Antisemitism on Campus

The phenomenon of antisemitism, hatred of Jews, has often been called mankind’s “longest hatred”. The European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (now the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights) in 2004 added to this definition of Jew hatred,

• Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination (e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor).
• Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.

Antisemitism manifests itself on campus in a variety of ways.

University of Western Ontario, 2008

The Main Manifestations of Antisemitism in Campus Discourse:

1. Calling for the dissolution of the Jewish state.(Calling for a one state solution). This denies Jews their right to self determination and a homeland.
2. Differential treatment of the Jewish state.

   University of Western Ontario, 2008 (FSWC Photo)

   Israel is singled out and falsely accused of committing horrendous crimes when human rights violations are occurring all around it. Many countries across the Middle East are lacking basic human rights and freedoms. Women, homosexuals, and religious minorities often do not enjoy the same rights or privileges as their fellow citizens. This is completely unlike the only true democracy in the Middle East. Israel is a safe haven for all religious and ethnic minorities. For a printable info sheet about Israel’s support of tolerance in comparison to other countries in the Middle East, click here.

3. Accusing Israel of enforcing a system of apartheid. This insults the memories and experiences of Blacks who suffered under an authentic apartheid regime. In Apartheid South Africa, a minority controlled and oppressed a majority. Lawmakers denied Black citizens their rights. In Israel, the majority of citizens are Jewish – the 20% of citizens who are Arabs have full rights and protection under the law, as do all citizens. The country has two official languages – Hebrew and Arabic.
   Under an apartheid regime, Blacks were excluded from government and were denied voting rights. Israeli Arabs have the right to vote, a number of elected members of Israel’s parliament are Arab!
   In Apartheid South Africa, movement and living conditions were very restrictive for Blacks. In Israel, any citizen can live in any city he or she chooses.
   Unlike in Apartheid South Africa, public facilities are open to all. This includes everything from schools and swimming pools, to universities. In Israel, no-one receives preferential treatment under the law because of their ethnicity or religion.
   It is important to know that Arabs living in the Gaza and the West Bank are not citizens of Israel. They select their own governments. In the Palestinian territories, Christians, gays and apostates are often persecuted. There is full equality under the law in Israel – this is not consistently applied by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
4. Shouting ‘Death to Jews’ at campus rallies. This allegedly occurred at McMaster University in Canada on Feb 29 2008 and is still being investigated by Hamilton Police. Also hateful is praise for ‘Intifada’ and calls for more of it. ‘Intifada’ literally means ‘shaking off’, but it has come to describe the Palestinian campaign of suicide bombings and mortar firing which specifically targeted Jewish civilians – hundreds of whom were murdered. Calls for ‘Intifada’ are often shouted at rallies across the country.
   
   
   McMaster University, 2008. Student sign calls for all of Israel to be Judenrein, or ‘free of Jews’. (FSWC Photo)
5. Trivializing the Holocaust. By drawing incorrect, offensive comparisons between the living conditions of inhabitants of the Palestinian territories and the plight of prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. Also hateful is the drawing of an equivalency between soldiers of Israel’s national army and the Nazi S.S.
   
   
   
   University of Western Ontario, March 2008 (FSWC Photo)
6. Justification of the deaths of innocent Jews.

   Some campus advocates refer to suicide bombings as legitimate ‘resistance’. The violent murder of innocent bystanders can never be justified. It is terrorism – and homicide. Anti-Israel protesters at York University Cheer ‘Intifada’ (Fef Films Photo)

7. Arguing that ‘Zionism is racism’. Although the State of Israel is nowhere near perfect, the belief that the Jewish people should have a state (as it did in the past) cannot be considered negative in any context. References to Zion, Israel, and Jerusalem fill the canonical texts of Judaism, arching back thousands of years. Most Jews look upon Israel favorably, so to paint millions of people with the label ‘racist’ is unjust, and ironically intolerant.
8. Calling for academic boycott of Israeli schools and professors. Originally proposed in the UK, this discriminatory practice targeted the professional lives of all Israeli Jews, irregardless of their political opinions. As expressed by Labor parliamentarian John Mann, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group against antisemitism: "Boycotts do nothing to bring about peace and reconciliation in the Middle East but leave Jewish students, academics and their associates isolated and victimized.” Canadian schools have followed suit and university presidents refuse to engage in this hateful practice. The original boycott motion has not been implemented, because of fears it would breach the British Race Relations Act. The last organized boycott of Jewish academics occurred in Nazi Germany, under the orders of Adolf Hitler.