SUNY Binghamton students fear flagship school has become ‘perfect target’ for antisemitism
A Jewish student at SUNY Binghamton says she received online taunts including, “We tried our best to put you in Auschwitz” and “History will judge Hitler as a hero” when she has defended Israel on campus.
She and some other Binghamton students told The Post this week they now worry that the school — considered one of the State University of New York’s flagships — has become a prime “target” for increasingly rabid anti-Israel protesters.
The students said they have to look no further than recent campus rallies promoting the anti-Israel “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions’’ movement — with the unsanctioned “SUNY BDS” group even making Binghamton one of the first SUNY schools it targeted.
“As a campus with a huge Jewish population but also a strong Arab and Muslim community, Binghamton is the perfect target for a campaign like this,” said Saul Hakim, a junior from Eatontown, NJ, studying political science and Judaic studies.
If the protesters succeed in pushing “BDS” at Binghamton, there goes the state university system, he added.
“Right now, they are facing pushback from our community, but should they succeed at Binghamton, many other campuses will likely follow suit or feel empowered to start the process on their own campuses,” Hakim said.
Binghamton is already one of several universities across the country being investigated by the US Department of Education over its handling of antisemitism on campus.
The campus’s problems have been ongoing since Hamas terrorists stormed Israel and slaughtered more than 1,200 people, mainly civilians, Oct. 7, according to Logan Swerdloff, a junior and economics major at the school who was the one to receive the hateful “Hitler” and “Auschwitz” messages online.
“There’s just so much that’s going on,” she said of the vitriol targeting Jews.
The university was among the first to see the controversial “SUNY BDS” group come onto campus at the beginning of the year and make a series of demands to university and SUNY leadership, according to Hakim.
“BDS” is a movement that targets investments to Israel while falsely accusing the Jewish state of “occupying” and “colonizing” land such as the Gaza Strip.
The group — which describes itself as “SUNY students, staff, faculty, and alumni working to make New York State divest from Israeli apartheid” — was eventually sent a cease-and-desist letter from state officials for misusing the SUNY name.
“I think overall the SUNY system, it’s definitely been better than other systems,” Hakim said.
But the antisemitism that the Jewish students have faced on campus is “unacceptable,” he added, noting that Jewish pupils should not need university police to keep them safe.
“I appreciate everything the governor, our administration has done, but I think there’s more work to be done.”
In one now-viral incident in October, an anti-Israel protester was filmed saying, “Israel is worse than Nazi Germany.”
At other protests, students and community members have called for an “intifada,” or uprising, and said “Zionists aren’t welcome,” according to Hakim.
Other times, he said, the protests have become more confrontational as professors teamed up with Students for Justice in Palestine to hold anti-Israel talks.
When the Binghamton University Zionist Organization hosted an educational event with a pro-Israel speaker from the group Stand With Us, students who arrived for the event found the walls littered with anti-Israel posters, Hakim said.
When Swerdloff stood outside one day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. handing out hostage posters, she watched as her fellow students would “rip my posters down and give me dirty looks.”
The school newspaper once even published an op-ed saying that whether or not the reports of female hostages being raped by Hamas terrorists were true, it wouldn’t matter because they are “white women’s tears,” according to Hakim.
Still, the Jewish students will continue their advocacy, with freshman Eytan Saenger saying it is a “reason for positivity,” claiming Jewish students at other schools are looking to them as a role model for how to organize.
The Jewish students have held silent protests, and the Hillel has hosted a talk between an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and a Palestinian peace advocate, Hakim said.
“You know, the Jewish students are not just going to sit idly by,” he said.
In a statement, a spokesman for the university said it “takes great pride in its rich history of supporting the academic and cultural requirements of Jewish students.
“Since October, we have maintained communications with our students, student leaders and Jewish community members to ensure security and address any concerns that may arise.
“The University strives to maintain an environment that allows the members of our community to voice their opinions and express themselves in a way where others feel mutually respected,” the statement added.
It said university officials “unequivocally condemn all acts of violence, hatred and bigotry directed at any individual or group.
“We stand in solidarity with all those suffering while condemning hate in all its forms.”
