Youtube series documents challenges facing U.S. Jewish college students
An annual study by Tel Aviv University revealed that antisemitic attacks rose worldwide by 13% in 2018 from the previous year, the highest number of incidents being reported in the US.
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERIA child wearing a Kippah(photo credit: REUTERS)
A new Youtube series was released by the Ruderman Family Foundation which documents the hardships of Jewish college students on campuses all across the United States.Each short clip shows interviews with Jewish students from different states describing their different experiences on campus, including with antisemitism, anti-Zionism, and their connection to their Jewish identity.One of the students, Elisa Caesar, for example, attends the City College of New York and states that she received threatening letters from Palestinian activists. She additionally found swastikas painted on her door. Swastikas were found on the dorm room door of a Jewish student in Tufts University in September, as well.Another student is the only Jew on his campus, while yet another has a vibrant and active Jewish community on her campus.One of the students, Azriel Ottenwalder, says that he was rejected by the on-campus LGBTQ and Latino communities because he is pro-Israel in Berkley University, which is known as one of the main sources of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.An article in The Hofstra Chronicle recorded the antisemitic experiences of one Jewish student, Leilah Abelman, on the Hofstra University campus in New York.Among other experiences, she was told to reevaluate her religious beliefs by a professor, who later told the class to imagine a world without Jews. Another professor held a discussion in class in which the majority of the students agreed that the shooter in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh was not "truly evil."Antisemitism being on the rise in college campuses is no surprise, as an annual study by Tel Aviv University's Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry revealed that antisemitic attacks rose worldwide by 13% in 2018 from the previous year, the highest number of incidents being reported in the US.Physical attacks, with or without weapons, arson, vandalism and direct threats against Jews, synagogues and other Jewish institutions were included in the overall figure, with over 100 cases occurring in the United States.
“Antisemitism is no longer an issue confined to the activity of the far left, far right and radical Islamists triangle - it has mainstreamed and became an integral part of life,” the report said.Reuters contributed to this report.