HOST
The past few days synagogues and Jewish places of community have experienced an uptick of security threats. Columbia University was home to about 1,500 Jewish students in 2023, according to a Hillel International survey. Given the high population on the campus, and recent tensions around Israel, Iryna Humenyuk asked if the increased threats to safety change how the community uses the Kraft Center for Student Life.
HUMENYUK 1
It's a Wednesday evening in Morningside Heights, and the sun has just set over The Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life. Asher Strill is lounging on the third floor of the community centre. During his time at Columbia, he's never seen more security stationed outside.
STRILL 1
Hillel has shut down twice and the Jewish Theological Seminary has had a much higher increased presence of police outside and we've received, I believe, at least one threat this year and I've never seen it at this frequency.
HUMENYUK 2:
But Strill is relatively unfazed with the increased antisemitism that has resulted from the attacks in Israel on October 7. He's still going to come to The Kraft Center—also known as Hillel. There's only one thing that would give him cause for concern.
STRILL 2
If—if there's a, like, a credible threat that's been given from the FBI or Homeland Security about the Jewish base, then that's when you start taking it much more seriously.
HUMENYUK 3
But this hasn't happened yet in the Columbia community. Students like David Lederer have been coming to The Kraft Center even more frequently since the October 7 attacks.
LEDERER 1
This has become, like, a safe—a safe haven for many Jewish students on campus.
HUMENYUK 4
And for some—like Adina, no last name, an architecture student at Barnard—she says her relationship to Kraft hasn't changed in the last year. Even with the increase of threats. Like Lederer, this is a place where she feels in community.
ADINA 1
I don't feel like I have to watch what I'm saying, or watch what I'm wearing, or, um, what, like, identity markers I have on me
HUMENYUK 6
While many people's perception of security at the Kraft Center hasn't changed, other locations near campus, like the Dean's residence have been on high alert.
WILLIAM 1
Dean of Students, the Dean of Columbia, mm we used to have, um, security from twelve. From four to twelve. That's it. Now we have twenty-four hour security.
HUMENYUK 7
William has worked on Columbia's Operational and Facilities team for eighteen years. He says that Columbia has a robust security team. He hasn't heard of any serious threats made on Jewish spaces at the university.
One thing is certain. Even with the threat of violence, the Jewish community of Morningside Heights will continue to come to the Kraft Center to study with friends, to pray, to be with community. Iryna Humenyuk, Columbia Radio News.
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