Jewish and pro-Israel students
around the world have been facing a deluge of
hostile activity in the form of Palestinian human-rights advocacy.
This year, through the establishment of The Algemeiner’s Campus Bureau, we have have reported on this
phenomenon. As 2017 kicks off, here is a list of what we consider the most significant examples from the past year.
1. “Cesspool” of Antisemitic,
Anti-Israel Racism Uncovered at University of Tennessee, Knoxville
The
Algemeiner revealed information
obtained by covert watchdog group Canary Mission about an online “echo
chamber of hate speech” conducted by 34
students associated with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s chapters
of Students for Justice in Palestine and Muslim Student Association. On social
media, members of these groups referred to Hitler as a “boss,” posted
images glorifying terrorism against Israelis and Jews and harassed Jewish
students. The Campus Bureau’s extensive reporting on this topic garnered the
attention of the international press.
2. Mobs Violently Protested
Jewish, Pro-Israel Events
In two separate incidents,
campus mobs attacked students participating in Israel-related events,
first at UC
Irvine and then at University
College, London. In
California, protesters tried to prevent students from watching a film
about the Israel Defense Forces. One Jewish student was forced to hide
from violent protesters, and eventually had to be rescued by police.
In the UK, some 50 demonstrators descended on a lecture by
an Israel advocate, forcing members of the audience to
barricade themselves in the room where the talk was being held.
Police had to escort Jewish and Zionist students out amid shouts of
“Shame!”
3. Jewish Students in the UK
Lost Their Voice
Many Jewish students on UK
campuses said their voices have being stifled and their concerns
widely ignored. Malia Bouattia, the president of the country’s umbrella
student organization, who repeatedly failed to apologize for antisemitic
anti-Zionist remarks and social media posts, was accused
by both the British government and Jewish groups of downplaying antisemitism. A prominent UK parliamentarian recently
warned that certain
universities have become “no-go zones” for Jews.
4. Hindu Student Leader Forced
to Leave UCLA Due to BDS Harassment
Student leader Milan
Chatterjee decided to leave UCLA after he was bullied by the BDS
movement and the administration for remaining neutral on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Chatterjee told The Algemeiner in an exclusive
interview that
he found it “very scary how BDS activists will go to any measure to destroy
people’s reputations and careers.”
5. Oberlin Said Goodbye to
Antisemitic Professor Who Accused Jews of Carrying Out 9/11 Attacks
After dragging
its feet for months, Oberlin College finally announced its decision
to fire professor Joy Karega for years-worth
of blatantly antisemitic social media posts, which included conspiracy theories
taken from the Protocols
of the Elders of Zion. Oberlin officials
first promised in March to investigate Karega, but it was only in August,two
days after The Algemeiner reported on alumni outrage over her continued employment,that the
school announced she was being placed on leave,
pending the results of the final investigation. The inquiry was completed in
November, with Karega’s termination.
6. UC Berkeley Students Learned
How to Exterminate Israel
The Campus Bureau broke
a story in September about
a student-run course offered at UC Berkeley that explored how the Jewish state might be
obliterated. Watchdog groups decried the class as a “classic example of
antisemitic anti-Zionism.” UC Berkeley administration flip-flopped, first
suspending, then reinstating the course. Days after the class was placed
back on the schedule, posters pointing to “Jewish influence”
were found on campus.
7. Spate of Antisemitic
Vandalism Hit US Campuses
Following the conclusion of
2016’s tumultuous US presidential elections, campuses across the
country were witness to what campus watchdog groups called an “unprecedented” spate of antisemitic vandalism. In the month of
November alone, some 40
cases of swastika and other anti-Jewish graffiti were recorded.
8. Antisemitic Rutgers
Professor Gave Lecture on Evils of Israeli Government, Military
Rutgers University professor
Jasbir Puar, who infamously accused Israel of harvesting the organs of
Palestinians, became, yet again, the center of
controversy, this time for propagating
a blood libel against the Jewish state during a lecture she delivered at
Dartmouth. Puar accused the IDF of engaging in “shoot-to-cripple
practices,” as part of “biopolitical” tactics to control the “occupation.” She
said that to achieve its “aims of settler colonialism,” Israel purposely maims
the Palestinian people and targets their children. The head of the society who
sponsored Dartmouth talk defended her remarks as “uncomfortable truths.”
9. ‘Failed’ CUNY Antisemitism
Investigation Encouraged Further Campus Jew-Hatred
Despite blatant incidences
of antisemitic anti-Zionism at City University of New York (CUNY) campuses,such
as a Hunter College rally at which protesters shouted “death to Jews”
and “Zionist out of CUNY”,an internal investigation concluded that much of what
was concerning Jewish groups fell under the category of “protected
speech.” The findings of the investigation,which came six months
after the head of the Zionist Organization of
America sent a letter to
CUNY Chancellor James Milliken charging that his schools’ chapters of SJP are
responsible for creating “a hostile campus environment” for Jewish students,were slammed by
campus watchdogs and Jewish groups.
10. The Algemeiner Released
Its First Annual Ranking of Universities, Based on Experiences of Jewish
Students
This December, the Campus
Bureau released its inaugural ranking of the “40
Worst Colleges for Jewish Students” in North America, alongside a supplementary list of the “15
Best Colleges for Jewish Students.” Topping the “worst” list was New York’s Columbia University.
The main purpose of the ranking was “first and foremost to draw
attention to the problem of rising
hostility faced by many Jewish students on campus today.”
Lea Speyer is senior campus
correspondent for The Algemeiner.
