Anti-Israel Agitators Vandalize Cornell University Administrative Building to Kick Off New Academic Year

Anti-Israel students at Cornell University vandalized an administrative building on Monday, a provocation which marks an early test of the resolve of the interim president who announced new policies on “institutional neutrality,” discipline, and encampments around the time of incident.

According to the Cornell Daily Sun, the anti-Zionist agitators graffitied “Israel Bombs, Cornell pays” and “Blood is on your hands” on Day Hall. They also shattered the glazings of its front doors.

“We had to accept that the only way to make ourselves heard is by targeting the only thing the university administration really cares about: property,” the students told the paper. “With the start of this new academic year, the Cornell administration is trying desperately to upkeep a facade of normalcy knowing that, since last semester, they have been working tirelessly to uphold Cornell’s function as a fascist, classist, imperial machine.”

The students also took aim at interim president Michael Kotlikoff, who assumed office following the resignation of Martha Pollack earlier this summer. Accusing him of duplicity in managing a strike of the university’s employees, they supplied additional reasons for their actions.

“[He] has been antagonizing workers that keep this university running by engaging in bad-faith negotiations with the union and deploying scab workers — even himself — to undermine the solidarity of workers and power of the ongoing strike,” they explained.

The vandalism of Day Hall concurred with Kotlikoff’s issuing a lengthy statement which described how the university will respond to potentially disruptive protests, a problem which prematurely ended the tenures of four Ivy League presidents last academic year, including his predecessor. In it, Kotlikoff stressed his belief in upholding the “expressive activities of individuals” while maintaining that “they are bounded by the need to protect the core functions of the university and the reciprocal rights of others.” Adding that the university will permit encampments of the kind which emerged across the country in May, he concluded by outlining a no-tolerance approach to disciplinary infractions.

“Acts of violence, extended occupations of buildings, or destruction of property (including graffiti), will not be tolerated and will be subject to immediate public safety response,” he said. “We will enforce these policies consistently, for every group or activity, on any issue or subject …We urge all members of the community to express their views in a manner that respects the rights of others. One voice may never stifle another. There is a time, place, and manner for all to speak and all to be heard.”

It is not clear that Kotlikoff’s statement was prompted by the incident on Monday morning, but its concurrence with destruction of school property carried out in the name of anti-Zionism has nonetheless initiated an early appraisal of his style of governance and the measures he is prepared to enact to preserve order. Identifying and punishing the culprits could set off protests which disrupt the campus or cause a collision with the Cornell Daily Sun, which has agreed not to reveal their identities. Letting the incident slide may invite the scrutiny of the US Congress, which only last week asked the university to share its plans for deterring and responding to lawbreaking and antisemitic discrimination. As of this publication, he has not signaled which course of action he plans to take.

Anti-Zionists convulsed Cornell University’s campus last year, engaging in activities that are without precedent in the school’s 159-year history. In October, three weeks after Hamas’ massacre across southern Israel, now-former student Patrick Dai threatened to perpetrate heinous crimes against members of the school’s Jewish community, including mass murder and rape. Cornell students also occupied a campus building and held a “mock trial” in which they convicted Pollack of complicity in “apartheid” and “genocide against Palestinian civilians.” Meanwhile, history professor Russell Rickford called Hamas’ barbarity on Oct. 7 “exhilarating” and “energizing” at a pro-Palestinian rally held on campus.

By the end of the year, Pollack announced her resignation, which followed the installment of an illegal “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the campus where pro-Hamas students had lived and protested the university’s investments in companies linked to Israel. During that time, she oversaw at least four full and temporary suspensions of the protesters and issued ultimatums to those who refuse to leave.

“Continued delay is not in the university’s best interests, both because of the need to have sufficient time for a smooth transition before the start of the academic year, and because I do not want my announcement to interfere with the celebration of our newest graduates at commencement in just a few weeks,” she said in announcing her decision to resign. “I understand that there will be lots of speculation about my decision, so let me be as clear as I can: this decision is mine and mine alone. After seven fruitful and gratifying years as Cornell’s president — and after a career in research and academia spanning five decades — I’m ready for a new chapter in my life.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.