GUEST POST: American campus anti-Semitism round-up

After last year’s turmoil any hope that the American academic year would get off to a quiet start in relation to anti-Semitism have been dashed. In addition to several reported anti-Semitic incidents the debate over how best to tackle the problem is still raging.

The worst reported instance so far of Jewish individuals facing harassment and intimidation happened at Washington University in Seattle. It was described in detail in the Glue podcast presented by Eric Fingerhut, the president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America.  A meeting had been called to discuss the safety of Jewish students and faculty on its campus – an earlier item on divestment was not on the agenda. When Jewish representatives stood up to speak they were shouted down as baby-killers and genocidists. Those in charge of the meeting called the police when the protestors refused to stop but they did not ask the police to clear the room of protesters. As a result the meeting had to be abandoned with Jewish attendees being escorted out of the building by a backstairs route.

The group Columbia University Apartheid Divestment (CUAD) has issued a call for acts of violence. It has also apologised for distancing itself from Kymani James, a Columbia student who had said that people should be grateful he had not gone round murdering Zionists. The statement was quickly condemned by Columbia’s interim president, provost and the executive committee of the university senate.

Signs at the University of Pennsylvania were recently vandalised with text celebrating Yahya Sinwar, the recently assassinated Hamas leader.

In the last academic year the University of Minnesota had not featured to any great extent in media coverage of campus anti-Semitism. However, this changed when anti-Israel protesters occupied the administration building demanding that the university divest from Israel. Police cleared the building and made several arrests. Earlier in the year Minnesota had rejected divestment demands. 

Harvard continues to be troubled by anti-Semitic elements. An individual smashed windows of University Hall. The person also poured red paint over a statue of John Harvard in what they described as an act of Palestinian resistance. Not all anti-Israel protests have been violent. In the Widener library (pictured above) a ‘study-in’ was staged by some students who were then disciplined for violating university policies forbidding demonstrations in libraries. Some academics then staged another ‘study-in’ in Widener as an act of solidarity with the students and were themselves disciplined. Meanwhile, has also just announced it will not divest from Israeli-linked institutions.

The nature of such protests, and the possibility of endless similar protests and counterprotests, might appear to some to be ridiculous but two important points of principle are at stake. First, protest guidelines have to be seen to be imposed. Secondly, academics must be subject to the same disciplinary sanctions as students. The truth is universities can no longer be seen to be slack in enforcing guidelines and disciplinary measures. Congress continues to monitor anti-Semitism on campus. In August Columbia was subpoenaed by the House Committee for Education and the Workforce yet again for not handing over all required documents. 

Virginia Foxx, a Republican Congresswoman, has even suggested that if Trump is elected president any universities which do not tackle anti-Semitism could have their accreditation removed. Some have questioned whether he would have that legal power. 

Reports have shown the effect of the backlash from donors. There is even talk of a donor crisis  at Columbia. This year it has suffered a 27.9% drop in the number of gifts. The total level was at its lowest since 2015. At Harvard total philanthropic contributions fell by 14% to $151m in the 2024 fiscal year. David Magermann, a Jewish alumnus of Pennsylvania, who had previously made significant donations to the university, has redirected all donations to Tel Aviv University. He has said that there is nothing the leadership of Pennsylvania can do to change his mind. He has also said he is embarrassed to have ever been associated with Pennsylvania.

For most Jewish students and staff improvements will only become apparent when the level of intimidation and harassment they face diminishes. Several studies were recently published trying to look beyond macro-political matters and to throw some light on the reality of everyday life on campus. One report by academics at Brandeis university on non-Jewish student attitudes found that 2% were extremely hostile to Jews and expressed opinions containing anti-Semitic tropes. Some 15% were extremely hostile to Israel and would not want to be friends with a Zionist but did not express stereotypically anti-Semitic opinions. 16% were not systematically hostile to Israel but expressed views such as “the Jews only care for their own kind”. Finally, 66% were not hostile to Israel or to Jews generally.

Another study by Tufts university’s Eitan Hersh and Dahlia Lyss found the hostility Jewish students had faced increased their determination to participate in Jewish life on campus (the figure of 34% in 2022 rose to 56% in 2023 before slightly decreasing to 49% in 2024). The proportion of Jewish students hiding their Jewish identity rose from 16% in 2022 to 27% in 2023 before dipping to 24% in 2024. The proportion of those experiencing some sort of “social penalty” for expressing support for the idea of Israel as a Jewish state rose from 35% in 2022 to 55% in 2023 before dropping to 52% in 2024. 

These studies do not record the number of physical assaults. However, a report on events at the University of California, Los Angeles reported 28 such incidents in the 2023-2024 academic year. Brown university felt compelled to suspend  its Students for Justice in Palestine chapter because of intimidation and harassment experienced by trustees when they voted not to divest from Israel .

Any hopes entertained by some that the 2024-2025 academic year might be normal were always likely to be illusory. It is too early to say whether this will be the year in which the problem is finally brought under control. In any case events might not be fully in the hands of university authorities if Donald Trump wins the presidency. He may carry out his threat to revoke the visas of overseas students thought to be the mainstay of the more violent forms of campus protests. The various cases working their way through the courts is another factor at play. It is a damning indictment on how far the rot was allowed to spread on American campuses that things have reached their current state.

Despite the furore over campus protests, particularly at elite universities, it should be remembered that most of the American public still supports Israel. In September some 81% said they supported Israel more compared with 19% who supported Hamas more, according to the latest Harvard-Harris poll.

Guy Whitehouse is a member of the Academy of Ideas and the Free Speech Union. His views do not necessarily reflect those of those organisations.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the Radicalism of fools project.

PHOTO: "P_37p Cambridge - The Widener Library (1915) - Harvard University - Massachusetts - Perspective Adjusted" by CthulhuWho1 (Will Hart) is licensed under CC BY 2.0.