New York State legislators are proposing a new law that could land those who wave terrorist flags in prison for up to four years.

Who is praying on the wall?

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The proposed legislation, called the “Stand Against Flags of Enemy Terrorists Act,” would add the flags of Hamas and Hezbollah to the already outlawed swastikas, flaming crosses, and nooses.

This response follows a volatile few weeks of antisemitic events.

In one case, more than 150 gathered in downtown Manhattan to wave a Hezbollah flag and spew hatred toward Israel and Jewish people.

A student takeover of a building at Barnard College, a women’s college associated Columbia University in New York City, turned violent when a university employee ended up in the hospital after being manhandled by the rioters.

This takeover was sparked by the expulsion of two Barnard students who disrupted an Israeli studies class earlier this year.

Even hardened New York politicians are taking notice.

Governor Kathy Hochul canceled an event scheduled for the Harlem campus of the City University of New York (CUNY) system because of concerns about pro-Hamas/anti-Israel protests.

This month, Hochul also tanked a CUNY job listing for a Palestinian studies professor. Allegedly, the position would have linked Israel and Jewish people with genocide and apartheid.

Hochul and other New York politicians are well advised to keep a lid on antisemitism. Jewish people comprise a large portion (1.4 million in New York City) of their constituents.

For many, the latest governmental response is too little, too late.

Since the terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, antisemitic harassment against Jewish people in New York City has soared 110%.

In fact, several NYC universities received poor marks in a report issued by the Anti-Defamation League on Monday.

Frighteningly, attacks have been increasing steadily since 2020 (which was significantly lower than 2019, possibly because of Covid quarantines).

And Columbia University has been a center for the hatred.

Anti-Israel and antisemitic riots led to a literal encampment of tents of protestors on the grounds of the Ivy League campus. Unable to contain the riots, the president was forced to resign last year.

Other administrators also faced reprimands because of their handling of antisemitism.

As IFA reported last year, the deep pockets of George Soros funded much campus chaos. Soros and his cronies are known democracy-disrupters with a long-term agenda designed to inculcate Marxist theory and implement communist policies.

As IFA President and CEO Dave Kubal wrote last year:

It has been well established that this situation is not simply the result of college students championing the cause of Palestinians in Gaza. Professional activists are empowering this. Antifa is active. Calls for intifada have been part of the protests. Funding comes from those who have the philosophy to “burn it all down.” Why? So they can be in control of rebuilding in new ways, with their ideologies prevailing.

Those ideologies are demonically inspired.

Derek Prince, one of IFA’s founders, wrote extensively about the spiritual roots of antisemitism, linking it to Satan’s age-old battle against Christ and therefore against Christ’s chosen people.

Islam, too, is fervently anti-Christ, as is Marxism and communism.

That these ideologies find fertile ground at Columbia and other universities is no surprise. My husband Rich Swingle, also a contributing writer for IFA, wrote last year about the “the march through the institutions” undertaken by Marxists displaced from Europe during World War II, beginning at Columbia University.

The New School, which received an F in the ADL report, also hosted many such scholars who were collectively known as the University in Exile.

The goal of the march: Turn out generations of Marxists.

Ultimately these students would change America as they assumed leadership with their leftist leanings toward socialism and Marxism, complete with increasing intolerance of free speech and the things of the God of the Bible.

We have been praying and will need to continue to pray about antisemitism and our campuses. The biblical record is clear that hostility toward Israel and the Jewish people will continue until Jesus returns.

But we don’t have to tolerate it on our campuses, including Columbia and Barnard.

As intercessors, we have unique authority to reverse the evil we are seeing.

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

Defeating the enemy requires thoroughness.

You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree (Deuteronomy 12:2).

The places of idolatry in our universities are rooted in these days of infiltration. To take back our universities, we must tear our these roots.

Lord, we stand in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to renounce the infiltration into our universities of Marxism, antisemitism, Islam, and all satanic ideologies.

We repent of these demonic strategies.

We repent of the infiltration into our government, society, and businesses of those who have been inculcated and educated in these ideologies.

We repent of the evil actions resulting from these ideologies, including the destruction of the family and free speech. We repent of hatred of the Jewish people and of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We repent of the erosion of faith in Jesus Christ and the secularization of America.

Forgive us for the times we have expressed unrighteousness anger or even curses against our young people. We speak blessing over them.

We speak life over them.

We speak the Lord’s destiny for them.

We pray fervently for more revivals among our university students, even as You have been bringing in the past two years.

We agree with You, Lord, that our universities will return to You, that our students will come into salvation, and that America will be saved.

We forgive those practicing antisemitism, and pray for their salvation.

We honor You Lord for establishing and strengthening the state of Israel.

We uproot any demonic strategies targeting Israel and the Jewish people.

We bless Israel and the Jewish people for You will bless those who bless the Jewish people, And You will curse him who curses them; And in Israel all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Gen. 12:3).

In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

How are you praying for our universities today?

New York City–based Joyce Swingle is an intercessor and a contributing writer for IFA. With her husband, Rich, also a contributing writer for IFA, Joyce shares the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world through theater, speaking, writing, and film. Prior to going into full-time ministry, Joyce worked for about 20 major magazines and now works in pastoral ministry and Christian counseling. www.Richdrama.com. Photo Credit: Mx. Granger – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=148031001.