Cornell Student’s response to “Hamas is exhilarating”
My name is Amanda Silberstein and I am currently a sophomore at Cornell University studying Hotel Administration. I am from Englewood, New Jersey and currently serve on the Chabad Board.
Saturday October 7th was the confluence of Simchat Torah and Shabbat, a day that should have been marked by celebration. On this sacred and joyous day, I awoke to a chilling reality and nearly 10 missed calls from my brother, as the rest of my immediate and much of my extended family was in Israel for the holiday, for my cousin’s bar Mitzvah, and because some of them live there. My brother informed me through a cracked voice that Israel was under attack, that Hamas had invaded Israeli cities, abducted children in their sleep, raped and murdered women, and paraded hostages through the streets. My heart sank into my chest as our greatest nightmare, and events far worse, somehow materialized.
On Sunday, October 15th, President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas condemned Hamas’ actions, noting that they do not represent the Palestinian people. That very day, Cornell University Professor of history Russel Rickford referred to Hamas’ brutal massacre “exhilarating” and “energizing” at a pro-Palestinan rally in the Ithaca Commons. Rather than condemning Hamas’ horrific acts of terror, he embraced them for “shifting the balance of power” and ushering in a new era of Palestinian resistance. In further comments, he did not retract his remarks or express remorse. He described the unprovoked barbaric acts perpetrated against innocent civilians as a form of long-awaited and justified resistance. His praise of blatant, undeniable terrorism can empower students and incite violence against the Jewish community. As a religious Jew, fervent Zionist, and third-generation Holocaust survivor, I am frankly terrified and deeply disturbed. Such behavior is unacceptable, particularly coming from an educator who influences young minds. It is essential that Professor Rickford be held accountable for his hateful rhetoric.
The grave situation in our homeland has continued to send ripples throughout Cornell’s campus. As I walk to class every day, I am confronted with threatening and distressing scenes. Posters, some depicting innocent infants, are torn off walls to make way for the signs charging Israel with genocide. Those few pictures of hostages that remain have been marred by graffiti, with the words “Free Palestine” hastily scrawled across the faces of young siblings who were abducted from their homes. During this time, I’ve observed classmates perpetuate age-old antisemitic tropes on their social media accounts. I’ve heard students march down Fenney Way while chanting “From the river to the sea,” a slogan that essentially calls for the destruction of Israel and the annihilation of its people. Seeing and hearing such unbridled and unapologetic anti-Semitism unfold on my American college campus is terrifying. It evokes for me a visceral recognition of the devastating consequences of allowing Jew hatred to grow and infect the mob mentality of uninformed, angry students. Over the past few weeks, I’ve watched my campus descend into a hotbed of hostility, hatred, and violence, a shift that is painfully reminiscent of the vitriol and terror my grandfather endured in the 1930s. How does it feel to know that people who sit next to me in class, or even tenured Professors who teach the class, would readily shed their veneer of civility and participate in or cheer on a violent pogrom against Jews, who would cheer and feel exhilarated by seeing my own helplessness, abuse, even rape and murder? The only thing standing between the Jewish people and annihilation is Israel. When we said never again, we meant it.
