Jacob Remes

Jacob Remes’s Participation in the Pro-Hamas Encampment at Columbia University (Columbia) & Hatred of Zionists and Israel

Jacob Remes has spread hatred of Zionists and Israel. He has also engaged in activism in support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Remes has also expressed support for anti-Israel agitators, including pro-BDS congresswoman Ilhan Omar and former professor Steven Salaita.

Remes is a New York University (NYU) professor who participated in the pro-Hamas Columbia encampment in April 2024 as a member [slide 3] of the anti-Israel group Jews For Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ).

As of March 2019, Remes was listed as a clinical assistant professor of History at New York University (NYU)’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

Hatred of Zionists

On March 4, 2019, Remes tweeted: “When I talk about zionist antisemitism, I mean this: that zionists, both Jewish and not, so hate diaspora Jewry that they make us less safe by collaborating with and building white supremacy.”

On September 21, 2017, Remes tweeted: “Israel makes us (ie diaspora Jews) less safe.”

On February 16, 2017, Remes tweeted: “Fundamentally the Jewish Zionist Right likes it when diaspora Jews are unsafe, because it validates their whole project.”

On December 12, 2016, Remes tweeted: “People who, right now, claim that the antisemitic danger is from BDS and the left, not from the right, are actively making us less safe.”

On December 5, 2016, Remes tweeted that “support for Israel gives a fig leaf to real, serious antisemites.”

On July 2, 2014, Remes tweeted: “...one of the reasons I oppose Israel: it encourages antisemitism.”

Hatred of Israel

On April 4, 2018, Remes tweeted: “I am so sick and tired of the space Israel—a country from which my people did not come, that speaks a language my family never spoke, that enacts values from which I and my family recoil, that empowers clergy who reject my marriage and by practice—takes up in my community.”

On February 13, 2018, Remes tweeted: “And of course we should celebrate that after a generation or two, US Jews are turning away from Israel. The loss—from assimilation, suburbanization, embourgeoisement, and Zionism—of diasporic culture after WWII is nearly incalculable.”

On September 22, 2017, Remes tweeted: “it is perfectly acceptable (and easy!) to criticize the entire Zionist project without being antisemitic.”

On August 14, 2017, Remes tweeted: “my opposition to Israel is less about this State of Israel (bad as it is) than it is about any State of Israel.”

On July 9, 2017, Remes tweeted: “I'd like to see the diaspora turn its back on Israel—both to deprive Israel of support and to rebuild diaspora Judaism.”

On December 12, 2016, Remes posted a series of tweets complaining that the son of late Israeli President Shimon Peres would be lighting Menorah candles at then-President Obama’s Hannukah party, commenting: “Seriously, do they even celebrate Hannukah--that most American and horrible of Jewish holidays--in Israel?”

On August 16, 2016, Remes responded to a photo of Israeli demolitions of illegal Palestinian homes by tweeting: “One isn't supposed to make Israel-Nazi comparisons, but it's hard to see these pictures and be reminded of Lidice.”

On December 20, 2014, Remes tweeted: “If you associate with any criticism of Israel, you're anathema. That's the only way to ensure lockstep compliance with the Israeli fascists.”

On August 1, 2014, Remes tweeted that “the violent vigilante racism in Israel today isn't new. It's baked into the cake.”

On July 30, 2014, during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge against Hamas terrorists, Remes called for liberal Zionist groups to condemn what he described as “Israel's slaughter in Gaza.”

Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.  

On May 26, 2014, Remes tweeted an article written by anti-Israel professor Saree Makdisi, titled: “Does the term 'apartheid' fit Israel? Of course it does.”

Anti-Israel Activism (BDS)

On January 6, 2018, Remes tweeted about BDS activists being banned from entering Israel: “I mean, I have long blacklisted myself from Israel (that is, I boycott Israel and won't travel there), so I'm not worried, but I'm curious.”

On July 27, 2017, Remes tweeted in reference to “The Israel Anti-Boycott Act” presented to the U.S. Senate: “Activism against the bill that would criminalize BDS is starting to work, but we need to keep up the pressure.”

On the same day, Remes tweeted: about the pro-BDS Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) activist group: “That seems to be JVP's ask right now. I'd say beyond that, (keep) boycotting and organizing for institutions to boycott and divest.”

In 2014, Remes signed a letter to then-United States President Barack Obama and members of the U.S. Congress, calling for a suspension of aid to Israel.

The letter, written during Israel’s OPE against Hamas, stated: “We urge you to suspend US military aid to Israel, until there is assurance that this aid will no longer be used for the commission of war crimes.”

In February 2014 Remes signed “An Open Letter on the Anti-Boycott Bills,” which opposed anti-BDS legislation pending before New York State’s legislature. He also promoted on Twitter an “action alert” from JVP against the bill.

Supporting Anti-Israel Agitators

On March 5, 2019, Remes tweeted an illustration of US Representative Ilhan Omar and the hashtag “#IStandWithIlhan.” He wrote: “I just called @rosadelauro’s office to tell her #IStandWithIlhan and urged her, as a Jewish constituent, to oppose any resolution directed against @Ilhan or aimed at casting antizionism as antisemitism.”

In 2014, The University of Illinois withdrew an offer of employment to Salaita after becoming aware of his anti-Semitic tweets. One tweet, posted shortly after Hamas kidnapped three teenage Israeli high school students, read: "You may be too refined to say it, but I’m not: I wish all the f**king West Bank settlers would go missing.” In 2017, Salaita posted to Facebook: “People ask if I would go back in time and change anything. I would not…I will die unapologetic.” In February 2019, Salaita stated that he had become a school bus driver in the Washington, D.C., area.

Participation in the Pro-Hamas Encampment at Columbia

On April 24, 2024, Remes was featured in a photo posted on Instagram participating [slide 3] in the pro-Hamas and pro-BDS encampment at Columbia. Remes had a pink Jews For Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) button on his shirt and held a sign that called for a “PERMANENT CEASEFIRE.”

Activists were protesting Israel’s war against Hamas, which was launched after the October 7, 2023 terror attacks.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis, kidnapped hundreds and wounded thousands. War crimes included mass rape and torture. Israel retaliated with a war called “Swords of Iron.” For more information, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.

Text on the Instagram post where Remes was featured said: “...JFREJ members visited the Palestine solidarity encampments at Columbia/Barnard and NYU to show love and support to these courageous students…#LetGazaLive #CeasefireNow #FreePalestine.”

On April 17, 2024, Columbia students and anti-Israel activists set up a pro-Hamas “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the university's main lawn. Many participants were arrested and the encampment featured multiple violent incidents, including taking over a campus building and taking a university worker hostage.

Activists protested Israel’s war against Hamas and demanded that Columbia “divest from companies and institutions that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and occupation…”

Social Media and Weblinks

Twitter:https://twitter.com/jacremes

University Website:https://gallatin.nyu.edu/people/faculty/jar31.html