2024 or 1934?

July 29, 2024

by: Kate Norman, BFP Writer

I called Jerusalem home for four years, and Israel still holds a dear place in my heart. I vividly remember the morning of October 7, waking up in Eastern Europe to multiple notifications of terrorists infiltrating Israel and rampaging.

Now I am watching as the Western world seems to have run amok with anti-Israel hatred spewing out into riots and protests—blatant anti-Semitism, hatred and violence.

But I hail from the tobacco fields of North Carolina—a relatively conservative corner of what is known as the “Bible belt” of the US. I watched the protests and the hatred spewing out of Columbia University and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and I remember thinking, “At least none of this is happening in my hometown.” A few days later I saw a video of the Palestinian flag waving on the flagpole at the University of North Carolina (UNC), just an hour from where I grew up.

In my mind, anti-Semitism is always a faraway problem. But it’s not, and at the rate it’s spreading—particularly after October 7—this poison is creeping into everyone’s backyards.

 

A Quick Look at the Data

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) published “sobering” data on anti-Semitism on university campuses in late November of 2023—over a month after the October 7 massacre, to show how it affected students’ experiences of anti-Semitism.

Since the beginning of the 2023–2024 school year, the ADL said 73% of Jewish students surveyed experienced or witnessed anti-Semitism in some form. This includes anti-Jewish remarks, comments or social media posts, the interruption of pro-Israel speakers or events, and physical threats or violence. Even non-Jewish students have been affected, with 46% of the non-Jewish students surveyed reporting that they experienced anti-Semitism because they were assumed to be Jewish.

After October 7, the number of Jewish students who feel comfortable with others knowing about their Jewish identity dropped from 63.7% to 38.6%. One-third of the Jewish students said they don’t feel comfortable speaking against anti-Semitism or sharing their views on Israel, mostly for fear of backlash.

Before October 7, two-thirds of Jewish students said they felt physically safe on campus, but that number dropped to 45.5% post-October 7.

The ADL report concluded that anti-Semitism on campuses was already a problem prior to October 7, but the data shows that “the problem has gotten far worse.”

And this data was published before the wildfire of anti-Israel protests that spread across university campuses in April and May.

 

Stonewalled Universities

On April 17, 2024, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik was called before Congress for a hearing where she was criticized for failing to fight back against anti-Semitism at Columbia. A similar congressional hearing in December 2023 led to the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania resigning.

Shafik said at her hearing, as quoted by the Associated Press (AP): “Anti-Semitism has no place on our campus, and I am personally committed to doing everything I can to confront it directly.”

That same day, students erected an anti-Israel camp on the Columbia campus. Police arrested more than 100 of the protestors, but the protests continued, spreading to other campuses across the US.

The students waved signs protesting the war in Gaza, accusing Israel of genocide and—ironically—calling for genocide by chanting “Intifada”, the Arabic word for “uprising.”

As universities such as Columbia tried to quell the rabid protests with threats of suspensions and arrests, the frenzy spread, with the encampments across campus and some of the protestors occupying school buildings and classrooms. They clashed with the police and drowned out any opposing voices.

 

Silenced Voices

Those who dared to stand up to the mob—particularly Jewish people—faced fierce backlash.

Rudy Rochman is a Jewish Israeli activist and a Columbia alumnus who frequently visits university campuses and anti-Israel protests to engage in dialogue with people about Israel and Zionism. On May 25 he posted a video of himself and another Israeli activist being escorted by police off the campus of McGill University in Montreal. They had gone to an anti-Israel protest on campus carrying signs that read, “We witnessed October 7, ask us anything.”

They were removed from campus by the police who said “their presence was aggravating the situation,” Rochman wrote on his post.

“What if there were 200 KKK members and 2 black students being targeted,” Rochman wrote. “Would the police tell the students with darker skin that they were the source of the problem…or is it only when it comes to Jews that this happens today?”

 

Jewish Voices from Campus

Professor Nir Hoftman, a tenured professor of anesthesiology at UCLA, told Ynetnews in May about an experience when protesters on campus blocked him from passing and physically threatened him. “The security guards stood by and did nothing,” he said. “This is anarchy…This is how we are treated, like stinking Jews that no one cares about.”

“This is really Germany in the 1930s,” Hoftman said, as quoted by Ynetnews. “Jews are simply not allowed to enter the buildings. It is unbelievable, and it’s only getting worse.”

The professor added that since he became vocal and appearing in the media to stand against anti-Semitism, he fears for his family’s safety.

Hoftman compared himself to Shai Davidai, the outspoken assistant professor at Columbia Business School who went viral for speaking out against the university when he said he was barred from entering campus. Davidai describes himself as a Zionist who served in the Israeli military.

A video circulated of Davidai trying to enter campus but being stopped by security officials and the COO (Chief Operating Officer) of Columbia, who informed Davidai that his ID card had been deactivated.

“I have not just a civil right as a Jewish person to be on campus, I have a right as a professor employed by the university to be on campus,” Davidai shouted.

“We just want to be Jewish in public,” he added.

But if he and others continue to stand alone, the problem will only worsen. If we don’t stand alongside our Jewish friends and neighbors, next year’s ADL report will be even bleaker. Join these Jewish voices in calling for universities and other authorities not to tolerate anti-Semitism. Never again!

Photo Credit: Click on photo for photo credit

Photo License: Gaza Solidarity Encampment

Photo License: Sign at Columbia protest