Post

x.com/ap_from_ny/sta…

More from @AP_from_NY

AP

@AP_from_NY

May 28

🧵THREAD🧵: Elite, Educated, and Entitled: Harvard Has Always Had a Jewish Problem.

What’s happening to Jewish students at Harvard right now—being harassed, cornered, intimidated, and even blocked from going to class—isn’t new at all.

Harvard has spent over a century finding new ways to exclude Jews. In the 1920s, they called it “character.” In the 1930s, they called it “neutrality.” Today, they call it “justice for Palestine.”

But the result is always the same: Jewish students feel unsafe. Unwelcome. And alone.

This thread walks through how we got here—from quotas and Nazis to Hamas and Title VI investigations.

Because if we don’t understand the history, we’ll never stop it from repeating 👇

1. Harvard’s First “Jewish Problem” — Quotas in the 1920s.

In the early 1920s, Jews made up about 20% of Harvard’s student body. These were poor immigrant kids, many of them the children of Eastern European Jews who had fled pogroms — earning their place at Harvard not through legacy or wealth, but through academic brilliance and determination. And Harvard panicked.

President A. Lawrence Lowell saw the rise in Jewish students as a threat. Not an academic threat. But a cultural one. He didn’t want Harvard to lose its elite, white Protestant image — so he proposed a quota to cap the number of Jews at 15%.

To do that, Harvard overhauled its admissions process. They began judging students on “character,” “personality,” and “background” — vague codes for identifying Jews. They examined names, asked about religion, looked at extracurriculars, and suddenly, brilliant Jewish applicants were being turned away.

These policies didn’t just hurt individuals. They institutionalized the message: You don’t belong here.

2. Welcoming Nazis: Harvard’s Moral Collapse in the 1930s.

When Hitler came to power in 1933, his plans weren’t a secret. Jews were being stripped of their rights. Jewish professors were being fired. Jewish students were expelled. Books were burned. People were beaten in the streets. The world watched it in horror.

And Harvard? Harvard chose diplomacy.

In 1934, just one year into Hitler’s rule, Harvard invited the Nazi German ambassador to speak on campus. This wasn’t a mistake or a bureaucratic error — it was a deliberate act defended by the university as academic “neutrality.”

Students and Jewish groups were outraged. They protested. They pleaded with the administration to cancel the event. But Harvard held firm. Academic decorum was more important than moral clarity. Let the Nazis speak.

Then it got worse.

In 1936, the University of Heidelberg — a proud Nazi institution — celebrated its 550th anniversary. By then, it had already expelled all its Jewish faculty. It had pledged loyalty to Hitler. And still, Harvard sent an official delegation to the celebration, alongside representatives of the fascist Italian and Nazi German regimes.

There are photos of Harvard delegates, smiling under swastikas, standing beside Nazi officials. You can find them today — black-and-white proof of the Ivy League’s willingness to look evil in the face and shake its hand.

Jewish alumni, including some who had fled Europe, were horrified. But they were ignored.

Harvard had decided: preserving polite ties with the Reich mattered more than standing with the people being persecuted.

There was no apology. No institutional soul-searching. No moral reckoning. Just a deep, polite silence — and a willingness to be complicit in the greatest crime of the 20th century.

That’s the real story. Not just academic elitism. But cowardice dressed up as civility.

And it would set the tone for Harvard’s future betrayals of its Jewish students — in new forms, under new names — for decades to come.

Read 10 tweets

AP

@AP_from_NY

May 25

🧵THREAD: Meet the Jewish immigrant who built America’s Nuclear Navy.

These days, some people are trying to question and challenge the place of Jews in American life—What we’ve contributed, what side we’re on, or if we even belong here.

So here’s just one story. One man.
A Jewish kid from a Polish shtetl…
Who ended up building the most powerful Navy in the world.

They called him a tyrant. A genius. A lunatic. A prophet.

But without him, America would’ve lost the Cold War underwater.

This is the unbelievable story of Admiral Hyman G. Rickover —The father of the nuclear Navy. 🧵

1. From the shtetl to the sea.

Rickover was born in 1900 in a one-room shack in Maków Mazowiecki, Poland. His father was a tailor. They were Jews—poor, persecuted, and always one step away from disaster.

When Hyman was 6, the family fled to America to escape antisemitism. They arrived in Chicago with almost nothing.

He barely spoke English.

By 9, he was delivering ice. By 14, he was shining shoes and working in a hardware store.

But he was sharp. Tough. Relentless. And no one—no one—would outwork him.

2. Beating the quotas.

At the time, elite military schools had unwritten quotas for Jews. Most didn’t get in.

Rickover knew this.

So when he applied to the U.S. Naval Academy, he got a local congressman to nominate him and crushed the entrance exam.

He graduated in 1922. Top of his class in engineering.
He was short, Jewish, unimpressed by power. And now, wearing a Navy uniform.

Let’s just say: he didn’t exactly fit the mold.

Read 10 tweets

AP

@AP_from_NY

Mar 20

🧵𝐀 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐫 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐮𝐝: 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. 🧵🧵

Introduction:

The Talmud—the backbone of Jewish thought—has been attacked, censored, and destroyed more than almost any other book in history. To Jews, it is the foundation of law, morality, and identity. To its enemies, it was a threat, a conspiracy, a danger to the world order.

For centuries, Christian Kings, popes, and rulers demonized the Talmud, accusing it of blasphemy, treason, and corruption. Entire copies were burned in public squares, and Jewish communities were persecuted for studying it. But what made the Talmud so feared? Why did the world wage a relentless war against Jewish knowledge?

Let’s dive deep into the history of these attacks, why they happened, and why the Talmud remains at the heart of Jewish life.

1. What is the Talmud, and Why Has It Been Attacked for Centuries?

To understand why the Talmud has been targeted throughout history, we need to understand what it represents. The Talmud is the vast compendium of Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, and debate. It is not just one book but a collection of over 2,711 double-sided pages, composed of two primary parts:

▪️The Mishnah (compiled in the 2nd century CE), a written record of Jewish oral law.

▪️The Gemara (completed between the 4th and 6th centuries CE), which expands, debates, and analyzes these teachings with rigorous intellectual discussion.

The Talmud’s unique nature sets it apart from other
religious texts, because it is not a fixed, unquestionable doctrine but a living, evolving conversation between rabbis spanning centuries. The text is filled with disagreements, counterarguments, and multiple perspectives, showing that Jewish learning is based on critical thinking and dialogue, not blind obedience.

This made the Talmud dangerous to those in power. Unlike Christian teachings, which emphasized centralized authority, the Talmud encouraged questioning and debate. It made Jewish scholarship independent of kings and popes, reinforcing Jewish identity in exile.

As Christianity gained dominance, church leaders saw the Talmud as a threat. It kept Jews from converting, challenged religious control, and contained ideas they did not understand. Because the Talmud is vast, complex, and filled with figurative language, it was easy for outsiders to misinterpret, distort, and weaponize.

Thus, centuries of persecution began.

2. The First Attacks: Early Christian Objections to the Talmud.

The first major assaults on the Talmud began in the early Christian period. Church fathers like Augustine and John Chrysostom viewed Jewish scholarship as a refusal to accept the "New Covenant" of Christianity. They saw the Talmud as the reason why Jews continued to reject Jesus.

By the 8th and 9th centuries, Christian rulers in Europe began restricting Jewish learning. Charlemagne, for example, allowed Jews to practice their religion but placed limits on public teaching. By the 11th century, as the Crusades fueled religious fanaticism, Jews were increasingly persecuted.

One of the key accusations against the Talmud was that it contained insults against Jesus and Christianity. But in reality, the Talmud barely mentions Jesus at all. Most passages targeted by Christian censors referred to false messiahs and corrupt Roman figures but were deliberately misinterpreted.

For example, the medieval Church claimed that a passage referring to "Yeshu" (Yeshua) being executed was an attack on Jesus. But historical evidence suggests this referred to a different person—a common name in ancient Israel. Still, this claim was enough for Christian authorities to ban and burn the Talmud for centuries.

This growing resentment led to the first official trial of the Talmud—a staged event meant to justify its destruction.

Read 9 tweets

AP

@AP_from_NY

Mar 2

🧵 𝐀 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐬: 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐉𝐞𝐰🧵

Intro:

I’ve held back from posting this thread out of respect for the Ukrainian people. Despite Ukraine’s long history of antisemitism, I refrained from bringing it up given their current struggles.

However, after President Zelensky’s utter disrespect toward President Trump, Vice President Vance, and ultimately the United States, I can’t hold back anymore.

Some will say I’m Russian-paid for writing this bla bla bla. That’s nonsense. I’m not taking any stance on the current war in Ukraine. I am simply stating the history of my people—a history of persecution, massacres, and betrayal in a land that was once their home.

Ukraine’s history of antisemitism is long and brutal. From the Khmelnytsky massacres to pogroms, from collaboration in the Holocaust to modern-day neo-Nazi units, the Jewish people have suffered immensely on Ukrainian soil.

Let’s begin.

1/ The Khmelnytsky Uprising.

The Khmelnytsky Uprising (1648-1657) marked one of the earliest and most brutal episodes of antisemitism in Ukraine. Led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Ukrainian Cossacks sought independence from Polish rule. Amid their struggle, they targeted Jews, whom they saw as agents of Polish landlords. An estimated 50,000 Jews were massacred in the most horrific ways—burned alive, dismembered, and tortured. Entire communities were wiped out, with survivors left destitute or enslaved. Khmelnytsky remains a national hero in Ukraine today, despite his role in these atrocities, highlighting the lasting tension between Ukrainian nationalism and Jewish memory.

2/ The Pale of Settlement and the Blame Game.

When Ukraine became part of the Russian Empire in the 18th century, Jews were confined to the Pale of Settlement, a region including Ukraine where Jews were allowed to live but faced harsh restrictions. Jews were often blamed for economic problems, fueled by myths like the blood libel, which accused Jews of murdering Christian children for ritual purposes. These baseless accusations led to mob violence. Ukrainian peasants, angry at their own oppression, saw Jews as scapegoats. The tsars exploited this division, using Jews as a convenient target to divert attention from their own failures.

Read 13 tweets

AP

@AP_from_NY

Feb 5

🧵🧵🧵When 850,000 Jews Were Expelled and No One gave a beep: A Lesson for Today. 🧵🧵🧵

Thread: Over the last couple, President Donald Trump proposed a couple of times that the United States should "take over" the Gaza Strip, suggesting the relocation of its 1.7 million residents to neighboring countries like Egypt and Jordan. He proposed transforming Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East".

This proposal has ignited widespread outrage. The irrelevant UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned against potential "ethnic cleansing." Countries including Germany, Brazil, and China and many Arab nations, particularly Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, have firmly rejected the idea, emphasizing the rights of Palestinians to their homeland.

Setting aside the questionability of this plan's implementation, the global outrage it has caused is striking. Yet, it's worth reflecting on a historical similarity: between 1948 and 1970, over 850,000 Jews were expelled from Arab and African countries. Their displacement was not due to uninhabitable conditions but stemmed from systemic anti-Semitism and hatred. The international community's response at that time was markedly muted, no one gave a beep.

In this thread, we’ll dive into the stories of these Jews, who lived for hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years in these lands, only to find themselves on the other side of the door.

1/ Iraq: From 2,600 Years of History to Forced Exodus.

Ancient Roots: Jews lived in Iraq since the Babylonian exile in 586 BCE, with a vibrant community that helped shape Jewish law (Talmud Bavli was written there). By the early 20th century, Iraqi Jews made up 40% of Baghdad’s population. with Jews thriving as merchants, bankers, scholars and many other fields.

But this long history came to a cruel end in the mid-20th century. In 1941, the Farhud pogrom swept through Baghdad. Inspired by Nazi propaganda, local mobs murdered 180 Jews, injured hundreds more, and looted homes and businesses. This shattered the trust between Jews and their neighbors.

The situation worsened after Israel’s independence in 1948. Iraq’s government passed laws banning Zionism, freezing Jewish bank accounts, and removing citizenship from the Iraqi Jews. A 1950 law allowed Jews to emigrate—but only if they renounced their nationality, leaving them stateless.

By 1951, under Operation Ezra and Nehemiah, nearly 120,000 Jews, - 90% of Iraq’s Jewish population, were airlifted to Israel. These families left behind property worth $200 million (over $2 billion today). Today, fewer than three Jews remain in Iraq.

2/ Yemen: A Flight to Safety.

Yemen’s Jewish community had existed for over 2,000 years, upholding unique traditions even in isolation. But by the 20th century, they faced increasing violence and discrimination.

In 1947, riots erupted in the city of Aden, killing 82 Jews and destroying their homes and businesses. The violence convinced many that they had no future in Yemen.

Israel stepped in with Operation Magic Carpet in 1949-1950, a daring rescue that airlifted nearly 50,000 Yemeni Jews to safety. Many had never seen an airplane before and carried little more than the clothes on their backs.

Today, fewer than 50 Jews remain in Yemen. The rest found a new home in Israel, bringing with them traditions that enriched the country’s culture.

Read 13 tweets

AP

@AP_from_NY

Jan 28

🧵Remembering the Holocaust on Remembrance Day🧵

Thread: On this Remembrance Day, we pause to reflect on the unimaginable horrors of the Holocaust. The images shared below are not meant to shock, but to serve as a solemn reminder of the atrocities endured by millions of Jews. These are the faces of those who suffered, and we owe it to them—and to humanity—to ensure that such darkness is never repeated.

The horrors of the Holocaust are too often forgotten or minimized by those who seek to distort history. Today, we look back at some of the most disturbing images as a warning of what hatred and bigotry can lead to.

⚠️⚠️Viewer discretion is advised⚠️⚠️

A child in the Warsaw Ghetto collapses on the street, weakened beyond measure by starvation.

1/ A German soldier shooting a Ukrainian Jew during a mass execution in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, sometime between 1941 and 1943.

⚠️⚠️Viewer discretion is advised⚠️⚠️

2/ A man carries away the bodies of dead Jews in the Ghetto of Warsaw in 1943, where people died of hunger in the streets.

⚠️⚠️Viewer discretion is advised⚠️⚠️

Read 18 tweets

Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

AP

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

More from @AP_from_NY

AP

AP

AP

AP

AP

AP

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Send Email!