'Wanted' posters link University of Rochester to Israeli PM's brother, settlements on West Bank border
Persons of interest have been identified, but not formally charged. In similar scenarios, social humiliations such as expulsion are utilized as the charges are quietly dropped by the justice system.
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK — Hundreds of anti-Zionist themed ‘wanted’ posters were discovered on the University of Rochester (UR) campus on November 10, according to university officials.
Per the Democrat and Chronicle, the UR Department of public safety identified, but did not charge five persons of interest in relation to their investigation of the incident.
At this time, UR public safety is collaborating with multiple law enforcement agencies to review evidence and weigh the decision to file formal charges.
As reported by the New York Times coverage of pro-Palestine campus arrests, preliminary charges often make early headlines only later to be dropped. Behind the scenes, social humiliations such as de facto expulsion are utilized.
“ … Many of the charges have been dropped, even as some students are facing additional consequences, like being barred from their campuses or having their diplomas withheld.”
-NY TIMES
In the late hours of November 10, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) at UR was alerted to the presence of hundreds of posters depicting members of the University community as ‘Wanted.’
Those responsible reportedly used a strong adhesive, attaching posters in pedestrian tunnels, classrooms, walls, etc. The posters claim various infractions from both Jewish and Gentile staff perceived to have enabled the ongoing Israeli genocide, on campus or abroad.
The 13-member "wanted" list features prominent names from the University of Rochester, such as Dr. Iddo Netanyahu—the kid-brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—as well as Phil Saunders—a non-Jewish University of Rochester trustee and former-billionaire.
Shockingly, several of those named on the list are allegedly connected to an American and Israeli “Jewish identity” movement known as Rochester-Modi’in.
The Rochester-Modi’in Partnership operates under the umbrella of Partnership2gether which provides a “central, nationwide platform ... that connects 400 Jewish communities around the world and 46 cities and partner communities in Israel.”
In this instance, Modi’in—located on the edge of the 1967 borders of Israel—is the Israeli counterpart to the Rochester half of Rochester-Modi’in.
Though Modi’in proper is considered ‘legal,’ Modi’in is also known as ‘Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut’ and is actually 3 separate living spaces.
Modi’in appears to be a primary access point to fully illegal settlements in the West Bank. Some of those share a namesake with Modi’in including Modi’in Gardens and Upper Modi’in.
On Google Maps, the words for ‘Gardens’ and ‘Upper’ are transliterated rather than translated, obscuring the connection.
Joy Getnick, Executive Director of the UR Campus Hillel—a “Jewish life” social group—is a member of the Rochester-based half of Rochester-Modi’in and was identified as such on some of the ‘wanted’ posters.
The poster accused Getnick of being “complicit in the displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank.”
In addition to leading UR Hillel and holding membership in Rochester-Modi’in, Getnick claims to have founded Camp Seneca Lake (CSL) in Israel. CSL Israel sends Jewish teenagers from Rochester to Modi’in for one month at a time, “[exposing] participants to the beauty, depth, and complexity of Israel from the inside out.”
According to the student paper, The Campus Time, none of the ‘wanted’ individuals were students.
The Times further lists the accusations which range in severity from “racism,” “censorship,” and “intimidation” to more extreme accusations such as “ethnic cleansing.”
Some of the ‘charges’ are not directly related to what Israelis refer to as ‘The Iron Swords War.’ This includes Dr. Netanyahu who is cited for the “Displacement of Palestine” during his time in the Israeli Special Forces from 1970-1973.
Sarah Manglesdorf—a Quaker from Pennsylvania—is also harshly criticized for hypocrisy during her tenure as University President after October 7th and the subsequent Israeli war in Gaza.
“’UR President Sarah Mangelsdorf openly supports the military organization that has murdered the family members of students, utilizing University resources to support these military efforts, while also blatantly disregarding academic values and democracy. She voted no to academic divestment in occupied Palestine. She is a liberal posturing, bourgeois feminist who makes over $1 million annually while raising the tuition of students. She simultaneously uses her own experience with patriarchal oppression as an excuse for her ongoing support for occupation which has killed more than 30,000 women in the last year.’”
As the situation at UR continues to unfold, left-wing oriented students are facing accusations of racism as they themselves accuse their opponents of being ‘racist colonizers.
A ‘wanted’ poster featuring Jeffrey Runner—the UR Vice-Provost—highlighted a comparison he made between using the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s war crimes in Gaza to “waving the confederate flag in front of a black person's face.”
A November 23 opinion piece in the Campus Times backs this claim up.
Although the same article mistakenly implies a White racial solidarity between the UR leaders and Israel, the same article rightly suggests Jewish students may have privileged access to power.
Perhaps more absurd, Meredith Dragon, the local Jewish Federation president—and member of Rochester-Modi’in—began to use the narrative that ‘wanted’ posters imply violence and specifically targeted Jews, a disprovable falsehood.
“They want to study, they want to learn, they want to socialize," Dragon told 13 WHAM, "they don't want to be targets of hate. They're concerned when they're going to campus, you know, 'Is it safe for me to show my (Star of David)? Is it safe for me to wear a yarmulke?' Those are things that nobody should have to worry about."
Dragon went further, implying that ‘wanted’ posters—which typically call for a peaceful arrest—imply targeted violence.
“There is an implication that you are going to physically do something to person who is on the 'wanted' sign,” Dragon said.
Despite the occasional absurdity of the rhetorical situation, the waning Jewish influence on the campus has necessitated intervention from very influential Jews. One such Jew being US Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer.
Schumer addressed the situation on the Senate Floor, seemingly calling for criminal charges with hate crime enhancements.
“The posters seemed to have disproportionately singled out Jewish faculty and Jewish staff, in what appears to be an attempt to intimidate these individuals,” Schumer stated on November 11, “The UR administration has called out these actions as antisemitic and promised a prompt and thorough investigation to identify wrongdoers. Those wrongdoers should be held accountable.”
In New York State, charges like harassment can be upgraded to a more serious charge if “hate” or “bias” are found to be a motive in the commission of the crime.
In 2022, NYS adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. The IHRA definition—a term defined by a private organization—makes it very difficult to accuse Jews of crimes, especially as it relates to the State of Israel.
Antisemitism is the only form of ‘bias’ that has a formal definition in America, necessarily making Jews a privileged class distinct from White Europeans. As all Jews are potential citizens of Israel via the Israeli Law of Return, unclear loyalties are inherent to Jewish identity yet are legally shielded from criticism.
The UR accepts students from everywhere in the world into its approximately 12,000-member student body. Just 70% of UR’s students were represented by Americans of any race.
In a clear push for increased diversity, students that graduate from the 90%-plus non-White City school district are eligible for free tuition under the ‘Rochester Promise’ program. It is very likely that left-wing critics of Zionism will eventually have to contend with the privileged position Jews clearly hold in such a diverse racial environment like UR.
It is also notable that just 34% of the entire student population is White. Jews, who are often incorrectly identified as members of the White race are likely a part of this group. In 2015, UR Hillel reported that 20% of the student body was Jewish. Though that appeared to be an off year, the same organization has recorded the Jewish population at just under 8%.
Even with an oversampling of New York State residents—30% of the student body—who have a near 1 in 10 chance of being Jewish, it seems likely that Jews are overrepresented in the UR student population and may perhaps be a privileged group.
Since October 7, 2023, the UR has been the scene of an intense political battle of power moves against sheer determination and a somewhat limited—but consistently held—liberal worldview. With much of America’s focus centered on protests at Columbia University in NYC, the reporting on the situation at the UR has remained tightly controlled.
Though notable incidents such as the dismantling of pro-Palestine camps at UR managed to reach the eyes of many a local news watcher, much of the citizenry is updated at the whim of corporate media. Therefore, incidents that would normally generate a great deal of discussion remain in the shadows.
Just one month before the display of the ‘wanted’ posters on campus, An image of a Gaza-themed Lego kit generated by AI began to circulate around the Eastman School of Music campus. The Legos were haphazardly stacked in the package. The Lego bricks appeared to mimic the gray color tone of the bombed ruins of Gaza.
According to the ‘wanted’ posters, the Eastman student dean, Kate Sheeran, implied the posters might be counter intuitive.
“... Dean Kate Sheeran was brought concerns by students over posters depicting the ruins in Gaza as Lego pieces captioned 'Gaza,'” the poster reportedly said, “These were all over Eastman Campus. In a meeting with students, Kate said that they are 'open to interpretation' ...”
Earlier this year, a man with autism that threatened Jewish students at Cornell University attempted to paint his actions as a form of autistic, counter-intuitive thinking.
“In a misguided attempt to highlight Hamas’s genocidal beliefs and garner support for Israel,” the court document reads, “Patrick [Dai] culled hateful and antisemitic language from the internet (that he also found repugnant) and made several posts on a campus-related website in the guise of an [antisemitic] Hamas extremist.”
Nonetheless, Dai was convicted of a hate crime and sentenced in August to 21 months in prison with 3 years of supervised release and a possible $250,000 fine.
In February of 2024, pro-homosexual students at UR were reported to have heckled gay Zionist Shai DeLuca when he gave a pro-Israel talk on “his experience as a gay man in the Israeli army.” The gay Jewish man informed students that LGBT individuals in the Middle East would be fortunate to live in Israel, as “you’re not getting thrown off a roof,” seemingly expecting a positive response.
The speaker also spoke about ‘coming out’ to his fellow soldiers in the IDF, an apparently stress-free task.
“I have a guy to introduce you to,” was said to be a common response from DeLuca’s comrades.
The absence, or unfair corporate coverage of student political action is not confined to Rochester, NY.
At the nearby University of Buffalo, students are provided a statue of a buffalo dedicated to artistic expression. Since October 7, 2023, Zionists and anti-Zionists have battled to control this seemingly arbitrary cultural symbol with their own political messaging.
At the time GVO covered the incident, the anti-Zionists seemed to be in control of the ‘Paint-a-Bull.’
