Hundreds of people gathered at a rally in support of Israel on Cornell University’s campus Sunday.
Tensions have been high at the university since the war in Gaza began, with anti-war protests happening almost weekly and several notable incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia in the Cornell community.
A sea of people waving the blue and white flag of Israel gathered for the “Jewish Unity Rally” on Cornell’s Arts Quad. The event was hosted by the national organization End Jew Hatred and the on-campus group Cornellians for Israel.
Speakers at the event included New York politicians and academics.
Central New York Republican Rep. Brandon Williams voiced his support for Israel and called for the return of hostages by Hamas.
“These are dangerous times and again the people of the United States must stand with Israel,” Williams said.
Cornell Law School professor William Jacobson spoke at the rally. He said the gathering was meant to foster pride in both American and Jewish identities.
“There's a reason we have Israeli and American flags on this stage. It is because we stand for civilization, against true barbarians, who are looking to tear us down,” Jacobson told the crowd.
Jacobson criticized groups on campus that have called for the university to divest from companies that make weapons of war for Israel, saying they were antisemitic.
“They hate capitalism. They hate our system,” he said. “These privileged children and privileged faculty willingly accept the benefits of our society, the benefits of this campus, the benefits of the donors to this campus, and then use it to try to destroy us all.”
Jacobson criticized the use of the phrase, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The political rallying cry has been a source of contention, with a variety of interpretations and historical uses.
Organizers within the on-campus anti-war group, the Cornell Coalition for Mutual Liberation, have said the phrase is not a call for violence and that the group condemns antisemitism. The Anti-Defamation League referred to the saying as an antisemitic slogan.
In the past, organizers have said anti-Arab rhetoric, including the word “barbarian”, has been weaponized on campus.
Southern Tier Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro also spoke at the rally.
Molinaro voiced his support for Israel’s military action and called for the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas. Molinaro compared antisemitism to a disease.
“It is passed, at times, through our bloodstreams sadly, from generation to generation. It is emboldened by hatred,” he told the crowd. “It is incentivised by media and social media platforms.”
Behind the event's stage, a large banner hung from a nearby building, in contrast to the rally. It read, “Jews for Divestment. No genocide in our name.” At the bottom of the banner, “Justice, justice you shall pursue,” was written in Hebrew, a reference to a verse in the Torah.
Molinaro referenced the banner, which was hung before the event began and taken down during the rally.
“Those who would act out in violence and hatred against Jewish citizens around the world, Jewish Americans, Jewish students, and to those who would hang banners like those, tear them down,” he said.
The banner was a reminder of a larger division on campus, as the Cornell community grapples with the Israel-Hamas war, particularly the rising number of civilian casualties. Cases of antisemitism and Islamophobia have rocked the campus in recent months.
A Muslim student was spat on off-campus and a Cornell student recently pleaded guilty after making violent, antisemitic threats to Jewish students.
Anti-war demonstrations occur almost weekly on campus, including one on Sunday. Cornell’s chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace spoke out against the Jewish Unity rally.
In a statement on social media, the group said the rally portrayed Jewish students as a monolith and ignored Jewish students who criticize Israel and the war.
“When student organizations claim that calls for Cornell’s divestment from genocide are anti-Semitic or dangerous for Jewish students, they are disregarding the views of many Jewish students, organizers and advocates on campus,” the statement said.
Jewish Voice for Peace is sponsoring a student government referendum. The referendum, which will be voted on by students, would urge the university to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and divest from weapons companies.
Speakers at the Jewish Unity rally urged students to vote against the divestment referendum.