U.S. College Towns Hit by String of Antisemitic Incidents During Rosh Hashanah Holiday

Earlier this week, as Jewish communities worldwide celebrated Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), two college towns in the United States suffered disturbing incidents of antisemitism.

In Ann Arbor, Michigan, antisemitic flyers were distributed near the University of Michigan campus by the neo-Nazi Goyim Defense League, which has been responsible for dozens of similar provocations across the United States over the past two years.

One of the flyers said “Every Single Aspect of the COVID Agenda Is Jewish,” and another implied Israeli control of U.S. affairs.

“I think it’s disgusting and it’s unfortunate,” a local resident who found in his driveway a plastic bag filled with flyers and weighed down by small rocks told Detroit’s 7 Action News.

The man also recalled seeing a young girl going around the neighborhood with her mother to pick up the flyers before others found them.

“I would say that this is a sign of what a strong community we have here and what great support we have among each other and a reminder of that,” he said. “And I hope that people who live around here would focus on that more than this garbage that got thrown around.”

Shadia Martini — a candidate for the Michigan State House of Representatives — tweeted, “I am horrified and disgusted to hear that Jewish students at the University of Michigan woke up to find rabidly antisemitic flyers on their porches in Ann Arbor this morning, on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. I stand firmly against antisemitism.”

I am horrified and disgusted to hear that Jewish students at the University of Michigan woke up to find rabidly antisemitic flyers on their porches in Ann Arbor this morning, on the first day of Rosh Hashanah.

I stand firmly against antisemitism.

— Shadia Martini for State Rep (@ShadiaMartini) September 25, 2022

Meanwhile, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, a Jewish fraternity was vandalized during Rosh Hashanah, NJ.com reported.

Three eggs were found broken outside the Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) house on Monday morning.

Police are investigating the incident, and a Rutgers spokeswoman stated, “Neither hatred nor bigotry has a place at Rutgers, nor should they have a place anywhere in the world.”

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy tweeted on Tuesday, “Antisemitism has no place in New Jersey. I will always condemn and speak out against bigotry and intolerance.”

To those who vandalized @RutgersU‘s Jewish fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, during Rosh Hashanah, I say this:

Antisemitism has no place in New Jersey. I will always condemn and speak out against bigotry and intolerance.

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) September 27, 2022

The AEPi house at Rutgers has been targeted in the past, with an egging during a Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) event last year and an incident earlier this year in which pro-Palestinian demonstrators pulled up outside the building and yelled antisemitic remarks while throwing items at fraternity members.