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An antisemitic flier depicting a skunk in the white and blue of the Israeli flag and a Star of David has surfaced on Columbia University’s campus, sparking outrage among the Jewish community.
The poster “villainizes Jewish and Israeli students on campus and fosters an increasingly hostile environment,” according to the Anti-Defamation League for New York and New Jersey, who blasted the Columbia administration for not taking action to stop it sooner on X.
The skunk depiction has been likened to Nazi propaganda posters used during World War II — which dehumanized the Jewish community and compared them to vermin.
“That skunk poster evokes classic antisemitic tropes that are instantly familiar to anyone who has seen Nazi propaganda,” the director of programming and strategy at End Jew Hatred Michelle Ahdoot told the Post.
The post was highlighted by Shai Davidai, an Assistant Professor at Columbia’s business school.
“This poster seen today on campus depicts all Israelis as skunks. If any other group was depicted as animals, the school would have already called the FBI to investigate,” he wrote on X.
“What’s next? All Jews are vermin? Columbia University – what the f*** are you waiting for?”
A Columbia University spokesperson told the Post that the posters were found on campus this past week and were deemed “abhorrent and antisemitic” by the administration.
“As soon as the University learned of them, they were removed and a report was filed under the University’s anti-discrimination policies,” a statement from Columbia continued.
It remains unclear who made the poster which reads — “Beware! Skunk on Campus. Brought to you in collaboration by Columbia University and the IDF,” referring to the Israel Defense Forces, who are currently battling Hamas in Gaza, causing tensions between Muslims and Jewish people to rise around the globe.
Columbia failed to answer a series of questions The Post asked about the origins of the poster and what consequences were being dealt to those who created and circulated the vile flier.
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They instead pointed to a November announcement made by Columbia University President Minouche Shafik which noted the formation of a task force to combat antisemitism.
“We want to reiterate that we will not tolerate such actions and are moving forcefully against antisemitic threats, images, and other violations as they are reported, and we will continue to provide additional resources to protect our campuses,” Shafik said at the time.
It remains unclear what the task force has done since it was formed, what they intended to do about the poster and what steps are being taken to ensure the safety of the Jewish community on campus.
“Columbia’s failure to take an unequivocal and uncompromising stance on Jew-hatred — by imposing consequences on students, faculty members, and organizations that consistently target Jews on campus with genocidal chants and bullying and intimidating behavior — has emboldened Jew-hatred, including posters like this one,” Ahdoot said in retaliation to the lackluster response from Columbia.
“Instead of purging Jewish students by allowing pro-Hamas activists free reign on campus, Columbia needs to exercise its right to eliminate hate from its campus by imposing consequences on Jew-hatred.”
Some online sleuths noted the grotesque depiction could be connected to an incident at an anti-Israel demonstration which took place at Columbia’s campus last month.
Demonstrators who marched through Columbia University claimed that they’d been sprayed with a chemical that reeked of “raw sewage and dead mouse.”
Members of the suspended university groups Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace have said that two unidentified men came up to them outside the Low Library and sprayed an unknown chemical — which caused them to experience headaches, fatigue, and nausea.
Some reports that followed referred to the chemical agent as “skunk water” – a liquid compound used by the IDF to disperse crowds and protestors since 2008.
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