Adverse trends

Joseph Henson, President

Perhaps it’s because I am a mid70s guy, but the rate of change for things that are happening or being said still surprises me. Noteworthy is the growing blatancy of speech and, worse still, actions by anti-Zionists and antisemitism, over the last five years or so. Much of this seems to be tied to several influencing events. For one, at a number of our universities the funding flow from primarily five Mideastern sources has been significant. Since 2020 these countries have contributed $4.3 billion. Donor designation for this funding is not fully transparent, but the largest two in-flows are to establish/fund departments of Middle Eastern, Arab and Islamic studies and support of Arab students enrolled in the university. While there may not be a direct correlation, this funding has seemingly resulted in pressure on universities to avoid curricula, research or meaningful restraints that might offend these donors.

For example, the head of Columbia University’s academic review committee wrote an article referring to the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 as “remarkable” and “awesome” and a resistance to “Israeli settler-colonialism and racism toward the Palestinians.” Columbia’s President reports that he “had been spoken to” and told that his “language was unacceptable.” That’s it? Spoken to?

Why does it still seem there is a limited reaction to Hamas murdering innocents on Oct. 7 or the six hostages as rescuers neared? When are people going to stop saying about Hamas that “one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist.” When do we recognize bloodlust for what is?

Second, in the late 1990s a number of major universities established an academic field for settler colonial studies. Settler colonialism concerns itself with the pursuit of land and consequent displacement of a (presumed) native population by external settlers. To proponents of settler colonialism, this can include genocide of the existing population whose resistance to the settlers is justified if not encouraged.

Thus, the Palestinian struggle against Israel became widely misunderstood by academic and progressive activists as the frontline in a battle against settler colonialism. Hence, slogans like “from the river to the sea” or “go back to Poland” that envision the elimination of Israel. However, only if one ignores both the written and archeological records can Jews in Israel be referred to as “settlers” or “colonizers.” This is further buttressed by the fact that for last 76 years a large Arab population continues to live and prosper in Israel.

With this festering background, the ADL — in its survey, the "Alarming Rise of Antisemitism on American College Campuses" — uncovered several disturbing facts: 44% of Jewish students report never or rarely feeling safe identifying as a Jew, an increase from 21% in 2021; 55% were physically threatened or knew someone who was threatened; and 78% say they avoid certain places or events because they are Jewish. This is unacceptable!

This distressing data indicates that university administrations and local authorities must take steps to combat these trends. In my mind, this begins with local prosecuting attorneys not dropping charges against arrested rioters and university administrators not enforcing antidiscrimination policies against their faculty, staff and students.

This column is being written before the Oct. 7 Remembrance Ceremony organized by our Jewish Federation. Given the thousands of Jews living in our Collier-Lee area, hopefully the venue will be overflowing beyond capacity as we commemorate the first anniversary of this heartbreaking assault on humanity. While I am certain that there were Christians and unaffiliated who actively participated, it is most important that Jews come forward and demonstrate their support for the Jewish people and Israel.