(IntegrityTimes.com) – The once-prestigious Stanford University in California has been battling a public reputation of being hostile to Jewish students since the October 7 attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas.
Protests and clashes among students, as well as targeting of Jewish students by professors and other staff are increasingly common. Students and outside activists have also harassed staff who attempt to deescalate the situation. A Stanford University spokesperson released a statement claiming the school is committed to making the campus “free of harassment and discrimination” although that does not seem to be the case.
Recently, student whistleblowers recorded a Stanford teaching assistant, Hamza El Boudali, praising Hamas and advocating for the assassination of President Joe Biden. El Boudali has increasingly engaged in open anti-Jewish and anti-Israel behavior in recent months. He was filmed at a pro-Israel demonstration grinning and holding a sign reading “Ask Me About Jihad”. While jihad has many non-violent religious meanings in Islam, historically it has often referred to violent holy wars against declared enemies of Islam.
El Boudali claims the recording was taken out of context and cherry picked so that his intended meaning was lost. However, in a post on X, an unverified account in his name argued with a student who wrote an article about him in which he referred to President Biden as a “genocidal maniac”. He has also asked that Stanford University sanction the students who recorded him. However, when the university declined to do so, he apparently took to social media to say he has a right to doxx them. “Doxxing” means to disclose personal information, such as someone’s address or employer, to the public.
In an unverified statement El Boudali says that the University has offered him another teaching assistant position. Jewish students say his open hostility to Israel and Jewish people undermines their trust that he will grade their work fairly. The University’s answer to this is that students can request their work be re-graded by another staff member. This seems to contradict the school’s official stance that they “discriminatory behavior by instructors” very seriously. In the meantime, Jewish students are forced to face activists taunting them about the hostages and threatening to find out where they live as they try to navigate the beautiful Stanford University campus.
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