The house that I live in

Before Hitler declared war on the United States in 1941, there were Nazis marching in our streets as Americans.

Today, at college campuses across our nation, there are Americans marching as Nazis and terrorist-supporters, shouting, "We're all Hamas."

Make no mistake about it. When student protestors burn the American flag and chant "Death to America" it has little to do with the Israeli military response to the murderous rampage by Hamas on October 7th and much to do with Iran's grand strategy of bringing death to the "Great Satan" through "useful idiots."

Clearly, the protestors are outraged that Israelis have refused to be the mute, mutilated victims of the last Hamas outrage. After all, violent acts of anti-Semitism and Jew-killing are not supposed to come with a cost to its perpetrators. The "Death to America" crowd must be asking, "When did the Israelis change the rules?"

So these Iranian foot soldiers with student loans have taken to college campuses, where places like Columbia University have been forced to implement virtual learning and Jewish students are warned to stay away for their own safety. Would the universities have responded the same way if the protests had been, say, anti-Black?

There should be little confusion as to what is occurring as police confront and arrest students and their organizers. These are individuals waging a coordinated, lavishly-funded campaign (exact funding has been meticulously researched and published by NGO Monitor) to demonize Jews, Israel, and those who stand against anti-Semitism, and the United States.

Former Black Panther supporter David Horowitz noted:

They are seeking nothing less than to change American society. They have harnessed the Internet to organize, encourage, and amplify their hatred while dismantling our values so that political violence can be redefined as their free speech. Jews are just their targets today. Tomorrow it is you.

While there is considerable focus on whether Columbia University's president should resign for her inability to maintain campus safety for Jews, the far larger issue is how colleges across our country have become festering incubators for this kind of hatred.

This author has long cautioned that thoughtful less-radical voices have been repeatedly prevented from offering their insight and commentary before college symposiums. The violent radicalization of students now distilled into Jew-hatred is how this intolerance, willful ignorance, and deceitful Marxist and Iranian propaganda has metastasized into what we are witnessing.

For those who still believe that these violent student actions are a spontaneous response to Israel's military action: this is the weaponization of "woke." The only positive aspect is that none of these protestors can masquerade as loyal Americans, especially when masked protestors yelling "We're all Hamas!" "Long Live Hamas" and "Death to America!" Presumably they came here of their own free will, America has been good to them, but apparently they feel disappointed; if they do not like it here, no one is forcing them to stay.

You and those who fail to heed this open warning may soon find a dark, shattered America where freedom of speech and religious tolerance were proven too fragile to survive their next assault.

*"The House That I live In," lyrics by Abel Meeropol, sung by Frank Sinatra, 1945.

© Gatestone Institute