Following the diabolical October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, America found out just how far its colleges and universities have fallen when it comes to human compassion and understanding of the world at large.
Students across the nation are making Hitler proud by rallying to proclaim hate toward Jews while heaping praise upon a blood-thirsty band of Islamist barbarians. How did things reach such a wretched point; where Jewish students actually feel unsafe in many instances?
Over decades, American universities have opened the floodgates to over 1,000,000 foreign students per year. During the 2021-2022 academic year, the U.S. admitted nearly 100,000 new students from predominantly Muslim countries linked with terrorist activity. Many of these students are already radicalized against the United States and the West. And their hatred for Jews and Americans has been present since birth, further intensified by the culture of an increasingly secular U.S.
The steep decline in American patriotism is also ever-increasing. The Left has been steadily demonizing American exceptionalism for decades and indoctrinating students in such attitudes with little pushback. Included in this narrative is the false idea that people of color cannot be victimizers. Stories are replete of students who leave for college with a foundation built upon conservatism, but return home completely transformed in their attitudes.
When one adds the influence of foreign students with the leftist indoctrination of homegrown brains of mush, the result is often alarming. The values that once made America the envy of the world are no longer prevalent or of utmost influence on college campuses, as they have been replaced with more popular woke beliefs painting the U.S. and Israel as “victimizers.”
It is time for college administrators and politicians to rein in the number of foreign students, and to prohibit any country from funding anti-American activities on college campuses. This includes not just radical Islamist states, but countries such as China as well.
According to the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, from 1986-2018, Muslim countries donated in excess of $6.6 billion to American universities. Qatar, which supports Hamas, is by far the largest such donor. And the Qatar Foundation supports the belief that Jews must be unequivocally eliminated. This is consistent with Hamas’s and radical Islam’s dedication to religious jihad against infidels and its culture which promotes death and violence.
In addition, since 1987, the Hamas Network in America has continually sought to infiltrate American media and academia in spreading anti-Israeli propaganda. Despite the fact that the FBI has been aware of this activity, nothing has been done to combat it.
It is time for America to wake up. The tide of hate for Jews on display around the world is supported by sympathetic faculty dedicated to embedding it in the minds of students. This lack of empathy and vile expression for an entire race of people should send a chill down our collective spines. More concerning is the fact that their tuition is being directed to intensify such hate not just for Jews, but toward an America that has provided them with opportunities for success that most citizens of the world cannot remotely comprehend.
Wealthy college alumni are finally reacting to this detestable behavior by ceasing their financial contributions. The time is also long past for America to close its academic doors to foreign students who detest Israel and the West, and those inclined to promote campus violence and hate. American students should also be held to account for rash, emotional political declarations through diminished job opportunities which some have already incurred.
There is an important distinction between free expression and the celebration of death and genocide. In a world that’s on fire, weak minds must come to realize the destructive role that indoctrination adds to this equation, and the life-altering consequences that may follow.
Mark Figley is a political activist and guest columnist from Elida. His column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Lima News editorial board or AIM Media, owner of The Lima News.
