This rhetoric translates into protests, biased panels and educational materials portraying Israel as inherently evil.

Anti-Israel student encampments made page one headlines nationwide and led network newscasts last spring. Despite a lull in news coverage, hostility and violence against Jewish students continue to stoke fear and intimidation, roiling university campuses.

There are endless examples of hatred—physical assaults, harassment and vandalism—directed primarily at Jewish students, faculty, staff and visitors that prove the statistics in surveys are accurate.

Some recent incidents:

• University of Rochester, N.Y.: “WANTED” posters target Hillel director and others with “ties” to Israel.
• DePaul University, Chicago: Masked men violently assault Jewish students, gave Israeli veteran who encouraged dialogue broken arm and concussion.
• University of Washington: President’s home and car vandalized with Hamas threats.
• University of Pittsburgh: Faculty Assembly postpones vote to create antisemitism committee; Jewish professor: “This reinforces feelings of exclusion and abandonment by the university while there is a fire burning beneath our feet.”
• University of Oregon: Investigation launched over swastikas, antisemitic flyers, and removal of materials supporting the Israeli hostages and Jewish students.
• Columbia University: Anti-Israel student groups recruit students to support U.S.-designated “sham charity” that fundraises for a Palestinian terror group.
• A University of South Florida police car permanently guards students and staff at the campus Hillel in Tampa. Police officers have been present 24/7 since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, with plans to build a fence to secure Jewish student life.

StopAntisemitism’s 2024 Campus Report Card includes troubling survey results:

• 55% of students were victims of antisemitism at their schools.
• 43% hide their Jewish identity from classmates out of fear.
• 72% feel unwelcome in certain campus spaces for being Jewish.
• 67% are excluded from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
• 69% are blamed for the actions of the Israeli government.

Joy Getnick, executive director of Hillel at the University of Rochester, said: “You might recognize my name because I am one of the people featured on the ‘WANTED’ posters. I immediately noticed that all the faculty and staff on the posters were Jewish. I looked at the poster of me and thought, ‘This can’t be happening. Am I the victim of an antisemitic crime?’ The poster plays into harmful antisemitic trope language about Jews. Accusing me of racism and intimidation plays into the antisemitic stereotype that Jews are all-powerful. In Germany, Jews were regarded as powerful non-white others. Some in the U.S. still see Jews that way.”

Convoluted courses: ‘Zionism is social violence and a disease’

Some universities have introduced courses promoting blatant anti-Israel narratives that are taught by professors who parrot Hamas lies. Middle Eastern studies programs typically exclude Israel and only include materials that misrepresent Israel’s history and amplify one-sided perspectives. A group that investigates U.S. government spending recently reported that $22 million of federal funding was granted to anti-Israel professors in these departments. Severe anti-Israel bias has expanded into other departments:

• Columbia University, Palestinian-Israeli Politics, professor: Called the Oct. 7 attacks “awesome” and “stunning.”
• Cornell University, Gaza, Indigeneity, Resistance, description: “Second half of course will present the war of settler colonialism in Palestine/Israel with an emphasis on genocide.” (The course is being taught by a professor who 10 years ago falsely stated that “Gaza is an extermination camp run by Jews.”)
• University of California at Berkeley, English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature, description: “Hamas is a revolutionary resistance force combatting settler-colonialism against the U.S.-backed and -funded genocide being carried out against Indigenous Palestinians by the Israeli Occupation Forces.”
• University of Toronto, Introduction to Diaspora and Transnational Studies, policy: “Diversity: This classroom is a space free of sexism, racism, Zionism, homophobia and all other forms of social violence.”

Also, the director of counseling services at Villanova University recently described Zionism as a “disease” that requires psychotherapy. She spoke at an international conference in Philadelphia on teaching behavior therapy and has a history of anti-Israel views.

Pope’s call for genocide investigation fuels anti-Israel narratives

A central narrative fueling anti-Israel rhetoric on campuses is the libelous accusation of genocide. Recently, Pope Francis amplified this claim by calling for an investigation into whether Israel is committing genocide in its response to the Oct. 7 massacres.

On campuses, this rhetoric translates into student-led protests, biased panels and educational materials portraying Israel as inherently evil. The misuse of terms like genocide undermines its true meaning, promotes hostility towards Jewish students and aligns with the broader anti-Israel movement’s efforts to delegitimize the Jewish state. In response, the Jewish community in the pope’s native Argentina has expressed “regret for the painful statements made by Pope Francis.”

The word genocide was coined by Polish Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin in 1944 to specifically describe the systematic extermination of entire groups, particularly about the Nazi regime’s efforts to annihilate Jews during the Holocaust. It was codified into international law through the 1948 U.N. Genocide Convention. This very specific definition does not stop university professors in their classes, Hamas supporters masquerading as students and outside agitators from promoting this libel. These distortions of history and legal truths are used to exploit the memory of the Holocaust to delegitimize and demonize the Jewish state, known as Holocaust inversion.

Students and universities are being held accountable

Amid the intensity and rise in hostility, there have been some notable positive steps taken by universities, the legal system and politicians to support Jewish students and address hatred of Jews:

• University of Michigan: Student body president and vice president impeached in 30-7 vote for anti-Israel harassment, including inciting violence against students.
• Tufts University: Extended its suspension of Students for Justice in Palestine until January 2027 for promoting violence and asking students to participate.
• University of California, Los Angeles: Independent investigation of violent anti-Israel protests concludes that UCLA needs “fundamental, structural changes.”
• Harvard University: The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law’s antisemitism accusation lawsuit proceeding to the evidence stage. More than a dozen Jewish Harvard Business School faculty added mezuzahs to their office doors to support Jewish freshmen.
• New York University and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana: Recognize Zionism as a part of Jewish identity.
• George Mason University: DEI office adopted the IHRA working definition of antisemitism.

Points to consider:

1. Jewish students face worsening hostility and fear on American campuses.

Pro-Hamas activists are intensifying attacks through assault, vandalism and harassment on numerous campuses nationwide, although news coverage has waned. Daily reports from large public universities to small private colleges reveal environments that are increasingly unsafe for Jewish students and staff. Many feel forced to hide their Jewish identity, feel unwelcome on campus and live in fear of the next attack. Despite calls for action, a number of universities have failed to provide adequate protection, allowing this toxic climate to worsen. Confronting this growing crisis and demanding accountability is imperative.

2. Professors indoctrinate students with corrosive anti-Israel narratives.

Classrooms increasingly are arenas for ideological warfare, where professors exploit their position of authority to push anti-Israel propaganda as scholarship. These narratives vilify Israel, distort facts and promote biases that erase Jewish history and delegitimize the Jewish state. By presenting ideology as education, they shape student perspectives and foster hostility towards Israel and Jewish students. This misuse of academic influence creates a divisive campus climate. It is critical to challenge this bias and demand accountability to preserve education rooted in historical accuracy.

3. Anti-Israel rhetoric undermines the true definition of genocide.

The term genocide—designed to describe the Nazi extermination of Jews during the Holocaust—holds a profound, specific meaning codified in international law. Anti-Israel rhetoric corrupts this definition, weaponizing it with false accusations of genocide to delegitimize the Jewish state. This deliberate distortion erases the gravity of real genocides and exploits Holocaust memories to incite hostility against Israel and Jewish students. By hijacking this term, activists trivialize the atrocities of the Holocaust, fuel dangerous propaganda and undermine historical truth.

4. Positive steps emerge as universities begin to confront antisemitism.

Some universities are taking tangible actions to challenge the hostile atmosphere. Disciplinary measures against student groups and structural reforms addressing systemic bias signal a shift towards accountability. Independent investigations are exposing failures to protect Jewish students, while legal efforts advance to combat severe antisemitism. These developments demonstrate that confronting antisemitism requires decisive leadership. While progress is evident, sustained efforts are needed to create lasting change and ensure the safety of Jewish communities.

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