Yale. Roughly 200 anti-Israel protesters marched through the New Haven, Connecticut campus of Yale University on Friday, chanting slogans like “from Gaza to Beirut, all our martyrs we salute,” “Zionism is a crime, from Lebanon to Palestine” and “raise your hand, make a fist, Palestinians will resist… Lebanese will resist.” Organized by groups including Yale Graduate Students for Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace — New Haven, protesters blocked a key intersection near campus for around 20 minutes as some of the 30 police officers present redirected traffic. Protesters ultimately cleared the intersection under threat of arrest by New Haven police officers — not before one frustrated motorist pushed through the circle. A university spokesperson confirmed two “free expression facilitators” were present with bright yellow badges to help mediate issues at the protest.

The next day, a trustee of the Yale Corporation met with members of a new student divestment coalition for the first time. According to the Yale student paper, that coalition “is a continuation of pro-Palestine Occupy Beinecke and Occupy Yale, groups that pitched encampments on Yale’s campus in April.” One student said “What distinguished this opportunity from what was offered last spring is that activists were not required to make concessions before approaching the negotiating table.” The university doesn’t appear to have disclosed the details of this meeting, but one student commented “The Board member expressed interest in a continued dialogue.”

👉 TAKE ACTION: Urge universities to create safety plans for protests on October 7 and to protect Jewish students.

(Credit: Yolanda Wang | Yale Daily News)

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Temple. Nothing says winning the hearts and minds of your classmates more than disrupting their chances to get a job after graduation, but that is what anti-Israel protesters did as they disrupted a career fair at North Philly’s own Temple University on Thursday. According to a university statement, 12 to 15 people “used a megaphone to chant, shout, curse and interfere, creating a major disruption for all the visiting employers and several hundred students.” After police warned the protesters to leave, “several individuals were noncompliant and physically engaged our police officers.” Temple Police then detained and arrested four anti-Israel protesters, including at least one Temple student and one alumnus. Temple’s Vice President for Public Safety said “We used enough force to effect an arrest and no more. I’m extremely proud of the restraint our officers used.” In a social media post, the Temple chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine condemned “the disgusting actions of this university in partnering with genocidal corporations.”

(Credit: Allison Beck | The Temple News)

DEEPER: This semester, we have seen at least two other instances of anti-Israel protesters disrupting career fairs, at USC and Cornell. ADL is tracking the spread of this tactic.

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UNC. Three protesters arrested last Spring during anti-Israel protests at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill accepted plea bargains on Monday, with prosecutors offering to drop second-degree trespassing charges if the defendants perform 24 hours of community service, pay court costs and stay out of trouble for six months. All 40 of the protesters facing similar misdemeanor charges, including some UNC students, were offered deferred prosecution or conditional discharge — more than half have chosen to take those charges to trial. Most were charged with trespassing after a four-day encampment was dismantled, while a small number faced charges for assaulting an officer, impeding traffic and resisting arrest.

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Northwestern. The latest class of freshmen at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois completed a mandatory training on antisemitism and Islamophobia during orientation earlier this month, one of several initiatives university President Michael Schill announced last month to address on-campus discrimination. According to the student paper, the university clarified that the training would focus on historical events, excluding discussions of last year’s encampment. Some students walked out of the training, and groups including local chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace later released a statement: “we do not stand by Northwestern’s treatment of its pro-Palestinian students.”

Buckeye Bucking Up. After a challenging year at THE Ohio State University in Columbus marked by antisemitic incidents, a group of students founded Jews On Campus, a student-led organization dedicated to spreading positivity and fostering connections outside the Jewish community. Mallory Friedman, a member of the group’s leadership, says she wishes to have a “positive presence” and have more people supporting Jewish students. With 30 members currently, the group aims to grow and strengthen its presence. “We’re Jews and we’re proud and we’re here to stay,” said Friedman.

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An Academic Failure. In a Friday Wall Street Journal article, author Dara Horn reflected on her time on Harvard’s Antisemitism Advisory Group. “At our advisory group’s first meeting last October, a senior Harvard administrator admitted, ‘Students are very ignorant about the Middle East or Israel or Zionism.’ If only there were an educational institution with a $50.7 billion endowment that could address that ignorance.” Horn then details how Harvard teaches a skewed view of the Middle East and Jewish issues including a course that taught about the Dreyfus Affair without mentioning “antisemitism.” It’s worth a read.

WATCH: Dara Horn inspires the crowd at ADL’s Never Is Now conference earlier this year.

Jewish Roots. As it recovers from 10/7, Kibbutz Holitz will be a hub for agricultural innovation with the help of Intel Ignite Tel-Aviv, an Israeli startup accelerator. The Kibbutz will host a trial of a gene-edited potato whose natural toxins have been edited out and of a tomato that grows semi-dried on a bush. This gene-edited potato does not mean that french fries will now become health food, but it does mean that the plant’s leaves can be used as livestock feed. During the October 7 attack, 12 Holit residents were murdered, along with one Moldovan and two Nepalese laborers. As this trial shows, the Kibbutz is still planting for a very long future.

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To 120. At 95 years old, Holocaust survivor Ben Lesser remains committed to educating future generations about the Holocaust through his ZACHOR Foundation, an organization he founded and now runs with his granddaughter Robyn Kramer-Weber. Named for the Hebrew word meaning to remember, the non-profit is dedicated to “educating future generations to recognize the hatred that breeds genocide.” The goal is to reach six million participants, symbolizing the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust. Kramer-Weber says, “We would love to have that end result, and then some. It’s a matter of getting out there and hoping everyone shouts for what they believe in.”

• Students — how to take action, deal with antisemitism, and organize your community.
• Alumni — how to organize a sign-on letter, answer a fundraising request, or write a letter to a university president.
• Parents — write a letter about commencement, organize a dial day, or get help selecting a college for your student.
• Glossary of Commonly Used Antisemitic Phrases Heard at Protests.
• Campus Antisemitism Report Card — see the grade a college earned in this first-ever report card.
• Report an Antisemitic Incident.
• Are you a student or know one who needs legal help? Contact our Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL), run by ADL, Hillel, the Brandeis Center, and Gibson Dunn. Hundreds of incidents have been reported. You are not alone!

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