Anti-Israel Activity on Campuses has Doubled

Students on US campuses increasingly believe that the Jewish state is the root of all evil. Anti-Israel activity at universities has doubled since last year, says the ADL.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has issued a report warning about the increase of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activities on campuses throughout the United States.

Since the start of the 2014-2015 academic year, the report points out, 75 anti-Israel events have been scheduled on US campuses. At this time last year, 35 had been planned. This translates into a 114-percent increase in the number of scheduled anti-Israel programs.

The ADL cites Operation Protective Edge as a cause for the upsurge in anti-Israel rallies around the country, both on and off campus.

At least 30 anti-Israel demonstrations during the summer were sponsored or co-sponsored by student groups, many of which had sent representatives to speak at protests in cities such as Philadelphia, New York, and Louisville, Kentucky. In certain instances, such as at the University of Michigan, students had organized demonstrations on campuses to condemn Israel even though classes were not yet in session.

The 2013-2014 academic year also saw a sharp increase in on-campus anti-Israel activities. Student groups hosted at least 374 anti-Israel events, about 40% of which focused on how to effectively initiate Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns on campus. Additionally, there were at least 57 events sponsored by university academic departments over the past two academic years that presented an extremely biased view of current affairs in Israel. This represents an alarming rise from years past.

Additionally, at 15 colleges, student groups submitted divestment resolutions to their student governments. While most of these resolutions were unsuccessful, they generate a hate-filled, anti-Semitic atmosphere on campus.

These events are usually violent in nature and are used to level hateful accusations against Israel, falsely claiming that Israel is guilty of apartheid, ethnic cleansing, genocide and a number of other war crimes in an effort to demonize Israel by portraying it as the embodiment of the world’s true evils.

Israel Accused of Perpetrating 9/11

The ADL stresses that the boundaries between anti-Israel sentiment and anti-Semitism are blurring. Flyers depicting the Twin Towers and a Star of David were posted on the campus of the University of California, alleging that “9/11 was an outside job” and that “9/11 was Mossad.”  The flyers included the addresses of two websites promoting the idea that Israel and Jews were behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

In a separate incident, a Jewish student was physically assaulted after a vocal altercation with members of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) organization at Temple University in Philadelphia.

At Emory University, a Jewish fraternity house was spray-painted with swastikas and other offensive graffiti following Yom Kippur.

All in all, there is an ugly wave of ignorance and violence plaguing US campuses of higher education, which should serve as bastions of truth and justice.

Author: United with Israel Staff
(With files from the ADL)