Jewish students in the United States have reported an “alarming” uptick in the number of anti-Semitic incidents in colleges across the country, according to a new report published by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Wednesday.
According to the ADL-Hillel Campus Anti-Semitism Survey: 2021, “Anti-Semitic incidents peaked during the 2020-2021 academic year, reaching an all-time high of 244 incidents, even though many campuses were physically closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In some cases, swastikas, Nazi symbols and other anti-Semitic graffiti have been reported on numerous campuses, and anti-Semitic tropes—such as Jewish-Zionist control of the media and political agenda—hurled at Jewish students.”
The most common forms of anti-Semitism reported were offensive comments or slurs online or in person. Among those who experienced offensive comments or slurs in person, 79 percent reported that it happened to them more than once.
Only a small number of students were victims of anti-Semitic violence (1 percent) or were threatened with violence (1 percent), the survey found.
“Contrary to politicized narratives that often highlight anti-Semitism as stemming only from one end of the political spectrum or another,” the report said, “the Jewish students surveyed expressed concern about anti-Semitism from the political left, center and right, though to somewhat varying degrees.
They reported being most concerned about anti-Semitism from those who identify as conservative or with the right (69 percent), followed closely by those who identify as progressive or with the left (62 percent). They reported being least concerned with anti-Semitism from those who identify as centrists (54 percent), although more than half are still concerned.
Additionally, 15 percent of Jewish college students reported feeling the need to hide their Jewish identity from others on campus, including in class, in their dorms or living areas, with other students outside of class, and even with campus employees and officials.
“Israel appeared as the most prominent aspect of these students’ experiences, reflecting that students particularly felt the need to hide any connection to Israel from others on campus,” the report added. “Students may feel the need to do this because 12 percent have been blamed by others for the actions of the Israeli government, and 24 percent have had their views on Israel or Israeli policy assumed by others, simply for being Jewish.”
The report concluded by suggesting that the true extent of anti-Semitism on college campuses is even more alarming than the reported statistics would indicate, “as most incidents and micro-aggressions go unreported.”
ADL CEO and national director Jonathan Greenblatt said: “As we saw during the conflict with Hamas in May, the anti-Israel verbal attacks against Zionism and Zionists could be offensive and tangibly harmful to many Jewish students and leave them feeling excluded and humiliated.”
He added that “freedom of expression does not mean freedom to harass and intimidate. Students have the right to openly express their views regarding Israel, but expressions of anti-Semitism under a ‘veil’ of criticizing Israel are unacceptable.” JNS.ORG
{Matzav.com}