Midweek Mood Check: The War on College Campuses

Recent controversies about the war in the Middle East spilled over onto American college campuses last week, raising questions about the prevalence of anti-Semitism within our so-called “prestigious” universities. While this radical and raucous minority has managed to hold hostage the attention of the nation, new polling shows that their pro-Palestinian views have not yet taken root in American thought. 

According to Rasmussen Research, forty-two percent of voters say that the U.S. should support Israel rather than the Palestinian groups in the current war. Just 10 percent say the U.S. should support the Palestinian groups and a third that the U.S. should support neither side. Additionally, sixty-three percent believe that a college that is unable or unwilling to protect Jewish students from anti-Semitism should lose its federal funding.

“Despite the anti-Israel propaganda from the left, voters still understand who the good guys are in this fight,” commented Convention of States President Mark Meckler. “Anti-Semitism is clearly and dramatically rising; thank God that most Americans still think it’s a bad thing. But the numbers aren’t encouraging.”

As Mark previously reported on the latest edition of The BattleCry, college campuses have devolved into a hotbed of racism and violence, with anti-Israel protestors threatening the lives of Jewish students. Hundreds of these activists, which Mark argued deserve to be called “terrorists,” have been arrested, including over 300 at Columbia University, more than 170 at City College of New York, and 100 at Northeastern University in Boston. At the University of Arizona, one rioter urged his fellow students to “be ready to combat the police.” Altogether, as many as 1,000 protestors have been arrested, according to one report. 

SEE ALSO: Why Israel threatens to shipwreck both American political parties

Naturally, the rise of radical, anti-Semitic behavior amongst college students has raised questions about whether companies should hire graduates who express sympathy with Hamas. “Portfolio companies should not hire individuals who are openly sympathetic to one of the worst terrorists attacks in the history of the world," said Adam Struck, founding partner of Struck Capital. At least one prominent U.S.-based law firm rescinded job offers to university students who expressed such views, announcing they were “no longer welcome.” Despite a growing movement to ban background checks, polling once again proves that the American people are soundly on the side of reason and normalcy: Eighty-two percent of voters say that employers should be allowed to require criminal background checks of job applicants.

“The idea that we even need to poll this is ridiculous,” said Mark.“Of course, employers should be able to do criminal background checks. How is this even an issue?”

While we should all be concerned to witness radicalism spread throughout America, it is heartening to see that these dangerous ideas are largely confined to the fringe minority; despite the college protestors' best efforts, support for Gaza is still stigmatized in the West, and it should stay that way.