Jewish community discusses ways to combat antisemitism

FROM SWASTIKA PAGE 1 of Hillel’s student executive board, however, said he was dissatisfed with the College’s email regarding the recent discovery of the swastika, which detailed the College’s response, the meaning of the symbol and provided support resources.

“I think it’s good that they gave phone numbers and emails of where students can seek support, but I don’t think anywhere in here does it say that they’re going to take action to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Mikhlin said.

“They said it has no place at Dartmouth in the very [last] sentence — that should have been the frst thing that they said.”

In terms of forming a strategy to combat antisemitism, Gray said that proactive conversations and community education would be two important steps against hate.

“If you have something that you feel is important, you have to do the educating,” Gray said. “And as tired as we are, and as unfair as it may seem, I think as a community we need to do our part and be proactive, educate, engage in conversation and not be afraid.”

According to Linfeld, community conversations about complex and difcult topics such as antisemitism “can be transformative to us as a college.”

“Campus climate and inclusion are for everyone,” Linfeld said. “The more work we put into safety as a whole, the stronger we will be as a community.”

Mikhlin said that despite past incidents, the resilience of the entire Jewish community is “much stronger than any hate symbol.”

Gray added that the Jewish belief that “being prouder and bringing more light into the world” can defeat hateful ideas.

“The goal and our response will be that we’re going to do more,” Gray said. “We don’t cower because of this. I hope as a community we will be stronger in spite of [this incident].”

Chamberlain: Investing in Our Values

Hanover is stronger with all of our voices at the table.

As our town moves towards a more sustainable future, I want to help build a Hanover that works for everyone. We have so much here great ideas, fantastic people and stunning nature. We can build of of this to improve the health and well-being of more people. I’m running for Hanover Selectboard to improve everyone’s quality of life. My vision is simple – everyone counts.

For me, properly stewarding our town means engaging as many people as possible, particularly those often left out. Our community is stronger when we invite more voices into decision-making conversations that impact people’s everyday lives. I teach in the flm and media department at Dartmouth and have a background in cinematic arts and economics. In my classes, we spend time contemplating how we connect and share information, how stories shape the world and how the world shapes stories. How we design our town impacts all of our stories from our everyday existence to our chance encounters to the opportunities we have for advancement. It’s all about the choices we make. As a town, we can choose whether students live out of town, people require a car to get to everyday destinations or if the small wheels of a walker can make it across our sidewalks. Our investments can refect our values of inclusivity and sustainability and meet the needs of our whole community but only if all voices are at the table, and we collectively work to solve some of the big problems facing people in Hanover.

We need housing and transportation options that meet the needs of people of all ages and abilities, including students. Today’s acute housing crisis with historically low vacancy rates has a lineage that can be traced back to the start of Dartmouth’s co-education in the 1970s. Without better housing options, our town will lose out. Our local businesses and institutions depend on recruiting people into Hanover. Our seniors need care providers. Our employees need doctors. Our businesses need staf.

Our young families need daycare providers. Without places for people to live in our community, we lose out on human capital, stunt our tax base and increase costly commuting times. We need diverse housing stock near our town’s jobs, retail and activities, and convenient, accessible ways to get to them.

The great thing is we can tackle housing and transportation issues locally, allowing us to immediately beneft from improved health and well-being for our community and the environment. Transportation accounts for nearly half of greenhouse gas emissions in New Hampshire. We can change that. For Dartmouth students who need bike paths to connect them down Main Street, we can create lanes. For neighbors who need a safe way for their children to get to their bus stop or playing felds, we can provide safe crossings. When a principal requests slower speeds by the middle school, we can implement that. We can grant our students independence and freedom of movement, and relieve the stresses on parents and institutions who shepherd them everywhere. The mission of providing access to everyday destinations and trafc safety is one we can collectively tackle so that it doesn’t unfairly burden the most vulnerable. Having lived without access to a vehicle for transportation to work, I personally understand how a lack of convenient and accessible transportation options negatively impacts day-to-day life.

Our downtown needs people walking, biking, meeting up and sticking around. With downtown real estate at a premium, we have to ask how we can ft in more more local businesses, more variety and more people who linger, shop and dine during more seasons and longer hours. We need to welcome new night spots that feature food and entertainment like Sawtooth and Duende that create a second shift of activity to compliment our early bird options and the dinner staples we’ve come to rely on. We have opportunities to strengthen a sense of place by reducing the burden businesses face from mandated of-street parking and making it easier and more inviting to walk, bike or take transit into town. Together, we can foster a more vibrant downtown, prevent sprawl and preserve open space while strengthening our community.

I want to ensure we are investing in line with our values of community and sustainability while not leaving money on the table. Recently Berlin, New Hampshire was awarded close to $20 million to install a greenhouse gas emission-saving downtown snowmelt system and improve sidewalks to uplift their downtown. Enfeld, New Hampshire was also awarded more than a half million dollars to improve a scenic byway. I think it’s important that we build capacity in our town government to take advantage of opportunities like these and create bold visions for our future, especially as our nation ofers up resources to states and towns considering projects that address climate change. We must develop the ongoing capacity to innovate, design, outreach and adjust to ensure our investments pay of, and develop new opportunities to engage in valuable public-private partnerships that have been so critical to the vibrancy of Hanover. As we move away from business as usual towards a sustainable future, we need to attract the human capital necessary so that Hanover works for everyone. To learn about me and my priorities more visit dartgo.org/Jennie. Vote May 9 at Hanover High School from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Jennie Chamberlain is a candidate for the Hanover Selectboard, a faculty member of the Dartmouth flm and media department, chair of the Hanover Bike Walk committee and a multi-decade advocate for mobility justice, air quality and sustainability. Opinion articles represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.

The Dartmouth welcomes guest columns. We request that guest columns be the original work of the submitter. Submissions may be sent to both opinion@thedartmouth.com and editor@ thedartmouth.com. Submissions will receive a response within three business days.

Verbum Ultimum: It’s Time to Speak Up

Afer a swastka was discovered drawn on campus, the Editorial Board calls on the Dartmouth community to recognize rising antsemitsm and to unequivocally condemn hate towards the Jewish community.

On April 21, the Ofce of the Provost informed the campus community that a swastika a hate symbol representing antisemitism, genocide and Nazi ideology was discovered drawn in the dirt on the side of the Green. Safety and Security found the swastika just days after the campus community commemorated Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, on April 18 with a reading of the names of every child who died in the Holocaust. As an Editorial Board, we stress the severity of antisemitism both on campus and nationally. Antisemitism is rising at alarming rates, and it is critical that people learn to recognize antisemitism in all its forms and condemn it without qualifcation. Unfortunately, the discovery of a swastika on campus is refective of worsening antisemitism nationwide. The Anti-Defamation League counted 3,697 antisemitic incidents in the United States in 2022 a 36% increase from the year prior and the highest number of incidents on record since the organization began collecting the information over 40 years ago.

Colleges are not immune to these worrying trends. The ADL audit also showed that antisemitism on college campuses specifcally has been steadily growing as well. The number of campus incidents increased by 71% from 2020 to 2022. The growth of antisemitism is undeniable, and Jewish students are feeling the efects.

Just two years ago at Dartmouth, a former member of the Class of 2023 shot a public menorah display on the Green with a BB gun, uprooting the Jewish community’s sense of safety and acceptance on campus. Jewish members of this Editorial Board have also had to grapple with the efects of rising antisemitism of campus. Grafti spelled out “JEWS NOT WELCOME” on the entrance sign to one of our high schools. A Jewish Community Center, where one of us went every day after school, received bomb threats that necessitated emergency evacuations. Spray-painted fgures hanging from nooses appeared on walking paths in one of our hometowns, accompanied by the words “NO MERCY FOR JEWS.” Synagogues in our cities have been vandalized with hate symbols. It can be difcult to comprehend the reality of rising antisemitism from just numbers, but we want to stress that Jewish people here on campus and across the country must live with the deeply personal and chilling repercussions.

Despite a concerning increase in antisemitism, it sometimes seems like there is an aversion to acknowledging its severity. After a student shot the menorah on the Green, the most recognizable Jewish symbol on campus, Hanover Police did not label the incident a hate crime. When antisemitism is acknowledged, it often comes in a package with other forms of discrimination: Five years ago, after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting left 11 Jews dead, College President Phil Hanlon sent out an email to the campus community without specifcally mentioning antisemitism. Instead, he grouped the synagogue attack with other tragedies and made a blanket statement about “recent events… targeting people for who they are their religion, political views, gender identity, race and ethnicity.” Not addressing antisemitism when discussing acts clearly motivated by prejudice against Jews sets a dangerous precedent without acknowledging the existence of antisemitism, how can we properly address it? To his credit, Hanlon seems to have learned from his previous mistake, as he was quick to acknowledge and condemn antisemitism after both the menorah vandalism and the swastika discovery. We want to praise the College for their unequivocal condemnation of antisemitism in recent years, and we sincerely hope that students, faculty and other community members take such messages to heart.

However, we also want to highlight that antisemitism is not always as obvious as a Nazi symbol on the Green or a vandalized menorah. Microaggressions and antisemitic rhetoric are just as dangerous to the Jewish community particularly because they have been normalized to some degree.

Another ADL survey found that many Americans still believe anti-Jewish tropes and conspiracy theories. 24% of Americans believe that “Jews have too much control on Wall Street,” 20% believe “Jews have too much power in the United States today” and 39% believe that “Jews are more loyal to Israel than to America.” Widespread belief of such tropes has historically had deadly consequences, and Jewish members of this editorial board have seen these beliefs directed at them. It is easy to condemn antisemitism when it is overtly expressing hatred for Jews, but far fewer people recognize, and many still perpetuate, equally harmful tropes.

This lack of awareness for what antisemitism can look like, combined with a hesitation to directly call out antisemitism, is a dangerous recipe. There is no quick and easy solution, but it can start with individuals making an efort to understand and challenge the stereotypes and fawed beliefs that are so embedded in public discourse and that they may implicitly believe themselves. That way, if they see antisemitism, they can speak up, and condemn it with the specifcity and attention it deserves.

The editorial board consists of opinion staf columnists, the opinion editors, the executive editors and the editor-in-chief.

GABRIEL MODISETT ’25: SENIOR (SOPHOMORE) SPRING ZOELLA LIN ’24: SPOONERISMS

THADRYAN SWEENEY GR: DETECTIVE BABY