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[ARCHIVED BULLETIN] NEW REPORT: First Hard Evidence Released that Anti-Zionism Fueling Escalation in Campus Antisemitism

 

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NEW REPORT:
First Hard Evidence Released that Anti-Zionism Fueling Escalation in Campus Antisemitism

 

BDS, SJP, & faculty boycotters strongest predictors of antisemitism at schools nationwide

 

 


 

AMCHA Initiative released yesterday the first empirical study of its kind demonstrating that anti-Zionist activities, including BDS, anti-Israel student groups and faculty who endorse an academic boycott of Israel, are at the heart of the rise in campus antisemitism. To understand the nature and scope of antisemitism on U.S. campuses, as well as the factors influencing it, AMCHA Initiative investigated anti-Semitic activity over the last year on more than 100 public and private colleges and universities with the largest Jewish undergraduate populations. Unlike previous studies, which assessed levels of campus anti-Semitism by measuring student attitudes and subjective reports, the study released today assessed anti-Semitic activity by focusing on verifiable incidents compiled from media accounts and eyewitness reports.

When examining the data, three different kinds of activity were distinguished: Antisemitic Expression, Targeting Jewish Students and BDS Activity.
Findings:

  • Campus antisemitism is highly prevalent in public and private schools with significant Jewish undergraduate populations, irrespective of school size.
    • More than 300 antisemitic incidents occurred at top Jewish schools in 2015.
    • 70% of schools played host to one or more kinds of antisemitic activity.
    • Schools with the highest incidence of each kind of antisemitic activity:

  • Strong correlation between anti-Zionist student groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and antisemitism.
    • 99% of schools with one or more active anti-Zionist groups had one or more incidents of antisemitic activity, whereas only 16% of schools with no active anti-Zionist student group had incidents of overall anti-Semitic activity.
    • 57% of the schools with one or more active anti-Zionist student groups had one or more incidents that targeted Jewish students for harm, 91% of the schools with one or more active anti-Zionist groups showed evidence of antisemitic expression, and 80% of schools with one or more active anti-Zionist groups showed evidence of BDS activity.
  • Strong correlation between the presence of faculty who have expressed public support for an academic boycott of Israel and antisemitism.
    • 81% of the schools with one or more faculty boycotters had one or more incidents of overall antisemitic activity, whereas only 17% of schools with no faculty boycotters had incidents of antisemitic activity.
    • 100% of the 33 schools with 10 or more faculty boycotters had one or more incidents of antisemitic activity.
    • 46% of schools with faculty boycotters showed evidence of targeting Jewish students for harm, 74% of schools with faculty boycotters showed evidence of antisemitic expression, and 62% of schools with faculty boycotters showed evidence of BDS activity.
  • BDS activity strongly correlates with antisemitic activity.
    • 56% of schools with evidence of BDS activity had one or more incidents that targeted Jewish students for harm, whereas of the schools with no evidence of BDS activity, only 23% had incidents targeting Jewish students. In fact, schools with more incidents of BDS activity tended to have more incidents that targeted Jewish students for harm.
    • 95% of schools with BDS activity had one or more incidents of antisemitic expression, whereas of the schools with no evidence of BDS activity, only 33% had antisemitic expression. Schools with more incidents of BDS activity tended to have more incidents of antisemitic expression.
  • Presence of SJP, faculty boycotters and BDS strong predictors of antisemitism.
    • The presence of anti-Zionist student groups and the number of faculty who have publicly endorsed an academic boycott of Israel are, in combination, very strong predictors of overall antisemitic activity.
    • BDS activity is the strongest predictor of incidents that target Jewish students for harm, the factor with the most deleterious effect on campus climate.
  • Anti-Zionism permeates and is inseparable from contemporary campus antisemitism.
    • More than 150 talks, rallies, statements, films, displays, agitprop, op-eds and social media posts contained expression that demonized or delegitimized Israel by drawing on classic antisdemitic tropes of Jewish evil, power and mendacity.
    • On more than 60 campuses, Israel was vilified with false accusations of racism, ethnic cleansing, genocide, crimes against humanity, brutal slaughter, state-sponsored terrorism, theft of land, water and human organs, settler-colonialism, apartheid, fascism, white supremacy and Nazism. A speaker at one school called Israel “the embodiment of evil.”
    • At one-quarter of the schools, speakers and writers were explicit about their anti-Zionist stance, indicating that they were not simply critical of Israel’s policies but opposed to the very existence of the Jewish state. In fact, at many schools there was a clear conflation of classic antisemitic and anti-Zionist expression, indicating that the speaker or writer did not distinguish between the two.
    • A majority of incidents that threatened the safety or well-being of Jewish students or violated their civil rights were linked to Israel or Zionism.

The full report can be accessed here. An executive summary of the report can be found here.


 

ARTICLES ABOUT OUR EFFORTS TO COMBAT CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM:

 

Inside Higher Ed - 3/15/16 - Report Links Boycott Movement and Anti-Semitism

Washington Post - 3/14/16 - Former apartheid state can attest that Israel is not one

Jewish Press - 3/14/16 - Hard Evidence Released Showing Anti-Zionism Fueling Campus Anti-Semitism

Washington Free Beacon – 3/14/16 - Report: Anti-Semitism Spikes at Top U.S. Colleges

JNS – 3/14/16 – New study bolsters assertion that campus anti-Zionism incites anti-Semitism

San Diego Jewish World – 3/14/16 - Where Jewish college students are at risk

Campus Reform - 3/14/16 - REPORT: America’s college campuses a hotbed of anti-Semitism

The Tower – 2/25/16 – Oberlin Professor Claims Israel Was Behind 9/11, ISIS, Charlie Hebdo Attack

...and dozens more!


RECENT CAMPUS ANTISEMITIC ACTIVITY


See the full database


March 10, 2016 – MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY –
Palestine Legal released a statement that targeted the Marquette Jewish Student Union, falsely claiming that it was one of the two “hostile” groups that the university consulted with in order to base its decision to take SJP's apartheid wall down. Jewish Student Union President Anna Goldstein stated in response, “Palestine Legal’s statement in regard to our organization is targeting, defaming and utterly false.”
(TARGETING JEWISH STUDENTS AND STAFF: DENIGRATION )


March 10, 2016 – CLAREMONT COLLEGES: PITZER, SCRIPPS, CLAREMONT MCKENNA –
A Campus Safety alert was sent out to all students detailing mock eviction notices that were found at Claremont McKenna College, Scripps College, and Pitzer College on March 7th. Posting regulations at all three schools were violated. The alert stated that "students have reported that they felt they were being targeted specifically because they are Jewish."
(TARGETING JEWISH STUDENTS AND STAFF: HARASSMENT)


March 7, 2016 – PURDUE UNIVERSITY –
A swastika and an antisemitic slur written on a whiteboard in the American Studies Program.
(TARGETING JEWISH STUDENTS AND STAFF: GENOCIDAL EXPRESSION; HISTORICAL)


March 7, 2016 – UC DAVIS –
Students and others disrupted an Aggies for Israel event with loud chants during a walk out. Chants included, "Long live the Intifada," "Intifada, intifada," and "When Palestine is occupied, resistance is justified" which condoned terrorism. Chants also included the demonizing statements, "Israel is anti-Black," and "Palestine will be free, fight white supremacy," as well as the delegitimizing statement, "Israel is an apartheid state."
(TARGETING JEWISH STUDENTS AND STAFF: SUPPRESSION OF SPEECH/MOVEMENT/ASSEMBLY; CONDONING TERRORISM; DEMONIZATION; DELEGITIMIZATION)


March 6, 2016 – OBERLIN COLLEGE –
An anonymous, unsigned email was sent to many students on campus that utilized the classic antisemitic trope of "evil Jews" and demonized Israel saying, “Good Work to Oberlin College, to Professor Joy Karega & President Marvin Krislov!! The state of Israel, Zionist Jews are pure evil They did 9/11”.
(TARGETING JEWISH STUDENTS AND STAFF: HARASSMENT; HISTORICAL; DEMONIZATION )


February 29, 2016 – UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI COLUMBIA –
The words "Hitler rules" were found written on a bulletin board at Gateway residence hall.
(TARGETING JEWISH STUDENTS AND STAFF: GENOCIDAL EXPRESSION; HISTORICAL)


February 26, 2016 – FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY –
SJP posted a Facebook message that denigrated Hillel-sponsored groups on campus stating, "The Noles for Israel and Gators for Israel unite together to normalize ethnocracy within Israel, the occupation of the West Bank, Israeli-Western hegemonic military industry, and ethnic cleansing, historically and contemporarily.
(TARGETING JEWISH STUDENTS AND STAFF: VERBAL ASSAULT; DENIGRATION; DEMONIZATION)


February 18, 2016 – RUTGERS UNIVERSITY –
A swastika was taped to the dorm room ceiling of a Jewish student.
(TARGETING JEWISH STUDENTS AND STAFF: GENOCIDAL EXPRESSION; INTIMIDATION; HISTORICAL)


February 18, 2016 – UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST –
Three swastikas were reported in one month on campus. One was found February 18, 2016 scratched into a metal bathroom door at Hasbrouck Laboratory near room 219. A swastika made out of snow left on the roof of a car parked in the Orchard Hill dorm area the week before. On Feb. 2, a swastika was reported etched into a bathroom stall in the Integrative Learning Center.
(TARGETING JEWISH STUDENTS AND STAFF: GENOCIDAL EXPRESSION; HISTORICAL)


February 17, 2016 – CUNY BROOKLYN COLLEGE –
Nearly a dozen Brooklyn College students interrupted a faculty meeting, called one faculty member a Zionist slur and then called for “Zionists off campus” and an end to "racist" classes among its list of demands.
(TARGETING JEWISH STUDENTS AND STAFF: DISCRIMINATION; VERBAL ASSAULT; DENIGRATION)


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Thank you for taking action to protect Jewish students!
 

Warm regards,

AMCHA Initiative

 

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