DAVID SWINDLE
Pretending to recruit for a pro-Hamas fraternity on a college campus taught two Jewish comedians how much future leaders can be sheep.
Zach Sage Fox, the CEO and founder of a production company, and Yechiel Jacobs posed as recruiters for a fictitious pro-Hamas fraternity and sought members.
In a 90-second video titled "Rush Hamas" that they posted on social media, the two comedians don red visors, sunglasses and red tank tops that approximate the word "Hamas" in Greek Letters--eta, delta, mu, delta, sigma.
"It's back to school season, and you know what that means," they say. "Antisemitism."
"We're starting a new fraternity," they say, gesturing to the text on their shirts which spells out Hamas in Greek letters.
They ask one group, "Are you guys anti-Israel?" Several students say that they are. "We're putting together a Hamas fraternity," the two say. "This is a Hamas represent come together."
Some students identify themselves as freshmen at New York University. The undercover comedians are told another student goes to Columbia University. "Dude, Columbia is like one of the biggest like Jew-hating schools out there," the duo says.
"You down?" they ask a girl wearing headphones. "Yeah," she says, as she appears to sign.
"Just a quick sig," they tell others, using shorthand for "signature."
"Throw me your sig right here," they tell another.
"Don't you need, like, our emails or something?" one student asks. "Yeah. Yeah. Emails and signatures," the duo says.
The terms and conditions of the new "fraternity," the duo says, include "taking a road trip to Jewish-owned businesses to protest."
"We're literally going to be, like, chanting outside of synagogues, like harassing Jews," they tell another student. "Keffiyeh fashion show," they say to another student. "It's a lot of fun."
They also be sure to tell students, "Death to America."
"We're doing this anti-Zionist keg stand," they tell a student in a head covering. They tell others, "Obviously chant to obliterate Israel." To another, they say "boycotting Jewish businesses, protesting synagogues, all the good stuff."
"What do you think, kick out all of those Jews?" they tell someone on a park bench. "Burning Israeli and American flags, you down for that?" they tell another. "I'm down for that," he says.
"Some of the schools are starting to crack down on the encampment," they tell a student. "We want a safe space for Jew-haters."
"All the proceeds, like, go to funding terrorism," they say. "Awesome."
They also talk of a "Hamas-themed formal," where everyone wears green and keffiyehs.
"Antisemitism on college campuses is rampant," the video concludes. "We can't end it until we expose it."
Fox told JNS that the duo hid a camera in a tree in Washington Square Park in lower Manhattan and stuck to a corner of the park. It took only 30 minutes to talk to dozens of people, about half of whom agreed to sign up for the fraternity, Fox said.
He sees the experience, in which the duo spoke to students from NYU, Columbia and Pace University, as a "social experiment," he told JNS.
"I've been making videos uncovering Jew-hate for months now, but with the rise in antisemitism particularly on college campuses last spring, I was curious to see if it simmered or spiked going into the fall semester," he said. He added that a hidden camera was a good way to see if "antisemitism could be accepted in a casual way."
"It was pretty shocking to see how many students were willing to sign up for a Hamas fraternity, especially when we kept giving them the terms and conditions of what we would be doing as a Greek organization: harassing Jewish businesses and synagogues," Fox told JNS.
"It's one thing to not know much about Israel or Jewish people," he said. "We're a tiny people and country. But these are some of the most privileged kids in the world to attend NYU and Columbia university, and that privilege is largely from being American."
Fox told JNS that "just to hear the casual acceptance of hearing 'death to America' and not standing up to say anything was pretty insane."
The comedian told JNS that his fellow funnyman, Jacobs, "is an extremely talented and brave guy who absolutely crushed this experiment with me."
"Ultimately, the social experiment showed how easy it is to convince college students to hate Jews and Israel, especially when there is a group or social element involved," Fox said. "College students are looking for community when they arrive, and I think our viral video showed just how much young people are willing to tolerate if they think they will be able to make friends and discover a sense of belonging."
That "is how I believe so many have been willing to take part in these vile encampments and Jewish-hating clubs on campus," he added.
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