💛 Welcome home from captivity, Romi, Emily and Doron. We've been waiting for you for 471 days. Your release has brought joy to so many — as well as renewed hope. ADL representatives joined hostage families this weekend, and we vow that we will not rest until each and every remaining hostage is brought home to their families, too. #BringThemAllHome

Dartmouth. “The material facts are not in dispute,” Judge Michael Mace wrote in finding two Dartmouth College students guilty of criminal trespass this week. The verdict came after defense attorneys tried to assert that the two had done so for what they saw as a ‘good cause’ – an anti-Israel demonstration outside a Dartmouth university building back in 2023. The students had refused to remove their tent and disperse after being notified repeatedly by a Dartmouth official that they were in violation of school policies, so the school contacted police to initiate the arrests. The students will be sentenced in February, facing potential fines but no jail time.

Hanover (NH) Police disperse an anti-Israel tent encampment, arresting two students. (Source: Taylor Haber | The Dartmouth.)

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California College of the Arts. A lawsuit by a Jewish professor at California College of the Arts will proceed after a judge rejected the school’s motion to dismiss the case. The lawsuit by Professor Karen Fiss, accuses the school of discriminating against her based on her religion. The case centers on an incident where Fiss had a discussion with a group of anti-Israel students at an SJP table. During the talk, Fiss noted to a student that her home country, Kuwait, expelled 300,000 Palestinians in 1991. Court documents indicate that the conversation was civil, yet afterwards the students filed a complaint with the school saying she had been “harassing and discriminatory.” The school upheld the complaint. Her lawsuit says that “Dr. Fiss was punished for doing her job simply and only because Dr. Fiss is a Jew committed to the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish State.”

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Johns Hopkins. Johns Hopkins University's Public Interest Investment Advisory Committee has decided to reject a BDS proposal rather than send it to the school’s Board of Trustees for a vote. The anti-Israel proposal was deemed to be both a financial and reputational risk to Johns Hopkins, which is the largest private employer in the state of Maryland when you factor in the Johns Hopkins Health System, which receives support from the university’s investment portfolio. As the committee noted in their report: “By divesting, the university would be taking a political stance that compromises the university’s core principles and makes no tangible impact on the targeted firms.”

DEEPER: A report by ADL affiliate JLens estimates that universities could lose billions in future returns on their endowments if they capitulate to BDS initiatives.

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Leicester (UK). Five University of Leicester students have begun a hunger strike, accusing the institution of “complicity in genocide” over its financial ties to companies linked to Israel’s defense industry. Organized by Leicester Action for Palestine, the protest demands the university cut ties with Barclays Bank, citing alleged links to arms manufacturers, and end a £7.5 million research partnership with Rolls Royce and Siemens. The strike follows a series of escalations by anti-Israel protesters, including a November occupation that led to 11 arrests. The university stated it has engaged with student and staff groups over the past year, reviewing ties to companies identified by the BDS movement while condemning the loss of civilian life in the Middle East.

Jewish & Proud. October H8TE, a new documentary by Wendy Sachs, tells the story about the surge in antisemitism in America post-10/7. Told through an American lens, the film highlights the journeys of college students and the rise of anti-Jewish hatred on campuses across the country. Featuring voices like Debra Messing (an executive producer of the film), Rep. Ritchie Torres and U.S. Special Envoy Deborah Lipstadt, it zooms in on the resilience of Jewish students who confront antisemitism directly. The film underscores pride in Jewish survival and the need to combat hate head-on. When interviewed about the documentary, Messing said “pride in our survival after thousands of years of persecution keeps us moving forward.” And Tessa Veskler, one of the students in the documentary echoed this sentiment, saying “We’re not going anywhere.”

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Speaking to the Silent Majority. After spending time as a leader in the Jewish student movement in the UK where he saw plenty of anti-Israel anger, Ben Freeman is now trying to counter that in his role as the head of the Pinsker Centre, where his goal is to reach out to the “huge swathe of students who are on the centre ground: who either don't want to get involved or they just haven't been approached.” For example, they take delegations of students from Oxford and Cambridge to see “the good, the bad and the ugly” of Israel so they can understand the country for what it is, not just what is being shouted about it.

Ben Freeman with Israel's president Isaac Herzog (Source: Pinsker Centre)

At One with the Animals. Israel has a new cutting-edge zoo with the goal of giving visitors the sensation of being with the animals in their habitat. Located in Beersheba, the Midbarium, is an immersive animal park, offering visitors a unique chance to experience desert wildlife through interactive activities and experiences. The zoo spans an impressive 37 acres, and houses over 100 species mostly native to the land. It was designed to emphasize minimal barriers for a natural feel, and includes interactive installations that allow guests to ‘feel like’ the animals they observe. The park also supports conservation and rehabilitation efforts for desert wildlife.

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Dancing Into Theaters. We Will Dance Again, a documentary chronicling the Nova music festival massacre during Hamas’s 10/7 attack on southern Israel, has been nominated for the Producers Guild of America’s “Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Picture” award. The film highlights the stories of survivors and their families, offering a personal lens into the devastation, featuring powerful testimonies and previously unseen footage. As a member of the production team noted, “the film serves not only as a historical account but also as a way to commemorate the victims and amplify the voices of survivors, particularly during a time of rising antisemitism and hostility toward Israel and the Jewish community.” The documentary is now available on Paramount Plus.

Source: Promo image from ”We Will Dance Again”

• 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.
• Faculty and Staff — support for impacted faculty and staff, and guidance on how to discuss what constitutes antisemitism and anti-Zionism, and how to provide help to students and colleagues.
• 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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