Noah Weiss: Universities and Colleges across the United States have experienced a sharp increase in antisemitic behavior on their campuses. The Anti-Defamation League tallied 665 campus anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incidents during the 2022-2023 academic year, a statistic that has nearly doubled from the previous year. The recent attack on Israel by Terrorist Group Hamas has only exacerbated tensions on college campuses.
There was controversy at Harvard, where a letter from the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee, holding Israel “entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,” garnered widespread backlash.
Police needed to intervene as pro-Palestine and pro-Israel groups clashed on campus at UNC-Chapel Hill last week.
And Columbia University closed its campus to the public last Thursday due to safety concerns over planned student protests.
In regards to what’s driving antisemitism on college campuses, Bill Samers, Vice President of the United Jewish Appeal Federation, attributes the rise to a combination of historical and cultural factors.
Bill Samers: “I only know so far back in my American History of college campuses, but they’ve always been the most rebellious or left of center–so that’s a historic thing.”
Noah Weiss: Syracuse University has not been immune to these rising tensions. Syracuse Hillel sent an email informing students about three incidents on campus last week, two of which occurred in the classroom, where Jewish students experienced “unsafe moments.”
Syracuse University student and member of Hillel, Sarah Frankel is not surprised by the rising tensions on campus.
Sarah Frankel: “Syracuse is a very large campus as well as we have a lot of students so there’s going to be a lot of differing opinions.”
Noah Weiss: Yesterday, an email to students and families from Hillel detailed the ongoing efforts on behalf of Syracuse University’s administration to address the incidents of antisemitism and bias that have targeted Jewish students in the past two weeks.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Universities and Colleges across the United States have experienced a sharp increase in antisemitic behavior on their campuses. The Anti-Defamation League tallied 665 campus anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incidents during the 2022-2023 academic year, a statistic that has nearly doubled from the previous year. The recent attack on Israel by terrorist group Hamas has only exacerbated tensions on college campuses.
There was controversy at Harvard, where a letter released by the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee the night of the Hamas attack, holding Israel “entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,” garnered widespread backlash.
Police needed to intervene as pro-Palestine and pro-Israel groups clashed on campus at UNC-Chapel Hill last week, and Columbia University closed its campus to the public last Thursday due to safety concerns over planned student protests.
Regarding what is driving antisemitism on college campuses, Bill Samers, Vice President of the United Jewish Appeal Federation, attributes the rise to a combination of historical and cultural factors—saying that colleges have “always been the most rebellious or left of center…”
Syracuse University has not been immune to the rising tensions colleges across the United States are experiencing. Syracuse Hillel sent an email on October 17, informing students about three incidents on campus, two of which occurred in the classroom, where Jewish students experienced “unsafe moments.”
Syracuse University student and member of Hillel, Sarah Frankel is not surprised by the rising tensions on campus.
“Syracuse is a very large campus as well as we have a lot of students so there’s going to be a lot of differing opinions,” said Frankel.
An email to students and families sent from Hillel this past Monday detailed the ongoing efforts on behalf of Syracuse University’s administration to address the incidents of antisemitism and bias that have targeted Jewish students in the past two weeks.
