Universities and antisemitism
In many jurisdictions, especially since World War II, discriminatory practices, including within the context of a university, are in breach of anti-discrimination laws, though antisemitic cultural values still persists on many campuses.
However, some ignored this decree, with the Senate of Venice in Italy bypassing the papal ban by empowering an official to confer degrees in higher education without regard to religion.
Though the circumstances surrounding the reported incidents are disputed, some maintain that campus activism supportive of the Palestinians and critical of Israel has created an atmosphere of anti-Jewish intimidation that erupts periodically in hate speech and even violence.
[28][29][30] Others acknowledge that antisemitic incidents have occurred, but dispute the extent of them, and contend that commentators have conflated political anger with ethnic or religious hatred in an attempt to chill legitimate debate.
[34]: 415 In 1912, despite strong protests from Canada's Jewish community, the Government of Ontario approved a new constitution for Queen's University that included a phrase affirming that "the trustees shall satisfy themselves of the Christian character of those appointed to the teaching staff."
[34]: 320–321 In September 2002, then-former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was prevented from delivering a speech at Concordia University in Montreal after a student protest turned violent.
[35] Figures such as World Jewish Congress secretary Avi Beker described the incident as indicative of an "anti-Semitic campaign" on North American campuses,[36] while journalist Lysiane Gagnon accused the university's pro-Palestinian students union of "refus[ing] to blame those who broke windows, threw chairs around, spat at and shoved the Jewish students who wanted to hear Mr.
He has also written that incidents of "name calling and group hate" at protests are not indicative of a new wave of antisemitism, which is universally regarded as unacceptable within mainstream Canadian discourse.
[39] In France, Patrick Klugman, President of the Union of French Jewish Students (UEJF), wrote in Le Figaro in 2003: "On some university campuses like Nanterre, Villetaneuse and Jussieu, the climate has become very difficult for Jews.
[41] Historian Gerald Holton describes how, with "virtually no audible protest being raised by their colleagues", thousands of Jewish scientists were suddenly forced to give up their university positions and their names were removed from the rolls of institutions where they were employed.
"[45][46] The Guardian reported that "Professors marched with students and Nazi Storm Troops escorting the ox carts, on which the books were laden, to the Opera House, where they were thrown on a bonfire of torches.
Carl Clausberg, a professor of gynaecology at the University of Königsberg experimented on Jewish and Romani women at the Auschwitz concentration camp in order to sterilise them without anaesthetic.
After being fired, Miller was quoted as saying 'Israel's assets in the UK have been emboldened by the university collaborating with them to shut down teaching about Islamophobia', while the Jewish society praised the decision.
[59] Since then, Miller has made other controversial comments, including a tweet claiming that 'Jews are not discriminated against' and are 'overrepresented in Europe, North America and Latin America in positions of cultural, economic and political power' [60] During the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, the Jewish charity organisation 'Community Service Trust' (CST) reported that there had been 67 antisemitic incidents from 7 October to 3 November across 29 campuses - an increase from 12 in the same period during the previous year.
A survey published in February 2015 by Trinity College and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights under Law found that 54% of the participants had been subject to or witnessed antisemitism on their campus.
[63][64] However, a 2017 report from Brandeis University's Steinhardt Social Research Institute indicated that most Jewish students never experience anti-Jewish remarks or physical attacks.
[65] The study attempts to document student experience at the campus level, adding more detailed information to national-level surveys like the 2015 Trinity College Anti-semitism report.
Arthur Levin, former Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League, was the first to conduct research on the issue, and he found that 65% of Jewish students at Emory University's former dental school were flunked out or forced to repeat courses during those years, despite sound academic achievements and manual skills.
"[104] Jewish students also expressed disappointment when Sheehi refused to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism[105] to define hatred of Jews, because she felt it would interfere with the George Washington University's free speech principles.
[108] School administrators also brought in facilitators to create a "restorative circle" – a mechanism bringing community members together to discuss harmful behavior in a path towards accountability – between faculty and students.
In light of this, admissions decided to first stop including Beverly Hills and Fairfax high school in recruiting efforts and then reject the majority of those who still applied.
Rabbi Jessica Kirschner, executive director of Hillel at Stanford, said in an email that "for the people who knew there was something wrong despite official denials, hearing the symbolic head of the university speak the truth out loud and apologize is validating, and maybe even healing.
[116] In May 2020, Zoom-bombers hijacked a Stanford University townhall and broadcast racist messages, displayed images of swastikas and weapons, and made use of the N-Word.
He cited that all previous participating Palestinian and Israeli officers described the event as an educational seminar hosted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
Members of the Tufts Community Union Senate made anti-Semitic statements and "demonstrate[d] personal bias against Price",[128] and later threatened him with a disciplinary hearing and removal from TCUJ.
[131] Forty two percent of the student population voted on this referendum, which was reported as the highest recorded voter turnout of any "special election" in Tufts history.
In July 2024, a federal judge ordered that UCLA must “create a plan to ensure Jewish students have equal access to campus”[146] as a result of the lawsuit.
The students asserted that the university violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to address a "hostile environment" on campus.
One of the incidents mentioned in the suit occurred on October 9, two days after the Hamas attack, where a student wearing a Star of David was identified as Jewish by a group of pro-Palestine protestors.
"[152] “In the wake of a landmark settlement with the federal government, there has been a remarkable evolution in visible support for Jewish students,” stated UVM Hillel Executive Director Matt Vogel.
