60+ Orgs to CA & NY Schools – Jewish and Pro-Israel Students’ Civil Rights Are Being Trampled

1.  Columbia University:  Over one month ago, the Columbia chapter of Students Supporting Israel (SSI) submitted an 11-page incident report to the University’s Student Governing Board (SGB) against SJP for systematically harassing and silencing pro-Israel students, and creating an extraordinarily hostile climate at Columbia.  Full letter to President Bollinger.
 
2.  New York University:  Fifty-three NYU organizations, signed a pledge to boycott the two largest pro-Israel student groups on campus, Realize Israel and TorchPAC. A few weeks later, protestors disrupted an event organized by those groups with loud and disruptive chanting, the assault of an event participant and the theft and burning of an Israeli flag.  Full letter to President Hamilton.
 
3.  Syracuse University:  Twenty protestors carried out a planned disruption of a speaking event with Ambassador Dani Dayan, Consul General of Israel in New York. The protestors shouted loudly for nearly 30 minutes outside the event in order to drown out the speaker, and they held signs declaring Zionism to be ‘racism’ and ‘White Supremacy.’ Two activists who deceptively came into the event hall as audience members disrupted the talk twice with shouting and the unfurling of anti-Zionist banners.  Full letter to Chancellor Syverud.
 
4.  UC Irvine:  For the third year in a row, an Israel-related event was disrupted by several anti-Israel protesters, including one with a bullhorn, who screamed anti-Zionist chants so loudly that the event had to be stopped until protesters were escorted from the room.  According to a recording of the event, although the Dean of Students and at least three police officers were present during the disruption, the screaming was allowed to continue for many minutes.  Full letter to Chancellor Gillman.
 
5.  Cal Poly SLO: ‘The Drylongso Collective,’ which consists of numerous Cal Poly registered student organizations, requested an increase in funding for all student clubs EXCEPT for those that support Israel.  Full letter to President Armstrong.

The 60+ groups called on each of the 5 university leaders to publicly pledge that ALL students will be equally protected from peer-on-peer harassment, regardless of their opinion, belief, or identity. As we know, far too often administrators address harassment subjectively or with a double standard, responding promptly and vigorously when harassment is directed against some students but ignoring or downplaying that same behavior when it takes place against Jewish and pro-Israel students.

While there are currently on-going efforts to ensure that pro-Israel Jewish students are protected from harassment under federal and state anti-discrimination law, they will take time. And until these efforts are successful, Jewish students are simply unprotected from peer-on-peer harassment that is motivated by anti-Zionism, the primary source of harassment for Jewish students today. Therefore, we are proposing a bold new national initiative for protecting Jewish and pro-Israel students, that starts with asking every university president and chancellor to implement The Equity Pledge.  Only when Jewish students — and all students — are equally protected from harassment can we assure their safety and well-being on college campuses.

TAKE ACTION: Be part of a groundbreaking grassroots effort to protect the civil rights of Jewish and pro-Israel students. Sign & share the petition urging Presidents and Chancellors nationwide to commit to the equitable treatment of all students – including those who identify as Zionist – by implementing The Equity Pledge.