Antisemitic Activity on US Campuses

From Amcha Initiative, 14 March 2016:

Antisemitic Activity in 2015 at U.S. Colleges and Universities
With the Largest Jewish Undergraduate Populations

Full Report Executive Summary 

Overview:
The Antisemitic Activity in 2015 at U.S. Colleges and Universities With the Largest Jewish Undergraduate Populations Report investigated antisemitic activity over the last year on more than 100 public and private colleges and universities with the largest Jewish undergraduate populations. Unlike previous studies, which assessed levels of campus antisemitism by measuring student attitudes and subjective reports, the current study assessed antisemitic activity by focusing on verifiable incidents compiled from media accounts and eyewitness reports.

The report serves as the first empirical study of its kind providing objective confirmation of student reports of widespread antisemitism, as well as evidence that the primary agents of antisemitic activity are anti-Zionist students and faculty boycotters and that Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is the strongest predictor of anti-Jewish hostility on campus.

When examining the data, three different kinds of activity were distinguished: Antisemitic Expression, Targeting Jewish Students and BDS Activity.

Findings:

• Campus antisemitism is highly prevalent in public and private schools with significant Jewish undergraduate populations, irrespective of school size.
  • More than 300 antisemitic incidents occurred at top Jewish schools in 2015.
  • 70% of schools played host to one or more kinds of antisemitic activity.
  • Schools with the highest incidence of each kind of antisemitic activity:
    ** School occurs on two lists *** School occurs on three lists. **** School occurs on four lists.
    • Strong correlation between anti-Zionist student groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and antisemitism.
      • 99% of schools with one or more active anti-Zionist groups had one or more incidents of antisemitic activity, whereas only 16% of schools with no active anti-Zionist student group had incidents of overall anti-Semitic activity.
      • 57% of the schools with one or more active anti-Zionist student groups had one or more incidents that targeted Jewish students for harm, 91% of the schools with one or more active anti-Zionist groups showed evidence of antisemitic expression, and 80% of schools with one or more active anti-Zionist groups showed evidence of BDS activity.
    • Strong correlation between the presence of faculty who have expressed public support for an academic boycott of Israel and antisemitism.
      • 81% of the schools with one or more faculty boycotters had one or more incidents of overall antisemitic activity, whereas only 17% of schools with no faculty boycotters had incidents of antisemitic activity.
      • 100% of the 33 schools with 10 or more faculty boycotters had one or more incidents of antisemitic activity.
      • 46% of schools with faculty boycotters showed evidence of targeting Jewish students for harm, 74% of schools with faculty boycotters showed evidence of antisemitic expression, and 62% of schools with faculty boycotters showed evidence of BDS activity.
    • BDS activity strongly correlates with antisemitic activity.
      • 56% of schools with evidence of BDS activity had one or more incidents that targeted Jewish students for harm, whereas of the schools with no evidence of BDS activity, only 23% had incidents targeting Jewish students. In fact, schools with more incidents of BDS activity tended to have more incidents that targeted Jewish students for harm.
      • 95% of schools with BDS activity had one or more incidents of antisemitic expression, whereas of the schools with no evidence of BDS activity, only 33% had antisemitic expression. Schools with more incidents of BDS activity tended to have more incidents of antisemitic expression.
    • Presence of SJP, faculty boycotters and BDS strong predictors of antisemitism.
      • The presence of anti-Zionist student groups and the number of faculty who have publicly endorsed an academic boycott of Israel are, in combination, very strong predictors of overall antisemitic activity.
      • BDS activity is the strongest predictor of incidents that target Jewish students for harm, the factor with the most deleterious effect on campus climate.
    • Anti-Zionism permeates and is inseparable from contemporary campus antisemitism.
      • More than 150 talks, rallies, statements, films, displays, agitprop, op-eds and social media posts contained expression that demonized or delegitimized Israel by drawing on classic antisdemitic tropes of Jewish evil, power and mendacity.
      • On more than 60 campuses, Israel was vilified with false accusations of racism, ethnic cleansing, genocide, crimes against humanity, brutal slaughter, state-sponsored terrorism, theft of land, water and human organs, settler-colonialism, apartheid, fascism, white supremacy and Nazism.  A speaker at one school called Israel “the embodiment of evil.”
      • At one-quarter of the schools, speakers and writers were explicit about their anti-Zionist stance, indicating that they were not simply critical of Israel’s policies but opposed to the very existence of the Jewish state.  In fact, at many schools there was a clear conflation of classic antisemitic and anti-Zionist expression, indicating that the speaker or writer did not distinguish between the two.
      • A majority of incidents that threatened the safety or well-being of Jewish students or violated their civil rights were linked to Israel or Zionism.
    The full report can be accessed here. An executive summary of the report can be found here.