Fox News Digital sat down with students from New York University and Columbia University<\/a> who said the decision to revoke the executive order is “terrifying,” and feared that Mamdani\u2019s removal of the order could lead to an increase in protests and demeanor of professors and students on college campuses in NYC.<\/p>\n “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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n “It feels like an attack,” Skoblo added.<\/p>\n After Mayor Zohran Mamdani scrapped an executive order adopting the IHRA antisemitism standard, Jewish students warn the move could embolden campus activists and worsen antisemitic rhetoric at NYC universities. (Photo by Fatih Aktas\/Anadolu \/ Photo by Stephanie Keith)<\/p>\n ISRAEL ACCUSES MAMDANI OF POURING ‘ANTISEMITIC GASOLINE’ AFTER HE REVOKES ADAMS EXECUTIVE ORDERS<\/a><\/p>\n NYU faced some of the most intense protests, which included a Dec. 12, 2024, demonstration outside the university\u2019s library during which protesters called for an “intifada revolution” and asserted that Tel Aviv is “stolen land.”<\/p>\n Former mayor Eric Adams<\/a> first signed the executive order tying the city\u2019s definition of antisemitism to that of the IHRA. Mamdani rescinded the adoption<\/a> on Jan. 1, his first day serving as mayor.<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n Protest stickers were put on the doors at Butler Library at Columbia University’s campus on May 7, 2025 in New York City. Pro-Palestinian protesters held a demonstration inside the Butler Library on Columbia University\u2019s campus, disrupting finals week. (\u00a0Indy Scholtens\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n NYC STUDENTS EXPOSE ‘EXTREMIST’ PROFESSORS FOSTERING CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM AT MAJOR UNIVERSITIES<\/a><\/p>\n “The pro-Palestinian rhetoric that has really taken hold on my campus will just [be emboldened by Mamdani\u2019s] 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.”<\/p>\n Labowitz also pointed to systemic antisemitism rooted in professors who potentially supported Mamdani\u2019s mayoral campaign<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n Police intervene and arrest more than 100 students at New York University in support of students at Columbia University and to oppose Israel’s attacks on Gaza. (Fatih Aktas\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n NEW YORK LEADERS CONDEMN ‘INTIFADA’ CHANTS TARGETING A SYNAGOGUE LED BY A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR<\/a><\/p>\n “I absolutely think that these professors that encourage this antisemitic rhetoric<\/a> are deeply troubling and honestly very isolating,” Labowitz added.<\/p>\n In April 2024, Columbia University\u2019s 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<\/a> and criticizing Israel and its citizens.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/mamdani-protests-antisemitsm-campus.jpg\")
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