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Jewish students in New York City expressed concerns over Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s abolition of an executive order that tied the city’s definition of antisemitism to the standard set by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which labeled antisemitism as “hatred toward Jews.”
Fox News Digital sat down with students from New York University and Columbia University who said the decision to revoke the executive order is “terrifying,” and feared that Mamdani’s removal of the order could lead to an increase in protests and demeanor of professors and students on college campuses in NYC.
“There’s a reason why IHRA’s definition of antisemitism has become the gold standard, and removing it on the first day, as well as other executive orders that are in place to protect the Jewish community, really gives permission for protests to start up again,” NYU student Mera Skoblo told Fox News Digital. “Removing these safeguards and precautionary measures for Jewish students to keep us safe really feels like a direct move.
“It feels like an attack,” Skoblo added.
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NYU faced some of the most intense protests, which included a Dec. 12, 2024, demonstration outside the university’s library during which protesters called for an “intifada revolution” and asserted that Tel Aviv is “stolen land.”
Former Mayor Eric Adams first signed the executive order tying the city’s definition of antisemitism to that of the IHRA. Mamdani rescinded the adoption on Jan. 1, his first day serving as mayor.
“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews,” the IHRA definition reads. “Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
As for Columbia University, the Upper West Side, Ivy League school faced some of the most intense protests in the country in the years since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
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“The pro-Palestinian rhetoric that has really taken hold on my campus will just [be emboldened by Mamdani’s] rhetoric and just inflame the campus and the campus political stance,” Columbia University student Galia Labowitz explained. “I honestly am terrified of what this year has to come.”
Labowitz also pointed to systemic antisemitism rooted in professors who potentially supported Mamdani’s mayoral campaign.
“I’ve had professors that have canceled class because of protests or encouraged students to go and participate in these protests,” Labowitz said. “Obviously it’s made me very uncomfortable, and it’s really discouraged me from speaking up in class or being able to be very proud of my Jewish identity and my Zionist identity.
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“I absolutely think that these professors that encourage this antisemitic rhetoric are deeply troubling and honestly very isolating,” Labowitz added.
In April 2024, Columbia University’s East Butler Lawn was taken over by an encampment involving hundreds of students and non-students who chanted “from the river to the sea” while calling for an end to the war in the Middle East and criticizing Israel and its citizens.
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In May 2025, demonstrators occupied Butler Library and informally designated it as “Basel Al-Araj Popular University.”
The various protests at Columbia University resulted in hundreds of arrests and student disciplinary actions from the Ivy League school.
Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani, NYU and Columbia University but did not receive responses in time for publication.
Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on X @MizellPreston Fox News’ Tessa Hoyos also contributed to this report.
