Syracuse University has 2,500 Jewish undergraduate students, comprising 17% of the undergraduate student population, and 500 Jewish graduate students, making up 7% of the graduate student population. There is a Hillel, Chabad and Jewish Greek life organizations.

What’s Happening on Campus?

Before and after October 7, there have been multiple incidents of antisemitic graffiti at Syracuse.

In November 2023, more than 200 protesters participated in a “Shut It Down for Palestine” event on campus. During the protest, one speaker criticized Syracuse for allowing Hillel and Athletes for Israel to hold events in support of Israel and named other Jewish organizations who had co-sponsored the events as being “complicit” and accused them of “directly promot[ing] the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.”

In January 2024, Syracuse University Faculty for Justice in Palestine released a “Statement of Solidarity in Opposition to the Repressive Climate on US Campuses.” The statement rejected a University administrator’s assertion that the term “intifada” was threatening and could be interpreted as advocating for the genocide of Jewish people. University officials called the faculty statement “reprehensible behavior” for putting students, based on their identity, at risk of harassment and potential violence.

In February 2024, a group of Syracuse students and parents submitted a report to the U.S. House of Representatives alleging the University is turning “a blind eye to antisemitism.”

University Policies and Responsive Action

The Syracuse administration has spoken out against antisemitism, including in the aftermath of October 7, making clear that advocating for the genocide of Jews would violate the University’s codes of conduct. A University administrator also made clear that the term “intifada” constituted “advocating for genocide.”

Syracuse cancelled a November 2023 event featuring Rabab Abdulhadi, an associate professor at San Francisco State University, due to safety concerns. Abdulhadi appeared to justify Hamas’ actions on social media and has been criticized for her praise of convicted terrorists, including Rasmea Odeh and Leila Khaled, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S. designated terrorist organization.

In late April 2024, pro-Palestinian protestors established an encampment on campus, and subsequently refused requests to clear out their tents before disbanding in mid-May.  The University additionally arrested an individual with a prior felony conviction who had been staying at the encampment despite being unaffiliated with the University.