In a letter, 540 Jewish students at Columbia University in New York (USA) condemned the protests against Israel that erupted weeks ago at the institution, defended Zionism and said they were “proud” of their country as “the only democracy in the East Average”.
The students detailed in the letter that Zionism remains a pillar of Jewish identities, that Judaism cannot be separated from Israel, and argued that many of their peers do not understand its importance.
“Israel is home to millions of Mizrahi Jews (descendants of Middle Eastern Jews), Ashkenazi Jews (descendants of Central and Eastern European Jews), and Ethiopian Jews, as well as millions of Israeli Arabs, more than 1 million Muslims, and hundreds of thousands of Christians and Druze. Israel is nothing short of a miracle for the Jewish people and for the Middle East in general.”
Additionally, the document, which lists students’ full names, colleges, and ages, also attacks anti-Zionist Jewish students on campus for, they say, trying to “delegitimize” them and make them invisible.
In total, as of Thursday morning (9), the letter had been signed by just over 10% of the approximately 5,000 Jewish students at Columbia and affiliated institutions.
The text does not criticize Israel’s military offensive in Gaza following the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 last year in the country, but highlights that “we all start from a place of love and aspiration for a better future for Israelis and Palestinians.” .
“One of our goals is to make clear that Zionism is the belief in Israel’s right to exist, and anti-Zionism is the denial of that right,” the signatories said. (EFE Agency)
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