New York University’s Israel Alumni cut ties with the institution on Tuesday over its failure to address antisemitism — and after its president allegedly downplayed the “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” chant as “not too bad.”
The 2,000-member NYU Israel Alumni Club lashed out at NYU president Linda Mills and told board of trustees chairman Evan Chesler that it would sever ties until the institution directly addresses antisemitism.
The group wrote to Mills and Chesler after a series of incidents on campus, including a teenager who allegedly tore down a poster of a Hamas kidnapping victim and a “hostile takeover” of Bobst Library earlier this month where masked protesters were captured on video repeatedly spitting on a banner that contains the word “Jew.”
A group of Jewish students said they faced chants of “Hitler was right” and “Gas the Jews.”
Several alumni held a contentious Zoom call with Mills on Nov. 1 in which, they told The Post, he said the anti-Israel chant “From the river to the sea” was not necessarily antisemitic — and lunched through the meeting.
Yazmeen Deyhimi, an NYU junior, admitted that she was one of a group of students who tore down posters showing hostages held by Hamas after the terrorist group killed 1,200 Israelis on October 7. Instagram/sophiagindi_ Linda Mills, who became NYU’s 17th president in July, downplayed the concerns of Jewish alumni during a Nov. 1 Zoom call, several participants told The Post. Evan Chesler, chairman of NYU’s board of trustees, is another whose Israeli alumni have written to sever ties with the institution.
In the letter, the alumni group said it wants the chant to be classified as hate speech because it calls for Israeli genocide and NYU publicly condemns it.
The group is also demanding that NYU block individuals and student groups for using hate speech — and that any faculty who participate in anti-Israel protests be disciplined or fired.
“Times like these call for not just words but moral leadership and action,” the letter said.
Keep up with the news on the Israel-Hamas war and the surge in global antisemitism with The Post’s Israel War Updates, delivered straight to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
“We, NYU alumni in Israel, cannot stand by while NYU students and faculty chant the destruction of the Jewish State of Israel, and intimidate and attack Jewish students on the NYU campus.
“Until the university can protect its Jewish students from the extreme rhetoric and violence of faculty and student-led hate groups using the NYU name, the NYU Israel Alumni Club is suspending any collaboration and affiliation with NYU and its institutions.”
The NYU Israel Alumni Club wrote a letter to president Linda Mills and chair Evan Chesler. NYU Alumni Club in Israel/Facebook Posters of Israeli kidnapping victims have been torn down or defaced near NYU, including those accusing Israel of mass murder and calling the Gaza attack that left 1,200 civilians dead “self-defense.”RCF / MEGA
The letter came after a Zoom call with Mills and about 20 alumni. Participants told The Post that the school president seemed “blasé” “not taking himself seriously” and began by asking if people would mind if he ate a salad during the call.
One alum, who did not want to be named, said: “We were talking about the worst event in Jewish history since the Holocaust and he was having lunch.”
Steven Aiello, who serves on the alumni group’s 10-member leadership board, said he found Mills’ behavior disturbing and disrespectful.
“I’m not as upset as others, but I think it’s part of an overall approach that makes it seem like he doesn’t see any real problems to deal with,” Aiello, 35, told The Post. “[She] not taking this matter seriously at all.”
An anti-Israel protester was caught on video spitting on a sign with the word “Jew” printed on it during a rally outside NYU earlier this month. The masked man was part of a protest that also saw the library occupied by anti-Israel students. It is not known if he is an NYU student.
Aiello, from Tel Aviv, said two members of the leadership board had resigned out of frustration with NYU administrators after the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas.
“He was very surprised by the whole thing,” Aiello, 35, said of Mills. “It was very strange considering the audience. Feel whether he is really unaware of the situation or is spinning it all.”
Another NYU Israel alumna said she had told participants “some of it comes from social media, it’s exaggerated,” and said, “She told us it’s not as bad as you think. She whitewashes it all.”
And Sharon Sion Sasson, a 2003 graduate of NYU’s Stern School of Business, said Mills underestimated the frequency and severity of antisemitic incidents that have terrified Jewish students.
Steven Aiello, 35, of Tel Aviv, serves on the 10-member leadership board of the NYU Alumni Club in Israel, which cut ties with the university on Tuesday until several demands are met, including public condemnation of pro-Palestinian phrases. from Steven Aiello Sharon Sion Sasson, 58, of Tel Aviv, accused NYU president Linda Mills of downplaying pro-Palestinian slogans that Jews see as hate speech during a Nov. 1 Zoom call. Courtesy of Sharon Sion Sasson
“He said that ‘From the river to the sea’ can have many meanings,” said Sasson, 58. “He also said he didn’t think the students who said it understood it the way we did.”
Sasson, from Tel Aviv, said the meeting was not “collaborative or action-oriented,” but appeared to be an attempt to appease Jewish alumni. “President Mills has led the talking session, but only decisive and deliberate action can stop this,” Sasson said.
University spokesman John Beckman told The Post NYU was not aware of the intention to sever ties and said it was among the first US universities to publicly condemn Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel and that it had promptly reviewed and investigated complaints of antisemitism.
“But it always saddens NYU to know that we have let down members of our community,” Beckman said.
“However, we would respectfully remind our alumni in Israel, who are undoubtedly in great pain, that NYU has taken many steps to combat antisemitism and keep the campus safe.”
Students stage a pro-Palestinian walkout in Washington Square Park. James Keivom for the NY Post Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) eats fruit during a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem in January 2016. NYU officials referenced the photo when asked about Mills having lunch during a Zoom call with the NYU Alumni Club in Israel.AP
He also said that no one objected to Mills eating lunch in the video call and added: “This is about hunger and having a very demanding job, not about disrespect.”
Beckman also referenced a photo showing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu eating fruit during a weekly cabinet meeting in January 2016 and said of Mills: “Admittedly, it might not get Emily Post’s approval, but this is a university president who works around the clock to keep his campus safe and who does not eat all day.”
NYU has already come under pressure over its handling of antisemitism. Three students are suing the university for allegedly leaving them “under siege” from “acts of hate, discrimination, harassment and intimidation” at the Greenwich Village campus.
Mills announced last week that NYU will open a Center for the Study of Antisemitism next fall.
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