Protect Jewish students: The case for IHRA Williamsburg Woes: What I miss about the College

For four years, we called the College of William and Mary home. For four years, we cheered, “One tribe, one family.” However, as my time in Williamsburg comes to an end, Jewish students are threatened with rising antisemitism across college campuses. Our presence at the College is becoming precarious. Now more than ever, it is imperative to protect Jewish students and hold antisemites accountable.

Much of this antisemitism is routinely veiled as criticism of Israel. Jewish on Campus’s 2021 Antisemitism Report recorded over 500 antisemitic incidents on college campuses. Over half of these reports were related to Israel. An Anti-Defamation League survey found that 10% of students felt unwelcome in a campus organization because of actual or perceived support for Israel as a Jew. This is more than the 6% of students who felt unwelcome because they are Jewish.

Often the connection between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, the opposition of Jewish self-determination in their native homeland, is far from subtle. At Northwestern University, a student’s op-ed about Jewish pride was printed onto a large poster board and used as a backdrop for the slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” painted in blood red. The slogan itself is antisemitic, calling for the removal of Jews from Israel and the dismantling of Jewish self-determination. Furthermore, the choice of poster material is especially suspect; claims that antisemitism and anti-Zionism are not linked fall through when Jewish pride is used as a tool for anti-Zionism.

In another instance at the University of Chicago, Students for Justice in Palestine called for the dismissal of an Israeli visiting professor and the boycott of his class. Targeting an individual because of his nationality and military experience is blatant discrimination. This past January, students at the University of Michigan called for an “intifada” as the “only one solution” to the Arab-Israeli conflict. An intifada specifically refers to armed Palestinian uprisings against Israel. During a period known as the Second Intifada, over 1,000 Israelis were murdered and thousands more injured in Palestinian terror attacks ranging from suicide bombings to shootings. These students were promoting the violent uprooting and murder of Jews in Israel.

These incidents represent a continuation in antisemitism, one of the world’s oldest expressions of hatred spanning back over a thousand years. It is a unique form of hatred, being neither racial nor religious, and thus requires its own enforcement mechanism. While the College’s discrimination policy is intended to protect students and faculty from discrimination “with regard to race, creed, gender, religion, national origin, or political belief,” such a policy is inadequate without a clearly defined, working definition of antisemitism. Given the lack of effective university policy, Jewish students and allies at the College must unite and work with College administration to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.

The IHRA definition addresses antisemitism that appears as antiZionism, making it the most extensive definition available. Manifestations of antisemitism as the “targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity” are accounted for in the IHRA definition.

Claims that the IHRA definition restricts freedom of expression should raise red flags. The IHRA definition makes it clear that legitimate criticism of Israel, such that is similar to criticisms leveled against any other country, is not antisemitism.

The work of Natan Sharansky, Israeli politician and former Soviet dissident, further clarifies this distinction. According to Sharansky, legitimate criticism of Israel is that which does not demonize Israel, does not delegitimize Israel and does not apply double standards to Israel. When criticisms do not pass this three-D test of demonization, double standards and delegitimization, it is antisemitism. IHRA’s examples of antisemitism related to Israel are consistent with the three-D test.

Another option growing in popularity is the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, but it is an insufficient definition. While the JDA does condemn the application of “symbols, images and negative stereotypes of classical antisemitism” to Israel, it does not deem the boycotts of Israel and Israelis, double standards or the opposition of Zionism as antisemitic.

The JDA is not thorough enough nor complete enough to protect Jews from antisemitism, especially when disguised as anti-Zionism. The JDA does not consider anti-Zionism to be antisemitic, which is a major failure for a definition that purports to fight antisemitism.

The IHRA definition is the most widely agreed upon definition of antisemitism — over 30 countries have adopted it. The European Centre for Law and Justice labeled the IHRA definition as “the most comprehensive, pragmatic, and effective modern definition of antisemitism available to combat the phenomenon.”

Just an hour away, University of Richmond Jewish students have witnessed vandalism and other displays of antisemitism. According to a 2022 report by StopAntisemitism, only 28% of Jewish college students surveyed said their campus administration takes antisemitism and the protection of Jewish students seriously.

Allow students of the College to be part of this 28% who can trust their administration. There is only one way to protect Jewish students: having an effective mechanism to identify and respond to antisemitism. Let us join the ranks of 30 other universities which protect their Jewish students by adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

We must take action now. Push for the IHRA working definition of antisemitism to be adopted on campus.

RachelZaslavsky‘23isaCAMERAonCampusFellow,andsheis activeinHillel,ChabadandTribeforIsrael.Rachellovestocook andmaintainsthatpeoplewholikepineappleonpizzaarethesilent majority.Contactheratrczaslavsky@wm.edu.

It might just be my highly specific For You page on TikTok, but I have recently been bombarded with videos of study abroad students listing everything they miss about the United States while overseas. These videos dramatically recount the things they just can’t wait to do or get when they get back on American soil. And so, as a student currently abroad, I’ve decided to chime in on what I personally miss most about the good old United States, and, more specifically, the City of Williamsburg.

First up is Mexican food. This seems to be what is topping everyone’s list, and it’s warranted. No matter how inauthentic you think American Mexican restaurants are, they are worlds above anything I have found in Europe. My program is in England, and although they have restaurants that serve “burritos” here, Brits’ fear of flavor and spice destroy all aspects of what should be a perfectly delicious meal. I’m not sure how you can have all of the ingredients and miss the mark so egregiously, but all I want is a cheesy chicken quesadilla and rice. Or even some subtle seasoning. Please. Even Sadler tacos sound good at this point; don’t take them for granted. And Williamsburg has so many other Mexican places to go to too! I’m jealous.

Next is water bottle filters — or just a water fountain. While sometimes a water fountain will miraculously appear, they are not very common here. You don’t know how lucky you are to have water fall straight into your water bottle from a personalized machine until you’re stuck awkwardly jamming your water bottle under the sink. I do not want to have to fill my water sideways until it spills out anymore. I want the nice water fountains to count how many plastic water bottles I’ve saved. I will never complain about room temperature water or the filter being stuck on red ever again. Just kidding, I definitely will. But Europeans need to drink more water. Seriously.

This one might be a hot take, but I miss lecture classes.

While I am very grateful for my study abroad program’s ability to provide me one-on-one contact with my teachers, sometimes I just want to sit back and listen to what someone else has to say. I miss taking notes on lectures. They’re interesting. They take little to no critical thought, unless a professor is really going off the wheels. I’m sure when I get back I won’t have the same sentiment. But right now, a girl can dream about simultaneously listening to the evolution of primates while watching the person in front of her make a tragic mistake in 2048.

I also have to talk about dining dollars. Do you know how many times I’ve just wanted a sweet treat throughout the day but was crushed by the lack of a Swemromas, Student Exchange or even a dining hall? It’s absolutely devastating to realize that in order to eat a midday snack or sip a midday drink, I need to spend my own money. I know dining dollars are, in some way, “real money.” But are they really? And unfortunately, unlike other places in Europe, England’s exchange rate is pretty unfavorable for American currency. Cost of living crisis, anyone?

And, of course, I have to state the obvious: I miss my friends. Eyeroll! I actually despise my friends and want to stay abroad longer so that I don’t have to see them. If they were expelled from campus, I would like that. In all seriousness, it’s so comforting to pass Sadler Terrace and be greeted by familiar faces or to stop and talk to five different people in Swem as a form of procrastination. Instead, the British walk head to the ground, almost sprinting by to get where they’re going — don’t even get me started on sidewalk etiquette. Plus, all the libraries here are silent, so if I do see someone I know, I just have to wave and continue on my way, or else I’ll get some serious side eye. To be fair, I do like a silent study space. Just not silence everywhere!

With all of this being said, I will be sad to leave my study abroad program. I’ll sorely miss the friends I’ve made, the culture I’ve grown accustomed to and of course, the Tesco Meal Deal. Plus, I’ve learned things abroad that I would have no access to at the College of William and Mary. But boy, oh boy, does the ‘Burg have some things going for it that I definitely took for granted and can’t wait to return to. So, as the spring semester winds to a close, make sure you appreciate what the city has to offer before the summer, especially since I don’t have the chance to.

LaurenMeyer’24isananthropologymajorandaHistory minorfromRichmond,VA.Inadditiontowritingopinions forTheFlatHat,LaurenisamemberofClubSwimmingand ClubFieldHockey.HerfavoritebeverageisaStrawberry KiwiCapriSun.Contactheratlemeyer@wm.edu.