The level of violence keeps escalating. In the past 24 hours there were two anti-Semitic incidents at Ohio State University, one of which involved beating up students who were targeted for being Jewish. Early Friday morning, around 1:30 am, two students were leaving a bar off campus.

The victims were leaving a bar when they got into a verbal altercation with two unknown male suspects, Columbus police said.

“According to reports, the suspects yelled a derogatory term and assaulted two students while asking if they were Jewish,” OSU’s public safety notice stated.

Columbus police said both victims “believe this to be a hate crime” due to hearing an antisemitic slur and the suspects asking them their religion.

One victim reported being punched in the face, “causing redness and swelling to the left side of his face,” and the other reported being punched in the face, “causing a possible fractured nose, as well as redness and swelling,” Columbus police said.

Both students went to the hospital but were released. According to a public safety notice released this morning by the school, the attack meets the definition of a hate crime.

The assault was actually the 2nd incident that happened within a matter of hour. Earlier on Thursday, two women entered a Jewish Center and shouted anti-Israel slogans and vandalized property.

…two females went into the building, saying they wanted to look around. Because the building is secure, someone at the front desk allowed them inside after their request.

“Once inside, one female stood by the front door while the other went into a room and began taking small Israeli flags,” the report said. “When confronted by staff, the female ran out the door.”

The female who was inside the room then yelled obscenities, as well as “You support genocide” and “Free Palestine,” according to the report.

Both females then ran to a car that was waiting, driven by a male, and the vehicle fled the area. The female that had been holding the flags dropped them while leaving the building, the report said.

The incidents happened only a few blocks away from each other but so far there’s no indication they are connected. The suspects in both incidents have not been identified by police yet but the Jewish Center has cameras inside and out so it shouldn’t be too difficult to ID the two girls.

Gov. Mike DeWine put out a statement, calling the acts “despicable.” He also announced the Highway Patrol would be providing extra patrols in the area of the OSU campus.

I have instructed the Ohio State Highway Patrol to coordinate with the Ohio State University Police Department and the Columbus Division of Police to provide extra patrols for the area around the OSU campus. These patrols will begin immediately and will assist in ensuring the…

— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) November 10, 2023

In a sense it’s actually worse if these two incidents were not connected at all. It suggests that instead of one small group of nut cases out there targeting Jewish people, this is just something that might occur to lots of people independently. Here’s a local news report on the incidents.

Finally, an update on another situation at Concordia University in Montreal which I wrote about here. There was a brawl between two groups of students inside a building. A pro-Palestinian group was selling scarfs to raise money for relief while a Jewish group was holding an event to focus attention on the hostages. The situation devolved into shouting and even some punches being thrown. In the midst of all of this, one of the people shouting was identified as a professor at the school. Here’s the clip:

Montreal – November 8 – University of Montreal (UdeM) Professor Yanise Arab yells at a Jewish student in Concordia to “go back to Poland, sharmouta (wh*re)”. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/zYys9AtESf

— Documenting Antisemitism (@AntisemitismCA) November 9, 2023

As of today he has been suspended while an investigation takes place.

A university spokesperson said a course taught by Yanise Arab was cancelled Thursday as a preventive measure. On Friday afternoon, the school confirmed that Arab had been suspended.

“The lecturer received this morning a notice of suspension with pay for the duration of the investigation,” spokeswoman Geneviève O’Meara said in an interview.

She said the school was evaluating whether the class he taught would continue with another instructor for the rest of the session or not take place.

I think if he was actually calling a student at the school a “whore” as the tweet suggests then he’s going to lose his job.