Journal

Pennsylvania’s two U.S. senators, Dave McCormick and John Fetterman, are sponsoring a resolution opposing antisemitism.

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, antisemitism has grown in the United States, especially on college campuses. In 2024, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found 9,354 antisemitic incidents across the country. That represents a five percent increase from the 8,873 incidents recorded in 2023, a 344 percent increase over the past five years, and a 893 percent increase over the past 10 years.

It’s the highest number on record since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents 46 years ago.

The resolution mentions the June 1 attack on a peaceful gathering in Boulder, Colo., where an Egyptian illegal immigrant attacked a group that included an elderly Holocaust survivor with Molotov cocktails and a flamethrower.

And it cites the May 21 killing in Washington, D.C., of two young Israeli Embassy employees by a suspect who shouted “Free, free Palestine.”

And, it noted that the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion was set ablaze during Passover while Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were asleep.

“Antisemitism has no place is America,” said McCormick (R). “Since Oct. 7, 2023, the Jewish community has faced unprecedented and persistent antisemitic hate and violence. This hatred cannot stand. Living in Squirrel Hill, right around the corner from the site of the devastating Tree of Life Synagogue attack in 2018, really brings this issue home for me. Protecting my friends and neighbors, and all Jewish people across the country, must be a national priority. I’m proud to team up with Sen. Fetterman, and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, to unequivocally condemn the alarming surge in antisemitic hate across the country.”

“Amid a despicable rise in antisemitism, including the hateful arson at Gov. Shapiro’s home in Pennsylvania, the shocking violence in Boulder, and the deadly attack on the Israeli embassy staff in D.C., we are starkly reminded that silence is complicity,” said Fetterman (D). “These appalling attacks on our Jewish communities are not isolated events. After 11 lives were stolen at the Tree of Life massacre in 2018, I’ve felt an even stronger moral obligation to confront antisemitism wherever it appears and stand united against hate.”

Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) introduced the House version.

“This resolution sends a clear message, and I am proud to see it introduced in the Senate,” said Van Drew. “The United States will not tolerate the rise in violent antisemitism we are seeing across the country. Jewish Americans are being threatened, harassed, and attacked simply because of their faith, and that is completely unacceptable. I introduced this resolution because Congress has a responsibility to lead. We cannot look the other way when hatred and violence target our fellow Americans. The House stood together and made it clear that we are united in standing against antisemitism wherever it appears, and the Senate must do the same.”

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia released this statement: “The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia commends Sens. McCormick and Fetterman for introducing a bipartisan resolution condemning the alarming rise in antisemitism, including the recent attacks in Harrisburg, Washington, D.C., and Boulder. As our Jewish community continues to face growing threats of hate and violence, we are deeply grateful for the support of state leaders and allies who stand with us. Their commitment is vital to advancing meaningful, lasting change and ensuring the safety and dignity of all communities.”

On the first night of Passover, an intruder firebombed the Pennsylvania governor’s residence as Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept upstairs. The attacker was angered by the Jewish governor’s support for Israel.

A few weeks later, two young Israeli Embassy employees were shot dead in Washington, D.C., allegedly by a man shouting, “Free Palestine.”

And just days ago, an illegal immigrant from Egypt threw Molotov cocktails and used an improvised flamethrower to injure a group of Jewish people walking at an outdoor mall in Boulder, Colo. They were there to show support for the hostages held by Hamas. The attacker was there, he told police, because he wanted to “kill all Zionist people.”

If American Jews and their allies thought the response to the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023 would be deepening support for Israel and world Jewry, they’ve learned a harsh lesson since, according to Marcy Gringlas, Ph.D.

The daughter of Holocaust survivors, Gringlas is concerned that the escalating antisemitism—not just in America but around the world—echoes the period leading up to World War II and Hitler’s attempt at a “Final Solution.”

Gringlas participated in the fifth annual Holocaust Survivor Day celebration at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel. The event was sponsored by Seed the Dream Foundation, a nonprofit Gringlas co-founded with her husband, Joel Greenberg;  the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia; and the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. The survivors were treated to lunch, klezmer music, and dancing. They recited prayers and lit candles in memory of the six million Jews who perished during the Holocaust.

Reli and Marcy Gringlas

With the atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, “there’s the hostages being kidnapped, then there’s the Gazan war, a war where everyone’s focus and critique and opinion (is) and not enough focus on what happened on Oct. 7 and the hostages,” said Gringlas, a Gladwyne resident.  “So, we are narrowly, in terms of legacy media, we’re narrowly focused on the war without understanding how we got here, without understanding how important it is to acknowledge what happened on Oct. 7 and that the hostages are still there.”

“It shows what my father said always, if there had been an Israel (during the Holocaust), millions would have survived. What’s happening today shows how critical it is for us to have our home, our state.”

“And it’s also similar to the pre-Holocaust years, in the U.S., in Europe, in Australia, in Canada,” she said. “Every single horrible incident of propaganda, of dehumanization, of denialism, is all out of a playbook from the 1930s.

“So, it seems to me that one of the lessons we need to have learned, if we did not learn already, is that you can’t remain silent.  All people, not just Jewish people, should be standing, screaming, and fighting for the humanity of the Jewish people, who have endured so much on Oct. 7, and are being criticized for defending themselves in a war they didn’t ask for.”

Yury Kremenets, 86, was also part of the Holocaust Survivor Day event. He and his family fled Kyiv, Ukraine, for Siberia at the beginning of World War II when he was 2 years old.

Eugenia and Yury Kremenets

After the war, they returned to Kyiv. He and his wife, Eugenia, both had careers in IT.  They tried to immigrate to America in 1979 but were refused because of the war Russia was waging against Afghanistan. The Maple Glen couple finally made it to the U.S. in 1987.

“At that time, there was a lot of antisemitism in the Soviet Union (which Ukraine was part of),” he said. “We wanted freedom and to be free people.”

The antisemitism in the U.S. now is “unbelievable,” said Eugenia. And she blames the press.

“I think it’s the media bias,” Eugenia said. She believes American media has downplayed the motive of the recent firebombing in Boulder and other antisemitic incidents.

“It’s like the media in the Soviet Union,” she said. While not controlled by the government, “American media should make an effort to be less biased.”

They are both concerned about the Russia-Ukraine war and hope it ends soon.

Ukraine “depends on help from Europe and the U.S.,” said Yury. “Currently, the help isn’t enough.”

In April, Gringlas traveled to Auschwitz for the March of the Living. It was her fifth visit to the concentration camp, which is located in Poland.

“This time it was completely different because of Oct. 7,” she said. And because Gringlas was visiting the infamous death camp without her father, the late Joseph Gringlas, who survived Blizyn, Auschwitz, and Mittelbau-Dora.

“What was overwhelming was we were marching with 80 Holocaust survivors,” said Gringlas. “And also marching alongside many family members and released hostages from Israel to stand together, to stand proud, and to stand loud. And also, to say that we have endured in the past and we’re enduring now, and to give some kind of credence to the words ‘never again.’

“It made me question, what does never again mean when I’m standing here beside these Oct. 7 survivors… Maybe we should be saying ‘no more’ versus ‘never again.’”

For University of Pennsylvania grad Eyal Yakoby, the antisemitism at his alma mater is easy to spot. It’s coming straight from the faculty. Now he’s using his growing social media following to pressure Penn, which has a national reputation for allowing antisemitism on campus, to change course.

Yakoby’s latest example of blatant Jew hatred at his old college is a Penn professor who teaches a class called “Arabic Readings in Belles-Lettres: Resistance from Pre-Islamic Arabia to Palestine.” Yakoby is outraged that Penn is sanctioning a course featuring writings by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which the U.S. government has designated a terrorist organization.

Yakoby also joined a lawsuit targeting Penn over antisemitic incidents on campus, alleging federal civil rights violations.  However, a federal judge recently dismissed that suit.

The professor, Huda Fakhreddine, was also part of the controversial September 2023 Palestine Writes Literature Festival at the university that included Noura Erakat, a Rutgers University professor who called Zionism a “bedfellow” to Nazism, among other with allegedly antisemitic views.  At the time, Penn officials told DV Journal the festival was not affiliated with the university, although it was held on campus.

Noah Rubin, a 2025 Penn graduate, also mentioned Fakhreddine in his 2024 testimony to the state Senate Education Committee.

“Fakhreddine posted on October 7 in Arabic that ‘While we were asleep, Palestine invented a new way of life.’ She later clapped at a protest after the speaker told Jewish students to ‘’…go back to Moscow and Brooklyn and Gstaad, and f**king Berlin where you came from…’ and is now teaching a new course titled ‘Arabic Readings in Belles-Lettres: Resistance from Pre-Islamic Arabia to Palestine.’ Fakhreddine was also an organizer of the encampment,” Rubin said. While trying to attend classes, study, and take part in campus life, Jewish students heard chants of ‘From the River to the Sea,’ which means the elimination of Israel and the Jews who live there, and ‘Free, free Palestine.’”

Fakhreddine, a tenured professor, could not be reached for comment.

Former Penn president Liz Magill had testified before Congress about the school’s mishandling of the anti-Jewish protests and various antisemitic incidents on campus. Magill stated that calling for Jewish genocide at the school is permissible “in context,” causing outrage. She then issued a correction to her remarks but resigned shortly afterward.

“Penn is committed to upholding principals of free speech and academic freedom,” a spokesperson for Penn told DV Journal. “While faculty are entitled to their own views and opinions, they do not reflect on the official stance of the university.”

In the wake of the instances of antisemitism on campus, Penn announced an Office of Religious and Ethic Inclusion. It’s the first Title IX office in the country and devoted to creating a “safe and respectful environment.” It was one of the changes suggested by the university’s Task Force and Antisemitism and its Presidential Commission on Countering Hate and Building Community.

Penn was not the only area university to have pro-Palestinian protests and encampments, in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel.

Students at Drexel and Temple also demonstrated. Swarthmore and Haverford college students protested, as well.

In February, Swarthmore College officials removed pro-Hamas students who staged a sit-in in an administration building. A spring student encampment at Swarthmore ended with one student and one former student being arrested, as well as seven other people.

Pro-Hamas rhetoric has not remained on college campuses.

An Anti-Defamation League audit showed Pennsylvania had the nation’s fourth-highest number of antisemitic incidents in 2024. And at Passover 2025, Pennsylvania’s Jewish governor, Josh Shapiro and his family were the victims of an arsonist who struck the governor’s mansion while the family slept. No one was hurt.

“This pervasive antisemitism has transformed American higher education from a space of learning and growth into one where many Jewish students face hostility, exclusion, and sometimes physical danger because of their identity or their beliefs,” the audit states.

In Pennsylvania, there were 465 antisemitic incidents in 2024, up 18 percent from 2023 and a 308 percent jump from 2022, the ADL said. Of the incidents reported, 72 percent involved harassment and vandalism, which comprised 25 percent. Two percent were physical assaults.

A May 21 antisemitic terror attack outside the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., where two young employees of the Israeli embassy were gunned down, shook the country. The antisemitism that has taken root on American campuses has resulted in the deaths of two people who the killer presumed were Jewish.

“Free, free Palestine,” their alleged attacker chanted afterward.

Just days after the state’s Jewish governor was the target of a Passover night arson attack, a new report shows Pennsylvania had the nation’s fourth-highest number of antisemitic incidents in 2024.

The audit, conducted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and released Tuesday, reported 9,354 antisemitic incidents recorded in the U.S. last year. It’s the highest number recorded since 1979, when the ADL first began collecting data.

Also noteworthy: It’s the first time most of the incidents (58 percent) were related to Israel or Zionism.

That appears to be the case with the attack on the governor’s mansion on the first night of Passover, as Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept upstairs. The alleged attacker, Cody Balmer, told police that Shapiro — an outspoken supporter of Israel — “needs to know that he ‘will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people.’”

Antisemitic incidents in Pennsylvania

Jason Holtzman, chief of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, told DV Journal that while the current rise of antisemitism is “disappointing,” he’s not surprised. He’d seen “the writing on the wall.”

The ADL reports four years in a row of increased antisemitic incidents. They include assault, harassment and vandalism. The 2024 numbers are five percent higher than 2023 and up 893 percent over the last 10 years.

Holtzman, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, said some members of the Jewish community have stopped wearing stars of David, yarmulkes, or speaking Hebrew in public. At the same time, attendance at synagogues and various Jewish events is up.

Many of the antisemitic instances were related to the Hamas terror attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. College campuses have been a hotbed of anti-Israel protests, with 1,694 antisemitic incidents, up 84 percent. Many participants in the various campus encampments chanted anti-Israel slogans, including at local universities like UPenn and Temple, and smaller colleges such as Haverford and Swarthmore.

“This pervasive antisemitism has transformed American higher education from a space of learning and growth into one where many Jewish students face hostility, exclusion, and sometimes physical danger because of their identity or their beliefs,” the report states.

In Pennsylvania, there were 465 antisemitic incidents in 2024, up 18 percent from 2023 and a 308 percent jump from 2022, the ADL said. Of the incidents reported, 72 percent involved harassment and vandalism, which comprised 25 percent. Two percent were physical assaults.

“Since I joined ADL three years ago, we have tracked a continuous rise in antisemitic incidents, and the data continues to astound me,” said Andrew Goretsky, ADL Philadelphia’s regional director. “In 2023, Pennsylvania saw five assaults, all of which involved schoolchildren. A year later, Pennsylvania saw twelve assaults, one of which included a weapon.

“The Jewish community is being harassed, threatened, and attacked. From synagogues to college campuses and everywhere in between, we must unequivocally stand united against antisemitism and all forms of hate.”

Areas with the largest Jewish populations saw the most antisemitic incidents. New York (1,437 incidents), California (1,344), and New Jersey (719) had the most.

Along with pro-Palestinian incidents, white supremacist groups were also involved in some of the antisemitic actions, the ADL said. And, nationwide antisemitic occurrences in public K-12 schools were down 26 percent from 2023, and incidents at Jewish institutions fell 14 percent from “2023’s unprecedented surge.”

Asked what Jewish children or grandchildren should be told about this surge in antisemitism, Holtzman said, “It’s another chapter in Jewish history. We’re a strong people. We, unfortunately, have had these terrible experiences throughout the world with antisemitism.”

Young people must “stay strong and keep living a Jewish life and embracing our Jewish identities. As difficult as the world is around us, we have to continue doing that,” Holtzman said. “We have to reach out to our neighbors, sharing with them who we are as Jews, what our community stands for, and we can’t back down from living a Jewish life.”

“That’s what our enemies want,” said Holtzman. “That’s what our foes want. They want us to be sitting inside in our basements, scared to come out, scared to identify as Jewish. We can’t let them win.”

Deena Pack of Bala Cynwyd, an Orthodox Jewish mother of three, is one of several parents who talked about antisemitic incidents that happened to their children in Lower Merion schools. Her youngest son was a pupil at Cynwyd Elementary School last year.

Hers was just one account of several told to about 100 Jewish parents and community members who gathered at Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley recently to discuss antisemitism in the Lower Merion School District.

“In January 2024, he had his first physical assault because he was wearing a kippah [yarmulke],” said Pack. A child asked him what it was, and he said, “’It’s a kippah. It’s like a kufi. We’re cousins.’ The child beat him up. I cried very bitter tears. He cried very bitter tears.”

“He said, ‘How could they hate me because of my hat?’” Pack said. He refused to wear a kippah for six months, wearing a baseball hat instead.”

Later three middle school boys pulled off his kippah yelling, ‘Happy Sabbath, Jew!’” Pack reported it to the principal.

Steve Rosenberg, Brandy Shufutinsky and Lori Lowenthal-Marcus

“The amount of silence after those two episodes was deafening,” said Pack. Although the boy’s teacher supported him and the principal wanted to help, “There was no resource available. Restorative justice is sometimes not justice.”

A different child beat him up on the playground, pulled his pants down and laughed at him, she said.

“He’s 9,” she said. “Can you imagine what that does to someone who is 9?”

Then “the same girl who beat him up for wearing a kippah beat him up again.”

She emailed the superintendent and the principal and got no response. The district permitted that girl to walk on the stage and graduate with her classmates, Pack said.

“I don’t care what race they are, what culture they are, no child should ever experience that feeling,” said Pack. “We have to stand up for our kids. He wasn’t safe to go to middle school. We pulled him and sent him to a private school.”

Dani Shaw, co-founder of Lower Merion School District Jewish Families Association, said the group wants to work with the district to improve how children are treated by their fellow students and staff. She’s also a member of an umbrella group, JAFFAK-12.

Parents started the JFA after antisemitism in Lower Merion schools increased in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel, Shaw said. Parents with students in all the schools are involved and compile reports of antisemitic incidents, like “Free Palestine” written on the walls in students’ bathrooms, verbal slurs, bullying, physical assaults, and issues with the curriculum, she said.

They made some strides with former Superintendent Steven Yanni. Since he left, progress has slowed, but she is hopeful the new superintendent will work with them to address problems after he begins in April. They’re also helping parents from other Delaware Valley school districts, including Wissahickon and Upper Dublin, address antisemitism.

Panelists Steve Rosenberg a consultant with GSD and the former interim CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, discussed Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) with Brandy Shufutinsky director of education and community engagement with the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values (JILV).

Shufutinsky said the “celebration” of the Oct. 7 massacre on campuses awakened people to antisemitism, which was already “trending up.”

In the curriculum of many districts “well-intentioned” programs like Critical Race Theory (CRT) and DEI  have had “unintended consequences.”

And when people question or complain, school officials call them racist, which silences them.

“Nobody wants to be called racist,” said Shufutinsky. “So, how do you get to have a conversation?”

Rosenberg and others with JILV met with Yanni, Interim Assistant Superintendent Scott Weinstein and school board President Kerry Sautner in November to discuss antisemitism in Lower Merion.

“There were some things they didn’t want hear,” he said. “But they’re going to continue to hear from us.”

Shufutinsky said JILV helps parents craft questions for their school board and explains how to “stay on message.”

“You have to know what’s going on,” she said. “You have to be a voice for change…You can’t be silenced when you’re called racist.”

Rosenberg said the media has focused on antisemitism at colleges and universities; but by the time kids get there, it’s too late. “We have to get them in the K-12 space.”

Lori Lowenthal-Marcus, a lawyer with The Deborah Project, which fights antisemitism and brings lawsuits to protect Jewish students’ civil rights, also spoke.

They had been battling antisemitism on university campuses but then began to pay attention to “the worms growing in K-12 schools.”

“Antisemitism is just as serious as any other discrimination,” she said.

In one California district, a world history teacher blamed Israel for the Oct. 7 terror attack and the conflict that ensued using “lots of incorrect information.”

“This is a world history teacher talking to 10th grade students who are listening to the person in front of the room tell them the Jewish state, the Jewish people, are evil, bad,” said Lowenthal-Marcus. And “deserve what they get.”

A math teacher in that district asked a student if they were Jewish and said he could tell “because of their nose,” said Lowenthal-Marcus. A principal lied about swastikas drawn in front of her school building, saying they were Japanese anime. And a substitute teacher told students jokes about the Holocaust.

“All of these incidents were reported to the authorities,” she said. A parent tried to see the curriculum the history teacher was using about the Israeli-Hamas conflict but was rebuffed, she said. “It is the right of parents to see the curriculum.”

“Antisemitism is just as important as any other kind of discrimination and you’re protected by the same laws,” she said.  “We’re entitled to the same civil rights as everyone else.”

Amy Buckman, a spokeswoman for the Lower Merion School District, said, “Lower Merion District Policy 235 prioritizes fostering “inclusive environments within its schools through understanding, respect, and celebration of diversity and the ways in which that positively impacts the sense of belonging for all students.”

It also prohibits “Any form of bullying, hazing, or discriminatory harassment” and ensures that “appropriate corrective and preventative action shall be taken when allegations of bullying, hazing, or discriminatory harassment are substantiated.”

The adults are back in charge. With Donald Trump poised to return to the White House, he’s sending a message loud and clear: America will no longer tolerate weakness, nor will it abandon its allies, especially Israel.

As Trump begins to fill his cabinet with pro-Israel patriots, the world is being put on notice — a new era of strength, clarity, and unwavering support for our closest ally in the Middle East is beginning. This administration’s commitment to the U.S.-Israel relationship will be elevated to heights unseen, bringing stability to the Middle East and restoring America’s role as a formidable global leader.

For too long, antisemitism has been allowed to simmer unchecked in America, especially on college campuses where extremist ideologies often thrive under the guise of academic freedom. However, with Trump’s new cabinet, the days of looking away from these dangers are over. This administration will be unapologetically pro-Israel, pro-freedom, and pro-democracy, taking a hard stance against the forces that threaten our allies abroad and create division at home. The time of tiptoeing around antisemitism in academia and politics is finished; the Trump team is putting America on a new path, one defined by action and accountability.

The appointment of staunch pro-Israel advocates to the highest positions of power marks the dawn of a new day, signaling a seismic shift in U.S.-Israel relations. These leaders aren’t just committed to supporting Israel — they are dedicated to ensuring that America and Israel stand strong together in a world increasingly hostile to democratic ideals. Unlike past administrations, Trump’s approach is one of unwavering support, putting any ambiguity about where America stands to rest.

The message is clear: the United States will not only defend Israel’s right to exist but will also champion its success as a beacon of democracy in the Middle East. Elise Stefanik, Marco Rubio, Mike Waltz, Kash Patel and others will lead by example. Winning will become a credible and relevant word again – one that we won’t shy away from.

This strengthened alliance will reverberate across the Middle East. Trump’s cabinet, with its pro-Israel convictions, will bring a vision for stability, security, and economic growth that challenges the status quo and builds on the historic Abraham Accords. These agreements, one of Trump’s crowning achievements, began the transformation of the Middle East from a region of conflict to one of cooperation and prosperity.

Now, the renewed commitment to these Accords under Trump’s leadership promises to expand them further, inviting new allies and setting a foundation for enduring peace. For Israel, this means security. For America, it means allies. For the world, it means an unshakeable commitment to freedom and resilience against extremism.

The implications of this shift reach far beyond foreign policy; they speak to the cultural and social battles playing out within our own borders. Universities that have for too long allowed antisemitism to fester unchallenged will now face the consequences of their neglect. With this administration, federal funding for institutions that fail to protect Jewish students and foster safe, inclusive environments will come under scrutiny.

It’s time to ensure that taxpayer dollars aren’t supporting institutions that allow hatred to thrive. Trump’s team is prepared to hold academia accountable, sending a strong message that antisemitism will no longer be tolerated under the banner of free speech. American universities are being put on notice: protect all students or prepare to answer for it.

This bold new direction will undoubtedly be met with resistance from those who have grown comfortable with the passive foreign policies and lukewarm domestic strategies of past administrations. But the Trump cabinet is undeterred, viewing this pushback as proof that it’s time for real change.

These leaders are experienced, determined, and committed to reshaping America’s role in the world. They are focused on rebuilding American strength, restoring respect on the international stage, and ensuring our values are preserved at home. In this team, the Jewish community has true allies who will not shy away from confronting antisemitism or supporting Israel’s right to defend itself against those who would seek its destruction.

As Trump’s cabinet steps into their roles, the world will see that America is no longer divided in its commitment to Israel. Gone are the days of indecision and soft diplomacy; instead, we are ushering in an era where allies are protected, enemies are warned, and moral clarity drives every decision. This administration will not mince words or actions when it comes to defending Israel. Doing so will set a powerful example to the world: America will stand by its friends, especially in times of need, and will not be swayed by hostile rhetoric or ideological threats.

The implications of this administration’s pro-Israel stance extend into every aspect of American governance. It’s more than just a promise to protect our ally in the Middle East; it’s a commitment to moral leadership, restoring faith in American strength, and holding those who harbor hatred and extremism accountable. This cabinet of patriots understands that the fight against antisemitism, both at home and abroad, is a fight for America’s soul — one that will determine the kind of nation we are and the kind of legacy we leave.

As the Trump administration steps forward with these goals in mind, one thing is clear: the dawn of a new day has arrived. The U.S. is reclaiming its role as the leader of the free world with a renewed commitment to Israel and a dedication to wiping out antisemitism wherever it hides. This moment signals a turning point for Jewish students on American campuses, our allies overseas, and all Americans who believe in justice and strength.

This is the era of pro-Israel patriots, of a cabinet filled with adults who understand the stakes and are prepared to lead. Together, they are charting a course for a stronger America, a safer Middle East, and a future where allies can count on each other in times of both peace and adversity.

Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick promised to support Israel and fight against rising antisemitism during a town hall with a Jewish group on Sunday, drawing contrasts with incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr.

And he called out Vice President Kamala Harris for a failure of courage in passing over Gov. Josh Shapiro for her running mate, calling it a “tragedy” the Democratic presidential nominee would cave to anti-Israel sentiment in her party.

McCormick made his remarks during a Philadelphia event hosted by Matthew Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, before about 300 Jewish residents last Sunday.

McCormick said the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue on 2018 and the Hamas terror attack on Israel last year impacted him personally.

“I live in Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh, literally right around the corner from Tree of Life. So, I’m part of that community.  Every weekend on Sundays, there’s a vigil in Squirrel Hill for the hostages, a weekly reminder so we can’t lose sight of what happened on Oct. 7, and the fact that we still don’t have the Israel hostages, the American hostages, they’re still not home.”

McCormick called Oct. 7 “a huge wake-up call.”

Quoting writer Dan Senor, he said, “When a flare goes up, beware. You can see who are the friends, [and] who are the foes. And Oct. 7 was a flare. It forced people to say who they are, either in their word or their deed.”

McCormick and his wife, Dina, travelled to Israel in January to see “first-hand” what happened during the Hamas terror attack. They visited Kfar Aza, a community of 700 people. The terrorists killed 100 that day, he said.

“Families. Parents killed in front of their kids. Kids killed in front of their parents. Babies burned,” said McCormick. “People decapitated. It’s beyond imagination.”

McCormick and his wife also met with the hostage parents and a “young woman who was wounded at the music festival.” She survived because her friends who were shot dead fell on top of her.

“I came back with a profound sense of the need to stand with Israel in its existential crisis,” said McCormick. “This isn’t a skirmish. The future of Israel is at stake. It’s been attacked from all sides.”

And while President Joe Biden has been reluctant to praise Israel’s recent military actions against Hezbollah and has called for a ceasefire that would benefit the terrorist organization, McCormick — a West Point graduate who served in the 82nd Airborne in Iraq during the Gulf War and was awarded a Bronze Star — had nothing but praise.

“What’s happened in the last couple of weeks has been a brilliant military operation. Make no mistake: What’s happening with Israel is an array of forces underwritten by Iran that is a fight for the very future of Israel’s existence.”

McCormick said as someone who isn’t Jewish, he realized there was antisemitism, but “I was shocked, and I suspect many of you were, by the degree that exists on our nation’s campuses.”

The leadership of universities “unwillingness to stand up for right and wrong, and the hypocrisy of many of our leaders. The willingness to say you’re pro-Israel, pro-Jewish and then capitulate because of the extreme forces in the Democratic Party,” he said. “So this is a battle at home for the heart and soul of our country.”

“For Jews in general, what happens in this election is of the greatest consequence of many we’ve had in modern times,” McCormick added. “You get to decide, now that the flare is up, who you’re for.  And this transcends party, right?”

The group applauded.

Brooks asked him about Harris’ not choosing Pennsylvania’s Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate.

“The reality is Josh Shapiro is too Jewish and too pro-Israel to be on today’s Democratic ticket,” said Brooks. “I know you’ve been very critical of your congresswoman, Summer Lee, and the tone-deafness of some, both in the Jewish community and the Democratic Party.”

McCormick said, “I don’t think there’s any doubt that Josh Shapiro is a very formidable person and would have been a very capable pick to be VP. It’s hard to imagine, if you’re in the zone of complete honesty and candor, the fact that him being Jewish would have alienated a certain part of the extreme part of the Democratic Party. It’s hard to imagine, which is such a tragedy for our country, that that kind of calculus would be factored into that choice.

“And such a tragedy that Kamala Harris wouldn’t have the courage to make a selection that would have transcended those considerations.”

McCormick contrasted the actions of Democrat U.S. Sen. John Fetterman and his opponent, Sen. Bob Casey. While Fetterman has been an outspoken defender of Israel and critic of antisemitic campus protests, Casey failed to call for the ouster of former University Penn President Liz Magill after her equivocation on antisemitism during congressional testimony.

Casey has also endorsed U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.). “She is an avowed antisemite,” McCormick said. “And Bob Casey kept his endorsement,” he said.

Casey also supported the 2015 Iran deal that gave “the sponsor of terror throughout the Middle East $100 billion of sanction money,” said McCormick.

After the town hall, Gerri Richmond of Elkins Park said McCormick’s military service and business acumen impressed her. “When I heard him speak, I was inspired that he is the hope for our future in Pennsylvania,” said Richmond.

Retired cantor Elliott Tessler called McCormick a “down-the-line conservative and a likable fellow.”

“He came out as positively as I could have hoped for Israel,” said Tessler.

And Lower Merion resident Jeff Bartos, who ran for governor in 2018 and Senate in 2022, said, “Over the past year, Dave McCormick has led with strength and moral clarity.  Sen. Casey, on the other hand, has all too often been silent and has failed to meet the moment.  Sen. Casey’s weakness, coupled with his disastrously poor judgment in voting for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, is disqualifying.”

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Many residents were dismayed after Lower Merion School Board members allegedly made antisemitic and racist remarks as they grappled with changes to an “equity” policy.

School Board President Kerry Sautner Ed.D. sent community members a letter on Sept. 13 addressing the issue after the Sept. 6 Policy Committee meeting.

“Unfortunately, the conversation took a turn, becoming unhealthy and damaging with antisemitic statements and racist implications,” Sautner said. “This was a painful reminder that LMSD is not immune to the struggles affecting our country and our world. Since that meeting, on social media and in correspondence, we have seen continued insults and harmful behaviors among neighbors. This ongoing pain underscores the need for us all to engage in conversations with greater humility, understanding, and respect.”

At the Policy Committee meeting, board Member Kimberly Garrison said, “I understand Jewish history. There was a time before Jewish people decided to join the group of White people.”

Board Member Abby Rubin interrupted her, saying, “I would ask that you take that statement back. That’s not really true.”

“It is really true because—”

“It isn’t,” Rubin cut in again.

“Ninety-nine percent of people of Jewish ancestry say they are White in the United States. I’m not making this up. You can look this up in the Pew Charitable Trusts,” Garrison asserted.

Audience members began shouting in response.

Rubin had tried to amend the equity policy to be more inclusive.

During public comment, David Caroline said that while he agrees that Blacks have faced a history of discrimination, “I’m astonished if that was a board member speaking saying Jewish people choosing whiteness is an acceptable thing to say in public. And that comment is exactly the point. This policy is political. And it will have the effect of marginalizing individuals and groups.

“It involves making determinations about who is historically privileged and who is not. And I can tell you just read the news, and referring to Jewish people as historically in the privileged community is behind a lot of what you think is right and wrong in the current conflict. But that distinction of saying the Jews are oppressors and others are oppressed…these are things that are playing out in real life…When I hear that Jews came from Europe, that’s not where Jews come from. That’s not who Jews are,” Caroline said.

Another parent, Bryn Mawr resident Esther Schwartz, told the committee she opposes teaching diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the school district.

“It is a racist and failed policy,” she said.

At the Sept. 16 school board meeting, Garrison said she and her family had been harassed on social media because of her remarks at the earlier committee meeting.

“First off, I want to say I am not antisemitic,” said Garrison. “Anna Sharuk and I both made objective statements regarding the Jewish population in the United States. We stated facts from the U.S. government Census and other reports.”

She cited a definition of antisemitism from the University of Pennsylvania that said it is an “expression or manifestation of hatred, violence, or hostility against Jews because they are Jews.”

“Labeling me as antisemitic is not only untrue but also defamatory in this political climate, especially as a Black woman. To call me such is to weaponize the term in order to stop any authentic and constructive dialogue. And to intimidate me to silence.”

Shurak “has not received any such backlash. This is classic anti-blackness and racism in action. It is a campaign of intimidation. I take issue with you policing my tone.”  She said Black women are perceived as “overly aggressive” and that she won’t step down.  She said she was the victim of a “witch hunt by people who take exception to the truth.”

Citing the Census, she said, “Jewish people have been classified as White in this country.  This is a fact. This is not an antisemitic statement…Equity does not mean equality…This policy is meant to protect everyone.”

A few people applauded her, but many who rose to speak to the board were not mollified.

Beth Sandberg of Bala Cynwyd said, “My children may appear White on the surface, yet their father was partially Iraqi. I guess I was naïve to think that in the year 2024, we would be beyond judging people based solely on the color of their skin.”

This past year, when her daughter was a senior, she was president of the Jewish Student Union. The JSU Instagram account “was bombarded with antisemitic threatening messages,” she said. “Many times, I had to fight back tears that a 17-year-old would be the target of such vitriol. I sent messages to (former) Superintendent (Steve) Yanni and Principal (Mike) Johnson regarding this issue…Neither ever responded.” She said the janitor is the sole adult in the school building who has reassured her younger, 13-year-old daughter of her safety. She asked that Garrison and others in the school district should attend training on antisemitism.

Several people spoke in favor of the equity policy, which the Policy Committee had changed at the behest of the district solicitor because of a recent Supreme Court decision.

However, after much back and forth, the board voted in favor of Policy 101 Equity, with the revisions approved by the Policy Committee. All members voted in favor, with Rubin abstaining. It also asked the administration to review the glossary in the policy. The Policy Committee and the Equity and Anti-Racism Committee will continue to discuss the policy and the glossary.

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What is life like for Jewish students on college campuses in the Philadelphia suburbs?

Barak Mendelsohn, a professor of political science at Haverford College, posted a message to X from a Jewish student who was considering coming to Haverford this fall but decided not to.

“First, [I] had some great conversations with other students, but when they hear that I went to Jewish Day School and am a Jew, I get asked almost immediately if I support Israel, and if I’m Zionist, I either get blocked or ridiculed by other Haverford students who I barely even know,” the student wrote to Mendelsohn, to partly explain the decision.

Mendelsohn believes that person is one of many Jewish students who have chosen not to attend the small but prestigious college founded by Quakers in 1833.

Because it’s a small college rather than a larger university, students can’t easily avoid others who harass them, Mendelsohn said.

“It’s a pressure cooker [for the Jewish students],” Mendelsohn told DVJournal. “The social pressures on students here are just tremendous. And to hear stories from students, where people they thought were their friends, telling them that because they are Zionist, which means believing, just believing, in Israel’s right to exist, is a huge part of our identity…[they say] ‘I will not be your friend. We cannot be in connection. You got to reject that part of your identity.’ Now imagine if that kind of pressure on gays [or] students of color. However, that [antisemitism] seems to be completely socially acceptable among the students.”

“And my heart just bleeds for them because I can’t protect them,” said Mendelsohn.

The college administration “seems content on having fewer and fewer” Jewish students.  It’s because of their notion of the world, their DEI [Diversity, Equity, Inclusion] ideology that divides everyone into oppressors and oppressed, that puts Jews inherently as the White oppressors.”

In May, the Deborah Project, a public interest law firm, sued Haverford College in federal court on behalf of “Jews at Haverford,” alleging civil rights violations against Jewish students.

“Haverford College has repeatedly, officially, refused to condemn Hamas for the atrocities it committed against Jews on Oct. 7, 2023, even though the impact of those atrocities on Jewish students at Haverford was surely as brutal as the impact on students of color when a Black man was killed by the Philadelphia police. Haverford College made no public statement condemning the brutal violence committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, when over a thousand Jews were murdered, mutilated, burned alive and raped to death, when hundreds were taken hostage, all in explicit and proudly announced violation of international law, videotaped by the perpetrators themselves, so there could be no doubt as to whether these atrocities occurred, or who committed them,” the suit said.

“Instead, Haverford Dean McKnight issued a public statement on Oct. 9. That statement took no moral stance on Hamas’s actions. Haverford College instead compared the butchery of Jews in Israel by a known terrorist group committed to eradicating the Jewish State and slaughtering all the Jews within it to a ‘hurricane’ or other natural disaster—thereby completely ignoring and refusing to take a position on, the gross immorality of what was done, by Hamas terrorists in less than two days to these hundreds of Jews. When a Jewish student leader complained, Dean [John] McKnight responded that, ‘I got emails from all different individuals; I can’t make everyone happy.’”

Pro-Palestinian students have been very active on campus, including holding an ‘Israel Apartheid Month’ of events in March.

Chris Mills, a spokesman for Haverford said the college does  not comment on ongoing litigation. But lawyers for the college filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on July 15. The motion claims the plaintiff’s allegations are “untethered to fact” and that the college is “deeply committed to opposing antisemitism and all forms of hate, both on and off campus.”

Mendelsohn, who emigrated from Israel 20 years ago, said he’s experienced hostility as a Jewish professor at Haverford.

“Until Oct. 7, I was a scholar and an educator,” said Mendelsohn, an expert on terrorism and Middle East security issues who has taught at Haverford for 17 years. “I’m suddenly back to being a Jew from Israel, not even an American Jew. And that’s horrible. It was a huge shock.”

“And to see our Jewish students suffering, being isolated and ostracized and ignored is just heartbreaking,” said Mendelsohn.

A math professor who has been “regularly spewing antisemitic rhetoric that celebrated Oct. 7” was given an award from the student body. That was “sticking a finger in the eyes of the Jewish community,” Mendelsohn said.  The administration could disavow responsibility because the award came from the students, he said.

“It’s just despicable what we’re experiencing,” said Mendelsohn.

Mills said, “We are saddened to learn that an incoming first-year Haverford student plans to withdraw from our Class of 2028. Everyone at Haverford College is a welcome member of our community and deserves to feel so. That principle is core to our values of trust, concern, and respect. So is the principle of respecting the right to free expression; however, that comes with limits.

“Specifically, hateful or discriminatory expression is not tolerated. We are investigating this matter and have invited the student to share the posts with us so we can learn more. The outcome of our investigation will determine next steps, including disciplinary action if appropriate. Our Office of Student Life is in contact with this student to fully understand the matter and to provide support,” he said.

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I never imagined that I would find myself in a situation lasting nearly six months, grappling with ongoing challenges to halt antisemitic propaganda, policy violations, and inappropriate, troubling, and outright dangerous posts from a teacher within the district.

On top of this, I must continually prove that my only intention is to protect my child from antisemitic behavior perpetuated by the district teacher and Muslim Student Association (MSA) club he advises. This is the very reason my parents came to America—to shield me from such hatred.

It is disheartening and heartbreaking to witness the administration’s inaction from the outset and to endure the ongoing, deafening silence from the majority of the Board. This issue, which began as a clear violation of policies, has only worsened over time, and my concerns have been met with an alarming lack of response.

There is an old Jewish saying: “The antisemite does not accuse the Jew of stealing because he thinks he stole something. He does it because he enjoys watching the Jew turn out his pockets to prove his innocence.” I have had to continually prove that my intentions are pure, driven solely by the concerns of a parent for my child. I have provided highlighted evidence of policy violations, proof that an AIM truck was not hired despite accusations, and even shared my personal life story to demonstrate that there is no animosity towards anyone, especially based on their religion.

I would never believe that I, who was born and grew up in a majority Muslim country, would ever be accused of being Islamophobic. I never thought I would have to hear the thousand-year-old libel of being “financially enabled” and be labeled as part of “a hate group,” accused of “Islamophobic attacks” and “scapegoating a Muslim teacher” simply because I dared to voice my valid concerns due to teacher’s openly antisemitic, anti-Israel, and anti-Zionist behavior.

Despite presenting evidence of policy breaches, the inappropriate behavior of the teacher, and my personal story, I have seen no meaningful action or change.

I implore you to hear my voice not just as a constituent but as a mother deeply concerned for the well-being of her child. The silence and lack of action on this matter must end. It is time for the administration and the Board to address these issues with the seriousness they deserve and to take decisive steps to rectify the situation once and for all!

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