A cousin of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a student at New York University (NYU), has announced on social media that she will be leaving the academic institution due to the rise of antisemitism in recent weeks.
“People think that being woke equals supporting terrorists, and we feel that our institution [NYU] is just being ignorant and supporting antisemitism,” the cousin said in an Instagram video on @jewsinschool. “We don't feel safe,” she added. Her father is Antony Blinken’s first cousin.
“I've been trying to not engage but I feel that it's honestly scary,” Her friend added: “They've been ripping down all posters of the kidnapped [Israelis], overwriting… just horrible things [about] the children. It's awful, disheartening, and it's scary being Jewish on campus now because of all this,” she said.
The cousin told the woman who was asking her questions that she was “withdrawing” from NYU and that she would be “transferring somewhere else.” She added: “Why should I pay 70 grand a year to go to school that supports terrorism and doesn't support your safety, when people talk about being entitled to safe spaces.”
Her friend, standing next to her in the video, said that there were “professors sticking their cameras in a Jewish student's face, and she was sobbing while this was all going on.” She added that “the faculty members who do support Israel feel uncomfortable because they can't even voice [their opinions]... It’s very disappointing and scary.”
A conversation with student's father
The young cousin declined to speak with The Jerusalem Post on the matter, but her father, a first cousin of the Secretary of State, told the Post on Wednesday that he won’t relate to his daughter’s situation, rather to the broader aspect of antisemitism: “There's an uptick in antisemitic incidents in the United States, just since October seventh is up, almost 400%,” he told the Post, adding that “a tremendous amount [of antisemitism] is on campuses. So in particular, at places like Cornell and Berkeley, NYU, Harvard, all the elite universities, and also less elite names: Jews are being threatened. They're being ostracized. And there are many Jewish students on many campuses who do not feel safe, physically, emotionally, and intellectually.”
The father related the fact that two modern Orthodox day schools in the New Jersey area have decided not to recommend that their students enroll in academic institutions that won’t denounce the Hamas massacre and combat antisemitism on campus. “A number of modern-Orthodox day schools have come out and are adamant to university recruiters that unless they are very clear and denouncing Hamas terror, they will not be sending those graduates to those institutions.”
The elder cousin is a member of an Orthodox synagogue in New Jersey and claims to be the only Orthodox member of the secretary of state's broader family. He will be joining a mission with his synagogue next week in Israel, just days after the visit of his first cousin, who will be arriving on Friday. “We're going to be meeting with victims of terror, with people who have been wounded, we’ll be meeting soldiers and bringing them needed supplies,” he said. He wouldn’t relate directly to his famous cousin.
In an Oct. 18 resolution, the US Senate condemns “antisemitic student activities” across college campuses, specifically mentioning NYU twice in relation to the Israel-Hamas conflict. The resolution, introduced by Republican Senator Josh Hawley from Missouri, cited a message from the former president of NYU Law’s Student Bar Association (SBA), Ryna Workman, supporting Palestinian resistance and criticized on-campus demonstrations by NYU's Students for Justice in Palestine. John Beckman, an NYU spokesperson, emphasized the university’s stance against Hamas and its commitment to campus safety.
On October 25th, the NYU management published a statement regarding an anti-Israeli demonstration near the university, where signs against Jews were held. “The signs the individuals in Washington Square Park are holding are antisemitic, repugnant, and a disgrace; they are, in a word, vile. NYU However, they are not NYU students.
“The NY Post has identified them not as NYU students, but as New York City high school students who traveled to Washington Square (a public park, not NYU's property) to participate in the protest.”
The Daily Mail published that day that NYU students held up antisemitic signs with the message "Keep the world clean" in the heart of Manhattan, marking the latest incident in a growing trend of hatred towards Jews and Israel in New York.
The students had gathered for a "walkout" protest organized by Ryna Workman, a law student who had previously described Hamas' attack on Israel as "necessary." Dozens of Gen Z protesters had assembled in Washington Square Park, waving pride flags, wearing keffiyehs, and demanding "freedom for Palestine" and divestment from Israel's perceived "genocidal regime."
NYU spokesman John Beckman had told DailyMail.com that the school was working to verify the identities of the students with the offensive signs. He emphasized that these signs were antisemitic, repugnant, and a disgrace and that anti-Semitism violated the university's rules, with violators subject to university conduct proceedings.
According to the report, in the middle of the protest, a handful of young Jewish men sang and prayed in the face of the antisemitic signs. The students participating in the protest demanded a divestment of NYU funds from Israel.