Gal Bornstein

English 1102

Dr. Rebecca Weaver

3 March 2021

Antisemitism in Universities

There is no doubt that hatred exists in many corners of the world. College campuses are unfortunately no exception to this. This research is an analysis of modern antisemitism on college campuses. The goal of this research is to make the reader more aware of its prevalence, how it affects Jewish students, and what university administration does to handle certain incidents when they happen. One might also wonder how the administration of universities handles incidents of attacks when they do happen. It can be quite complicated to tackle these problems when they arise because of varied reasons ranging from worries of violating the rights of free speech to a lack of definition for antisemitism. But after all these incidents occur, what are some things we could implement to bring more harmony onto the campuses? 

The most common reason?  

When one thinks of antisemitism, they might think of something to do with the hatred of their religion or a strange conspiracy theory belief involving Jews. As was mentioned by Aryah Tuchman in the academic journal of “American Jewish History,” this is commonly referred to as “old-fashioned” antisemitism, “in which Jews are demonized and attacked for theological reasons or because of racism or conspiratorial beliefs.” (Aryah 1) However, prejudice towards Jews has changed due to anti-Zionist movements. The issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is most certainly a significant issue, tends to to often harbor antisemitic views. In a way, anti-Zionism on college campuses becomes a disguise for antisemitism. A comparison that could easily be made is the rise of Islamophobia after 9/11 because of the hijackers and the group which organized the attack being Muslim.  

Emory University is one school that has had multiple accusations and incidents over the course of several decades. The 1950s saw a great deal of discrimination towards Jewish students at the university. But there have been incidents at the school in modern times. In 2014, two fraternity houses were vandalized with swastikas painted on them. As was also reported by Mark Rotenberg, a journalist for Hillel International, a Jewish organization, “Government data show that religious based hate crimes on college campuses roughly doubled between 2009 and 2017.” (Mark 1)  

In 2017, the Washington Post had a reported a lawsuit that a Jewish student by the name of Jacob Mandel was filing against the California University System. The accusations were made against the university’s administration for failing to protect the Jewish students from incidents and not disciplining those were involved in incidents. “I felt afraid,” (JM 1) said Mandel to reporter Susan Svrluga. One of many incidents include, when Mandel was going for a walk one day, he happened to pass by pro-Palestinian protest on campus when one of the students approached 

Impact on Jewish Students 

From the readings of the sources for this paper, although the root of the anti-Zionist movement most certainly has some good arguments and should be more revered, the message seems to get skewed along the way. The reason seems to be because of the violent incidents that are reported as a result. What should be made clear though is the incidents which occur are not always physical, but also verbal. When a student is trying to walk to their class and someone threatens them along the way, it makes sense that they would feel afraid. Students who are made to feel intimidated and harassed are less likely to show up to class because they never know what will happen when they step out their door. 

What does administration do? 

In more extreme cases, when students did reach out to the administration, nobody was disciplined. When we look at the positive aspect, a big reason for students speaking so strongly about their views on this matter is the fact that we have free speech. When certain Jewish figures would come to a campus to give a speech, protesters would attempt to disrupt it. Universities would as a result hire security for future events.  

As was mentioned by Susan Svrluga from the Washington Post, students in 2017 began a class actions lawsuit against the University System of California. The reason was that they felt the administrators were not protecting their own constitutional rights of equal protection. The Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is supposed to protect these rights of Jewish students too. This, however, was the last resort because one student in the article mentioned that he did in fact try at first to report harassment to the administration, but instead was “actively working against me” (Svrluga 1). We can look at these situations and conclude that the views are one sided, since are failing to recognize when Jewish students are being attacked. 

Ideas for Moving Forward 

The conclusion of this research is that universities should begin to harbor different ways of thinking on campuses. As cliché many people would think this sounds, they should probably encourage different communities to mesh more closely with each other. We hear about many student clubs that promote what their idea of peace is. It seems to be that in many ways they further divide us. In Israel, there are groups which promote the strengthening of relationships between the Israeli and Palestinian communities. Starting student clubs on campus with these intentions could be a step in the right direction. 

There are still many flaws in the system as a whole. But when we look back in history of what happened in the university system in the early 1900s towards Jewish students, we can still say that we have come a long way. The most important thing is to educate people on this topic to gain awareness. Like what Black Lives Matter has taught, prejudice and racism happen right in front of us all the time and sometimes it takes someone to point it out to finally become aware of it. 

Works Cited 

Tuchman, Aryeh. “Antisemitism on the Campus: Past & Present.” American Jewish History 96.4 (2010): 309-I. ProQuest. 

Marcus, Kenneth L. “The Resurgence of Anti-Semitism on American College Campuses: Research and Reviews.” Current Psychology 26.3-4 (2007): 206-12. ProQuest. 1 May 2022 . 

Ben-Atar, Doron. “Indulging the Antisemitism of Woke.” American Jewish History 105.1-2 (2021): 225-9. ProQuest. 1 May 2022 . 

Brumback, Kate. “Atlanta’s Emory Apologizes for Anti-Semitism.” The Charleston Gazette Oct 12 2012 ProQuest.  

Rotenberg, Mark. “U.S. college leaders must confront anti-semitism on their campuses.” Hillel International Aug 25 2021 

Svrluga, Susan. ‘I Felt Afraid’: Lawsuit Claims Public University Fostered Anti-Semitism on Campus: A Lawsuit Filed Monday Alleges that San Francisco State University Violated Jewish Students’ Right to Free Speech and Ignored Complaints of Discrimination on Campus. Washington: WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post, 2017. ProQuest. 27 Apr. 2022 .