Jerusalem, 14 December, 2021 (TPS) — Anti-Israel organizations operating on US campuses are significant driving forces behind anti-Semitism against Jewish students, according to ADL’s (Anti-Defamation League) annual assessment of anti-Israel actions on campus.
The ADL report stated that during the 2020-21 academic year, “a vocal segment of the anti-Israel groups and activists on campus continued to engage in rhetoric that often demeaned or ostracized many pro-Israel Jewish students. At times, anti-Semitic tropes were invoked.”
ADL experts identified a pattern of anti-Israel groups and activists “blatantly demonizing pro-Israel and Zionist students, which disproportionately impacted Jewish students.”
Occasionally, these activists espoused anti-Semitic tropes, such as those alleging Jewish or Zionist power and control over the media and political affairs.
“Such language can create a corrosive climate for many Jewish students on campus,” the ADL warned.
ADL’s Center on Extremism, which monitors anti-Israel activities across the country, found this anti-Semitic language came primarily from “a handful of student activist organizations” that often work in concert to spread anti-Israel and anti-Zionist messages on US college campus.
“The anti-Israel movement’s drumbeat of rhetorical attacks on Zionism and Zionists can truly hurt and offend many Jewish students, leaving them feeling ostracized and alienated,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “Freedom of speech does not mean freedom to harass and intimidate. While all students have a right to express their views about Israel openly, expressions of anti-Semitism under the guise of Israel criticism are unacceptable. Administrators, student,s and faculty need to ensure a safe and inclusive environment for all students, regardless of religion, nationality, or ethnicity.”
The ADL report found numerous examples where the campus anti-Israel movement’s rhetoric and actions “crossed the line from legitimate criticism of the Israeli government into blatant expressions of anti-Semitism from certain groups and activists.”
Calls for support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement “continued to be a cornerstone of anti-Israel campus activity during the last academic year.”
Student governments considered 17 BDS-inspired calls in 2020-21 and, of those, 11 passed, despite “some containing blatant misinformation or language intimating support for violence against Israel.”
A number of BDS resolutions called on their universities to sever ties, usually through endowments or other investments, with companies that provide services or equipment to the Israeli military. To date, none of these universities have divested from these companies, and in many cases, the university president directly condemned the resolution.
ADL pointed to Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) as the most active anti-Israel groups on US campuses. SJP consists of a network of approximately 180 chapters across the country mostly concentrated in the Northeast, Midwest and California. Some 20 chapters are based in Canada.
“A significant segment of SJP’s rhetoric is combative and inflammatory, and some incorporates anti-Semitic tropes,” the ADL wrote.
Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) were also mentioned as anti-Zionists agitators in the report.
In its most extreme and troubling manifestations, calls are made for individual Zionist and pro-Israel students to be barred from campus spaces, including, at times, from student government. Such calls almost always target Jewish students despite many non-Jews who also identify as Zionist or pro-Israel. In 2020-2021, Jewish members of student governments on at least two campuses faced personal harassment and exclusionary calls because of their expressions of support for Israel and Zionism. In one instance, harassment led to the student leader’s resignation.
“Much of the anti-Israel activist movement on campus continued to vilify Israel and Zionism and ostracize pro-Israel and Zionist students. This action disproportionately impacts large percentages of Jewish students, for whom a connection with Israel is an integral component of their religious, social, or cultural lives and identities. Many Jewish students reported feeling compelled to hide aspects of their identities,” the ADL report noted.
