|
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt on the Ground in Amsterdam Yesterday. In the wake of a modern-day pogrom following a soccer match in Amsterdam, with horrifying images showing Israelis being hunted down, brutally assaulted and injured by a violent mob, ADL is there
for the Dutch Jewish community. ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt headed a delegation that met with Dutch government leaders to push for not just words of condemnation but immediate, concrete action to keep such hateful attacks from spreading. To understand more of how the 'Jew Hunt' happened, watch this video
from Jonathan with ADL insights on the premeditated plans by anti-Israeli assailants and the festering environment of hate. As we huddled with the Jewish Dutch community leaders and organizations to offer them our support and expertise, it was clear that the attack in Amsterdam underscored a harsh reality: it was a direct result of unchecked, rising antisemitism worldwide. This escalation has dramatically intensified since Hamas' October 7 attack, with antisemitic incidents surging in the Netherlands by over 800% in the months that followed. Simply put, this atrocity is a failure of society and law enforcement to protect its citizens. Dutch and European authorities must hold those
responsible to account and take decisive action to prevent further violence.
~~~~~
Campus Protest Trends. At the same time that new rules on campus are restricting anti-Israel demonstrators from the mass disruptions that erupted in the last school year, we are seeing more incendiary language
from protesters, according to the Washington Post. As the VP of the ADL Center on Extremism, Oren Segal, pointed out in the article, “the blatant support for terror is not something I have ever seen in my over 20 years of doing this.” And Baruch College student Aidan Herzlinger said that Jewish students feel isolated and unsafe as a result. He cited a Hillel dinner off-campus where protesters gathered on the sidewalk to call the Jewish students “baby killers” and “terrorists.”
DEEPER. Dig into ADL's latest reports on the alarming trends in antisemitism, anti-Zionism and anti-Israel activism, both on campus, and in communities across the country.
 |
|
(More extremist language on a tower at UC Berkeley. At left is 2023, at right is 2024. Source: JCRCBayArea | X) |
~~~~~
Arizona. Students for Justice in Palestine held a walkout
at the University of Arizona to launch a divestment campaign urging the university to cut ties with companies involved in Israel's "war economy." Arizona’s state law explicitly prohibits public universities from divesting from Israel; they are one of 38 states with similar laws. That said, about 100 students and community members rallied near the administration building, chanting slogans like “Free, Free Palestine.” The university responded, emphasizing its commitment to free expression and civil discourse on campus.
~~~~~
Colorado College. During Homecoming Weekend, student activists from Colorado College’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter disrupted an alumni event
by projecting audio of the names of individuals who have died in Gaza over a speaker. Campus Safety Director Cathy Buckley unplugged the audio. The school has policies against unregistered demonstrations, and it is also a violation of those rules to “interrupt, shout down, or otherwise disrupt an event.” Following this, the anti-Israel group organized a protest march, urging alumni to support their divestment call.
~~~~~
Glasgow Caledonian. In Scotland, Glasgow Caledonian University faces a challenge between the need for cybersecurity
and the complaints of an anti-Israel student group. The Palestine Solidarity Society at the university is calling on students and faculty to go back to manual roll-calls, since the software used to ensure safe logins comes from an Israeli-American tech firm. A university spokesman noted that the school is very focused on cybersecurity concerns and asserted that the school “is not legally permitted to discriminate in its procurement decisions on grounds of nationality, unless, of course, relevant WTO or other sanctions are in place against a country – which they are not in this case.”
~~~~~
University of Texas. Small yet impactful changes have been made to the University of Texas free speech policies
in the wake of the school’s crackdown on anti-Israel protests, which led to over 100 arrests in April. Updates to UT's policy include implementing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, giving university staff the ability to search containers “during periods of disruption” to check for forbidden items, forbidding expressive activity within 10 feet of campus buildings, limiting amplified sounds during the week of and before exams, and giving “power to University officials to determine what constitutes a policy violation.” |
