CNN’s Dana Bash: Rhetoric toward Jewish students on college campuses ‘unacceptable’

CNN anchor Dana Bash opened her “Inside Politics” program Wednesday by blasting demonstrations by pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses across American universities and colleges in recent weeks.

“We start with destruction, violence and hate on college campuses across the country,” Bash said to open her program before showing clips of protests from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

“Many of these protests started peacefully, with legitimate questions about the war. But in many cases, they lost the plot,” Bash argued.

“Now, protesting the way the Israeli government, the Israeli prime minister is prosecuting the retaliatory war against Hamas is one thing. Making Jewish students feel unsafe at their own schools is unacceptable. And it is happening, way too much, right now,” Bash said.

Bash then showed a clip of a Jewish student at UCLA being blocked from using an entrance to a campus building by pro-Palestine protesters.

“Again, what you just saw is 2024, in Los Angeles. Hearkening back to the 1930s in Europe. And I do not say that lightly. The fear among Jews in this country is palpable right now,” said Bash, who is Jewish.

The demonstrations on college campuses have been sparked by the ongoing fighting between the Israeli government and Hamas in Gaza, which has killed thousands in the region since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack Hamas carried out in Israel.

Leading progressive lawmakers and activists have called on President Biden and the U.S. government to negotiate a cease-fire in the region and stop sending money to Israel to support its war effort.

Bash also wrote a social media post promoting the opening segment of her daily politics show on the network.