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Campus Antisemitism Surges Amid Encampments and Protests at Columbia and Other U.S. Colleges
Anti-Zionist student groups on over a dozen U.S. college and university campuses have established “encampments” in recent days to ostensibly protest Israel’s actions in Gaza and their academic institutions’ alleged “complicity” in those actions. The concerning actions and rhetoric emerging from the encampments spark anger, sow divisions, spread fear and put Jewish students at risk as they face a disturbing level of antisemitism on many of the impacted campuses.
These encampments are an amplification of the anti-Israel protests and antisemitic incidents that have grown on campus since the start of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war that began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 terrorist attack.
Several protesters, including those who are participating in the encampments or have demonstrated in support of the encampments, have expressed explicit support for Hamas terrorism and urged Hamas to commit further violence against Israel. Some protesters have also directly confronted Jewish students on and near campus, at times using antisemitic rhetoric. Many protestors have called for “Zionists” to be excluded from campus communities.
Read this new analysis from the ADL Center on Extremism about the increasingly aggressive protests and who is behind them.
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An Open Letter to University Leaders: In recent days, ADL sent an open letter to the Presidents of the 85 universities that we assessed in our new Campus Antisemitism Report Card. The letter notes:
“As ADL has been urging for months, when students violate campus policies or the law, there must be clear and immediate consequences. Members of the campus community must understand that while speech may be protected on campus, violations of time, place and manner restrictions — restrictions that are often necessary to ensure campus safety — are not. And while speech critical of Israel and supportive of the Palestinian cause is protected, threats, intimidation and harassment are not.
Schools must be able to ensure adherence to their own rules, including through clear communication and robust and consistent enforcement of their own policies. We implore you to take steps now to prevent further escalation.”
→ Read the full open letter to university leaders here, and see this ADL Code of Conduct template that you can suggest schools use to address harassment that creates a hostile environment.
Campus Crisis Update for University Leaders: Today, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt hosted an exclusive webinar for the administrations of the 85 campuses assessed in the first version of the
Campus Antisemitism Report Card. Jonathan spoke about the current situation on campus, why we undertook the Report Card project and how we plan to work with universities to improve campus climate and therefore raise their grades. The presentation included an ADL Center on Extremism briefing on the latest Audit of Antisemitic Incidents
and the current encampment situation and an ADL Center for Antisemitism Research presentation on the Report Card’s methodology. ADL committed to working with universities going forward, shared some draft policies and invited the administrators to a series of upcoming webinars — all focused on ensuring safe and welcoming climates for the campus community.
→ Read more about our campus-focused resources and action items at notoleranceforantisemitism.adl.org.
“What’s happening at Columbia is a disgrace”: ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt wrote this powerful op-ed, published on CNN.com, about the dire campus climate at Columbia.
“We shouldn’t kid ourselves. While not all of the protestors are violent, the repeated calls of “free Palestine” or “ceasefire now” are not about the legitimate claims of one group of people. They are about marginalizing a group of people, forcibly silencing and shoving them out of public spaces — not because of what they might believe, but simply because of who they are.”
→ Read the full op-ed on CNN here.
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Make your voice heard! Demand that university leaders take action to combat antisemitism today. Since October 7, there has been an increase in antisemitism on college campuses, and schools are not adequately protecting Jewish students. ADL’s new Campus Antisemitism Report Card reveals that almost half of the graded campuses are falling short of addressing the ongoing crisis.
Click here to tell Columbia University’s leaders to take action today, and click here to reach university leaders at any of the 85 schools in ADL’s Campus Antisemitism Report Card to urge them to do more to tackle campus antisemitism.
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Just a few days ago, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a crucial bill that will enhance the safety of Jewish communities throughout the United States. Thanks in part to the strong advocacy of ADL supporters like you, a strong bipartisan majority of the House approved $400 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. This funding will allow synagogues, community centers and religious schools to increase their security measures against extremist threats.
→ Please click here to join ADL in expressing gratitude to your U.S. Representative for their commitment to safeguarding our communities from hate. You can check on how your Member of Congress voted here.
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The @ADL_tracker feed of news and developments in antisemitism activities.
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We were reminded in an extraordinary way at Never Is Now that together we can use our shared values and our shared strength to find the way forward in combatting antisemitism and other forms of hate.
Dive into the video recordings of our mainstage sessions and many of the breakouts in a playlist posted here for the ADL community, including an important discussion about ‘Navigating the Landscape of Antisemitism on College Campuses.’
So please view these memorable moments, then share them with your friends and family so the impact of Never Is Now keeps growing.
You can also find an expansive set of resources on the issues discussed at Never Is Now, as well as more ways to connect, engage and take post-event action with ADL on our ‘Never Is Now Next’ page.
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