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Our hearts are with the family and friends of those killed in yesterday’s terror attack in Yafo, and with all Israelis who withstood a massive attack from Iran yesterday. In observance of Rosh Hashanah, we will not publish this Thursday and Friday. A happy and healthy new year to all those celebrating, and here’s to a year of security and peace.

1. 📰 Top Stories

Shana Tova. Longtime readers know that one of our dearest Campus Champions (clerical division) is the incomparable
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Rabbi David Wolpe. Wolpe, ADL’s Rabbinic Fellow, is the Kobe Bryant of the rabbinate — a Main Line Philly guy who had a long career in LA, in this case, at Sinai Temple. The Rabbi had these words to share for our students this Rosh Hashana: “We recognize that this is an enormously challenging time to be on campus. You are not alone. The Jewish community and its many allies want you and your families to know that we are beside you, ready to help, to support, to gather for strength and comfort. Our sages teach us that we are all responsible for one another. Just as you can turn to Hillel and Chabad on campus, you can reach out to your rabbis and synagogues and to us at the
ADL. With the start of the new year, we are keenly aware of the difficulties facing Jewish students, but we are also aware of your resilience, your courage and our solidarity as a people. Wishing us all a year of strength and peace.” Amen.


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Desecrating 10/7. The first anniversary of the October 7 massacre by Hamas should be a time to grieve the loved ones we lost, to demand we bring home those still held hostage and to continue the solemn mission of healing and re-building. Sadly, on campuses nationwide, we’re seeing anti-Israel protesters rejecting any signs of common humanity and planning events for Monday that seek to denigrate the Jewish state, suppress Jewish voices and advance the same hateful rhetoric we’ve seen for the past year.

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National leaders of
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Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) declared a “Week of Rage” beginning October 7 with the goal to “fight for the complete liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.”
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The SJP chapter at the University of Texas at Dallas announced a day-by-day plan for “Week of Rage” protests (see below), and the
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University of North Carolina SJP announced its own plans for that week, saying “we will not back down” until the University agrees to divest from Israel.
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The
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University of Oregon’s SJP chapter announced a rally on that day, asked that “you join us in celebrating” and signed off with “Glory to the martyrs!”
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Anti-Israel protesters at
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Pomona College announced a “Walk Out of Everything” beginning at 10:07 AM on Monday, while protesters at the University of Georgia announced a “Walkout-March-Rally” (see below).
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SJP groups at
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Carleton College and the
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University of Louisville announced “shutdowns” meant to empty classrooms and campus centers.
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Boston University is set to host an October 7 event featuring the former president of the Harvard SJP chapter.
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Yale University is organizing one broad vigil on October — a decision some Yale students say “is asking Jewish students to mourn alongside the classmates who on Oct. 9 urged their peers to ‘celebrate the resistance’s success.’”
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Worse yet, this is certainly just a small fraction of the misguided or malicious October 7 events planned on our college campuses.


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

Top left: (Source: louisvillesjp | Instagram)

Top right: (Source: pomonadivestapartheid | Instagram)

Bottom left: (Source: sjputd | Instagram)

Bottom right: (Source: ADL)


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Muhlenberg. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced on Monday that it had
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resolved a complaint against Pennsylvania’s Muhlenberg College that alleged the College “discriminated against students on the basis of national origin (shared Jewish ancestry) by failing to respond to harassment by a professor.” A petition cited in the
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OCR investigation states that in the days following the October 7 massacre, a professor “began publicly making shocking and dangerous pro-Hamas statements that jeopardize the physical and psychological safety of the Jewish students on campus.” In January, the same professor posted on Instagram: “Do not cower to Zionists. Shame them. [...] Why should those genocide loving fascists be treated any different than any other flat out racist.” The OCR
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posted on Monday that “Muhlenberg College has committed to taking additional actions” to comply with Title VI. Those include commitments to review all reports of discrimination based on shared ancestry from the 2023-2024 year, provide discrimination training to all faculty and staff and administer an assessment on the social climate at the College.


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Maryland. On Tuesday, a federal judge
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ruled that the University of Maryland SJP chapter can host an anti-Israel vigil on McKeldin Mall on October 7. The event, and all other on-campus events hosted by student organizations, had previously been canceled by UMD President Darryll Pines “out of an abundance of caution.” In an opinion released after the hearing, the judge agreed the university’s decision violated the students’ First Amendment rights but clarified that the university can bolster security, implement crowd control measures and ask participants to identify themselves. ADL Washington, D.C. Regional Director
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Meredith Weisel: “It remains alarming that organizations with a history of antisemitism, particularly over the past year on college campuses, are planning such events on the one-year anniversary of the most brutal attack on Israel and the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”


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Iowa. Within two and a half hours of being displayed, a banner promoting an event at the University of Iowa to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the October 7 massacre was
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vandalized. The event, titled “October 7: One Year Later — Hamas’s War on Jewish, Christian, American, and Western Values,” was organized by Young Americans for Freedom and will feature writer and podcaster Ian Haworth. The banner was defaced with the word "ignorant" written on Haworth’s forehead, a Palestinian flag and the words "Free Palestine."

(Credit: KCRG News)


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Lewis & Clark. In a
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letter to the Lewis & Clark College community, President Robin H. Holmes-Sullivan announced an agreement with anti-Israel protesters to end the recent encampment on the college campus in Portland, Oregon. In return, administrators will form an Investments Discussion Group, composed of staff, faculty and students – including representatives from the protest group – to “explore concerns regarding Lewis & Clark’s endowment.” At the same time, President Holmes-Sullivan emphasized “the encampment was in violation of our policies, and I cannot condone that action of the students who engaged in it.”


DEEPER: Read the
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report from our partner, JLens, on the real costs of university divestment.


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Columbia. A banned Columbia University student who said “Zionists don’t deserve to live” has filed a
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lawsuit against the University, alleging a lack of due process behind his suspension. The student claims to be a victim, saying Columbia “privileges a class of self-described 'Zionist Jewish' people over everyone on campus." But that’s hard to swallow when you realize his “Zionist” rhetoric was hardly a slip-of-the-tongue. That student went on to say: “Be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists” and “The same way we are very comfortable accepting Nazis don’t deserve to live, fascists don’t deserve to live, racists don’t deserve to live, Zionists, they shouldn’t live in this world.” Columbia is
not commenting on the pending litigation.


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Dartmouth. Students at Dartmouth College are demanding the school
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remove Seyed Hossein Mousavian from an upcoming panel on Israel-Iran relations, accusing Mousavian of having supported terrorism. Among Mousavian’s critics, Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi notes that Mousavian was a senior official in Iran’s foreign ministry “during the darkest period of the Islamic Republic’s rule.” An advocacy group added that Mousavian “defended” actions that contributed to the assassination of at least 24 Iranian dissidents on European soil and supported the fatwa on author Salman Rushdie. More than 2,000 people have signed an online petition against Mousavian’s talk at Dartmouth.

2. 🏆 Campus Champions

Med School Message. In a new piece in the American Journal of Medicine, academic researchers Hedy Wald PhD and Steven Roth MD lay out their framework for addressing antisemitism in the
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medical field, proposing adherence to the four Es, Education, Enforcement, Engagement and Empathy. They detail the antisemitism they’ve witnessed in U.S. medical schools — “tearing down posters of Jewish hostages, including children; demonization of Jews, accusing Jewish students of complicity with genocide” — contending that “Fostering critically reflective, morally resilient” medical education is an “essential component” in the fight against antisemitism.


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Speaking Out in the Face of Hate. George Washington University senior Sabrina Soffer recently penned
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advice for other Jewish students: “amid the current campus crises, Jewish students have the opportunity to transform obstacles into opportunities for growth in ways that no traditional classroom experience can offer.” Soffer recounts incidents of ethnic slurs and physical threats at GW, and yet, Soffer chose to act. When she saw she was the only Jewish person in a policy class, Soffer “chose to write papers and deliver presentations about Israel and Jewish life.” Despite critics, Soffer formed the GW Student Association Antisemitism Task Force, confronting groups like the SJP head-on and “flipping” their own arguments against them. To her, it's all part
of the college experience, because “Becoming comfortable with discomfort…is what college — the bridge to independence — is all about,” Soffer writes.


3. 💪✡️ Am Yisrael Chai

Art of Resilience. Just days after U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew's confirmation, he and his wife, Dr. Ruth Schwartz, began filling the Ambassador’s residence in Jerusalem with
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Israeli art that tells a story of resilience post-October 7. Schwartz, along with curator Polina Levy Eskenazi, traveled across Israel to gather pieces from artists impacted by the conflict. Lew emphasized that while the art reflects the ongoing pain, it offers hope for a brighter future, showcasing strength through creativity. He said “At a time when the days are full of darkness, the art allows you to look toward a better future.”

(Credit: David Azagury | US Embassy Jerusalem)


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Sticking to their Roots. Amid Hezbollah rocket fire, farmers in Moshav Liman, along Israel's northern border,
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remain steadfast in their commitment to the land. Prior to the conflict, roughly 850 people lived in the community, a number that has dwindled to about 125. 77-year-old Reuven Kfir stayed behind despite IDF evacuation orders, and he still commutes daily to his family’s 25-acre farm, determined to keep it running. Other farmers, like Edna and Itzhak Malachi, tend to their nurseries, ready to restart their businesses when the conflict ends. Despite the hardships, these war-hardened farmers refuse to leave, believing their land is their legacy for future generations.

4. 📣 Info and Action:
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Not on My Campus

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Students — how to take action, deal with antisemitism, and organize your community.
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Alumni — how to organize a sign-on letter, answer a fundraising request, or write a letter to a university president.
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Parents — write a letter about commencement, organize a dial day, or get help selecting a college for your student.
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Glossary of Commonly Used Antisemitic Phrases Heard at Protests.
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Campus Antisemitism Report Card — see the grade a college earned in this first-ever report card.
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Report an Antisemitic Incident.
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Are you a student or know one who needs legal help? Contact our
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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!

Do you have something to share with us? Please email us at
mailto:[email protected]
[email protected] with any suggestions, questions, photos or videos.



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