Cornell students advised to 'avoid' kosher dining hall after violent antisemitic threats

Cornell students are being advised to "avoid" the building hosting the university's Jewish center after multiple violent antisemitic threats were posted online. 

"At this time, we advise that students and staff avoid the building out of an abundance of caution," Cornell Hillel, an international Jewish campus organization, said on Instagram late Sunday evening.

Many of the threats were directed toward the Cornell Center for Jewish Living and the building next door, known as 104 West, which is home to the university's kosher and multicultural dining hall.

One post was made under the title, "eliminate jewish living from cornell campus" under the username "jew jenocide." It stated: "the jewish house on cornell is yet another literal and symbolic form of apartheid and genocide on campus... in my opinion it should be torn down and the illegal settlers relocated."

Another post, written under the username "kill jews" with the title "gonna shoot up 104 west" states: "allahu akbar! from the river to the sea, palestine will be free! glory to hamas! liberation by any means necessary!"

More general threats were also made online, such as one under the title "jewish people need to be killed" stating: "if you see a jewish 'person' on campus follow them home and slit their throats. rats need to be eliminated from cornell."

There has been an increase in antisemitic incidents since the the Palestinian terror group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing over 1,400 people – including women, children and the elderly, as well as at least 31 U.S. citizens. 

The posts were made on Greekrank, a website for fraternity and sorority discussions, according to "The Cornell Sun."

The Cornell University Police Department said it is investigating the posts. 

Cornell President Martha Pollack said campus police notified the FBI of a potential hate crime and that the school "will not tolerate antisemitism."

The student paper noted that the threats came days after "F*** Israel," "Zionism = genocide," and other messages were graffitied across campus.

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