Over 350 anti-Israel acts at colleges last year, Anti-Defamation League says, highlighting a growing trend toward excluding Zionists and fostering a hostile environment for Jews.
The Anti-Defamation League tallied over 350 anti-Israel incidents on US college campuses during the last school year, the organization announced this week, saying the activities had negatively impacted Jewish students and were part of a growing trend to ostracize Zionists.
The incidents ranged from harsh criticism of the Jewish state to harassing and excluding Jewish students due to their perceived stances on Israel.
“The antisemitic vitriol directed at pro-Israel students is deeply unsettling and makes our colleges and universities feel less safe and secure for Jewish students,” the head of the ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt, said in a statement.
The ADL’s annual Campus Report, released on Wednesday, recorded 359 anti-Israel incidents during the 2021-2022 school year. The report, which focused on more radical activism and not routine criticism of Israel, was intended to provide a snapshot of the campus environment, and was not comprehensive or scientific, the ADL said.
Many of the incidents were “antisemitic in intent or in effect,” the report said. “While other incidents may not be antisemitic, collectively they may contribute to a more hostile campus environment for Jewish students.”
The report highlighted what it said was a growing movement to make opposition to Israel and Zionism “core elements of campus life or as a prerequisite for full acceptance in the campus community.” Most US Jews believe that caring about Israel is important or essential to being Jewish, though a Pew survey from 2020 found those aged 18-29 were slightly less likely to share the sentiment.
The hundreds of incidents comprised mainly anti-Israel events and protests. There were also 19 cases of targeted harassment, 11 incidents of vandalism, one physical assault and 20 resolutions in support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Three of the trends identified by the report were ostracizing Zionist students, supporting anti-Israel violence and espousing antisemitic tropes.
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