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What Do Anti-Israel Student Organizers Really Want?
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| Social media posts from the SJP chapter at the School of Visual Arts in NY, advertising their list of demands. |
At university encampments and other forms of student protests against Israel, organizers have made it clear that, on the majority of campuses, their goals go far beyond urging their universities to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war or to denounce Israeli government policies.
The ADL Center on Extremism analyzed statements published by organizers of more than 130 university encampments and determined that, at more than two thirds of these encampments, the demands included calls for universities to enact policies that would directly disrupt the lives and studies of Jewish students and faculty and, in some cases, even exclude them from campus life. If acted upon, these wide-ranging and often extreme demands would fundamentally alter Jewish life on college campuses by dismantling or severely limiting essential Jewish communal and academic infrastructure and
restricting who can freely exist in these spaces.
Even before the encampment trend, anti-Israel protesters had increasingly organized actions against Hillel, Chabad and other Jewish organizations on college campuses in the months since October 7.
For more about the demands of these protesters and the potential implication, read the full report.
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Best Practices for a Better Campus: This new ADL toolkit can help ensure that every campus is prepared to address antisemitism.
It pairs actions and policies that ADL recommends for schools with examples of best practices and guides on implementation. It is a companion to ADL's new Campus Antisemitism Report Card, which assesses the level of antisemitism on campus and how universities are responding. The goal is to incentivize action by universities to ensure a safe and welcoming campus and a commitment to no tolerance for antisemitism. The actions in the toolkit are recommended to ensure all campuses are prepared if incidents take place.
→ Read and share this best-practices toolkit, covering everything from supporting Jewish life on campus to opposing BDS to mandating antisemitism education for all members of the campus community.
This Yom Ha’atzmaut Let’s Be Extra Thankful: ADL’s Kenny Jacobson concluded a moving op-ed this week with:
And so, let us cheer the existence of Israel on this Independence Day. Let us be thankful, even with all the terrible blunders that allowed October 7th to happen, that now unlike during the Shoah, the Jewish people are not powerless. It is Israel’s strength and ability to defend itself against its enemies that give meaning and substance to hopes for the future. And let us cheer the many friends, political leaders and individuals around the world who understand the meaning of Israel and who support the only democracy in the Middle East against the Jew haters. We are not alone and, on this Yom Ha’atzmaut, we need to bring closer those who stand up against the haters.
Am Yisrael Chai!
→ Click here to read the full op-ed.
WATCH: Webinar on Combating Anti-Israel Shareholder Proposals:
We are in the midst of the 2024 “proxy season,” the period in which publicly traded companies hold annual shareholder meetings. These meetings allow shareholders to influence management decisions. We have identified several troubling proposals, inspired by the Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. ADL affiliate JLens hosted a webinar with human rights and shareholder advocacy experts last week about the importance of combating anti-Israel shareholder proposals.
→ You can view the full recording here for an expert analysis of what’s at stake.
Confronting Antisemitism in Chile: “As the ADL’s senior vice president of International Affairs, and as former Israeli ambassador to Chile, I’m deeply troubled by the alarming escalation of anti-Jewish sentiment in Chile.
You should be too. … The firsthand accounts shared by members of the Jewish community paint a distressing picture of intimidation, fear, and hatred directed towards them solely because of their identity.”
→ Read more in JPost in an alarming op-ed from ADL’s Marina Rosenberg.
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Does exposure to contemporary antisemitism lessons contribute to the way students think about and interact with the world around them in ways that counteract antisemitism?
The answer was YES in a study recently concluded by the Holocaust education organization Echoes and Reflections. They brought in an agency to review the effectiveness of their high school ‘Gringlas Unit’ and the study found a positive impact: the lessons increase students’ knowledge of the Holocaust and raise awareness of contemporary antisemitism in its different manifestations, cultivate students’ empathy towards victims of antisemitic attacks and other forms of bias and hate, and ignite students’ intention to educate others and take action against antisemitism. Echoes and Reflections is run by ADL and partners Yad Vashem and the USC Shoah
Foundation. You can read the study here, and explore the Gringlas Unit here.
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Make your voice heard! Tell university leaders to keep our campus open and safe from hate.
As the school year comes to an end, our campuses are facing serious disruptions and a troubling increase in antisemitism, impacting classes, finals and special events. These constant disturbances to learning and activities, including graduation ceremonies, are unfair and must stop. All students deserve a graduation that honors their hard work and achievements. Select a school and urge their leaders to protect students’ rights to a safe and meaningful end of the semester.
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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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