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Introduction
Since the Hamas terror attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, campus life across U.S. colleges and universities has been substantially altered. Jewish students, faculty and staff in particular, have faced a surge in both anti-Israel and antisemitic incidents. Beginning on October 7 itself, some anti-Israel groups on campus set the tone for the rest of the school year, issuing statements of praise for the attack, and calling for Israel and Zionism to be eradicated. Such sentiment had profoundly negative effects on campus Jewish communities.
As the year progressed, Jewish students and Jewish groups on campus came under unrelenting scrutiny for any association, actual or perceived, with Israel or Zionism. This often led to the harassment of Jewish members of campus communities and vandalism of Jewish institutions. In some cases, it led to assault. These developments were underpinned by a steady stream of rhetoric from anti-Israel activists expressing explicit support for U.S.-designated terrorist organizations, such as Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and others.
Major Findings
The 2023-2024 ADL annual report on anti-Israel activism on U.S. campuses tallied 2,087 anti-Israel incidents of assault, vandalism, harassment, protests/actions and divestment resolutions between June 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024, a staggering 477% increase in those categories compared to the same period in 2022-2023. This marks the highest number ever documented by ADL. These incidents included both blatant acts of antisemitism, as well as anti-Israel activity, which is not always antisemitic. Incidents encompassed efforts to co-opt campus institutions in support of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns, anti-Israel protests that disrupted campus operations and the dissemination of rhetoric or adoption of policies that marginalize, demonize or exclude Jews, Zionists or Israelis from campus life.
In previous years, we tabulated the number of campus anti-Israel events including panels, speeches, webinars, conferences and sign-on statements/letters/petitions. We did not attempt to tally this category for the 2023-2024 academic year as these numbers were exceedingly high.
Campus groups responsible for much of the recorded anti-Israel activity in this report include Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) and Dissenters. Overall, anti-Israel incidents impacted over 360 campuses across 46 states and the District of Columbia.
The top 10 campuses with the highest number of reported incidents are Columbia University (52), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (38), Harvard University (36), University of California, Berkeley (36), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (35), Rutgers University, New Brunswick (33), Stanford University (30), Cornell University (27), University of Washington (26) and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (25).
Collectively, these institutions represent 16% of the total incidents recorded in the dataset.
To download the full dataset, please click here
Noteworthy Numbers & Trends | 2023-2024
Assaults: 28 assaults, 0 in 22/23
Twenty-eight assaults were recorded on approximately 20 campuses across the country in the following states: California (10), Massachusetts (4), New York (4), New Jersey (2), North Carolina (2) and one assault each in Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin.
One assault occurred in March 2024, when anti-Israel protesters at Vanderbilt University shoved a security guard as they protested the university's removal of a proposed amendment to align the school’s student government with the demands of the BDS movement. In April 2024, a Jewish student was punched in the face at an anti-Israel encampment located at the University of California, Berkeley after he refused to stop filming, despite the encampment being in a public location.
Protests/Actions (Rallies, Demonstrations and Encampments): 1,418, 326 in 22/23
Protests were the most frequent form of anti-Israel activity on college campuses throughout the academic year. The 1,418 protest actions tabulated during the 2023-2024 academic year took place across 46 states and Washington D.C., spanning approximately 360 college/university campuses.
These actions included frequent walkouts, with coordinated days of action nationwide during which students collectively walked out of classes. Sit-ins and die-ins (when a group of people gather and lie down as if dead) were also popular, alongside more traditional rallies and marches intended to draw attention to the Palestinian cause.
As the school year progressed, activists increasingly felt that protests alone were insufficient to pressure campus administrations into divesting from Israeli companies or disassociating from “Zionist” donors and groups. Consequently, anti-Israel activists, including at Columbia University and Portland State University, escalated their tactics to include “direct actions” such as prolonged sit-ins, physical occupations of buildings, vandalism and tent encampments across the country.
After limited occurrences in the fall semester, the number of encampments increased exponentially during the spring semester as the “Popular University for Gaza” (a broad term used by SJP and other anti-Israel activists to describe the encampments and related actions) movement swept the nation. Encampments were established on more than 150 campuses.
On at least seven campuses, protesters purposefully occupied buildings, in some cases causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. One prominent example is Columbia University. On April 30, 2024, protesters at the school escalated their weeks-long encampment by breaking into the university’s Hamilton Hall. They broke windows and barricaded themselves inside using zip-ties and furniture, causing significant property damage and locking a facilities worker inside during the takeover.
Additionally, many encampments issued demands for university administrations to cut ties with prominent Jewish student organizations from campus life. These demands often invoked antisemitic tropes about Jewish power and financial control, with activists targeting “Zionist” trustees and donors for their perceived influence on university affairs.
Vandalism: 201 incidents, 9 in 22/23
Of the 201 vandalism incidents recorded, 42% took the form of graffiti, 28% involved fliers of Israeli hostages from October 7 being vandalized or torn down and 13% were of offensive stickers placed on campus property. Of the 26 stickering incidents, 38% involved white supremacist group Patriot Front affixing propaganda stickers that included anti-Zionist messaging.
One instance of vandalism occurred on May 8, 2024, when a student at the University of Delaware was arrested after she damaged flags that were part of a Holocaust memorial erected by the campus Hillel. Charging documents state she was caught on camera and observed by witnesses destroying the flags and saying vulgarities about Jews including “Jewish people are nasty; free Palestine.”
Harassment: 360 incidents, 24 in 22/23
Of the 360 harassment incidents tabulated during the 2023-2024 academic year, 38% took the form of verbal harassment, 23% involved individuals or Jewish organizations on campus experiencing direct harassment online/on social media and 20% involved cases of offensive literature, fliers and/or signs. The use of anonymous social media platforms is a tactic used in years past; however, their utilization to harass or issue threats of violence against Jews and “Zionists” (e.g. at Rutgers Newark, The Ohio State University, Vassar College and University of California, Santa Cruz) after the October 7 attack emerged as a disturbing trend this year.
On October 28 and 29 at Cornell University, an individual posted such messages, including one with the message “if I see another synagogue another rally for the zionist [sic] globalist genocidal apartheid dictatorial entity known as ‘israel’, [sic] i will bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot all you pig Jews.”
On October 25, 2023, at Cooper Union in New York City, some protesters banged on the windows and doors of the library shouting “Free Palestine” while visibly Jewish students were inside. The Jewish students, who shared that they felt intimidated and vulnerable, called for help and eventually the New York Police Department assisted in escorting them out of the library.
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Resolutions: 80, 3 in 22/23
During the 2023-2024 academic year, at least 80 BDS resolutions were considered across undergraduate, graduate and professional student organizations and faculty/staff unions. Seventy-one passed and nine were voted down. An additional ten resolutions were tabled or had extenuating circumstances that precluded a definitive conclusion. Notably, the student government at UC Santa Barbara passed a resolution affirming support for BDS, the last of nine undergraduate University of California student governments to divest or affirm their commitment to the BDS movement.
The consideration process for BDS resolutions sometimes gave rise to highly troubling developments. For example, in April 2024, at a BDS hearing at the University of Albany, a student looked around and stated, “Those who do not support this (BDS) should feel unsafe on campus. I will make sure you do not feel safe.”
Though they are not formally on the BDS movement’s target list, students also led boycott efforts against Starbucks and McDonald's for their perceived support of Israel during the ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas. These boycott efforts included sit-ins and, in some cases, vandalization of stores. For example, in April 2024, a Starbucks at Haverford College was vandalized with stickers that read, “this product supports genocide” and featured an Israeli flag covered in blood.
Some encampment protesters went beyond calling for economic, academic and cultural divestment and began demanding Israelis and Zionists be ostracized and boycotted.
Incidents Impacting Jewish Centers on Campus (Hillel and Chabad)
Jewish centers for life on campus, including Hillels and Chabads, were targeted by anti-Israel activity over the course of the year. Hillel, in particular, faced numerous demands from activists for universities to cut ties with or replace them with “non-Zionist” organizations. Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic organization and one of the most significant Jewish religious movements in the world with a considerable presence on U.S. campuses, faced similar calls. Protests outside the properties of these organizations and the events they hosted occurred on numerous campuses.
There were at least 73 incidents that directly impacted Hillels and Chabads during the 2023-2024 academic year. Of that total, 42% involved protests/actions. For instance, in February 2024, protesters outside a Hillel event featuring an Israeli speaker at Gallaudet University waved signs with messages like “No $ 4 Zionism” and chanted, “We want justice, you say how: Zionists off our campus now.” A speaker at the protest declared, “We have a responsibility to plan more protests, to show up at every disgusting Hillel event when they host another settler.”
Another 35% of the incidents involved harassment. In November 2023, at the University of Illinois, Chicago, a student approached another student and a rabbi outside a Chabad center, recorded them, and demanded they say, “Free Palestine.” Another individual on campus made an antisemitic remark, stating, "Jews have genetic disorders."
Vandalism accounted for 22% of the incidents. For example, on October 28, 2023, a pro-Israel sign was kicked and damaged in front of the University of Minnesota Hillel.
Common Rhetorical Themes:
Overt Expressions of Support for Terrorism and Violence
Expressions of support for U.S.-designated terror groups were a prominent feature of activism both at campus protests and in social media posts. This included the veneration of the rhetoric and propaganda and is a leading Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis (Ansar Allah). Notorious terrorists such as Leila Khaled and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar were also celebrated during many demonstrations.
In the days following October 7, the national leadership of Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) and many of its campus chapters explicitly endorsed the actions of Hamas and voiced an increasingly radical call for confronting and “dismantling” Zionism on U.S. college campuses. These calls were disseminated in toolkits, on social media and in zines, as well as by reposting material from radical anti-Zionist English-language Telegram channel Resistance News Network (RNN), which posted in support of the October 7 attack and shares communiques from Hamas’s Al Qassam Brigades and Hezbollah.
One emblematic incident occurred on April 17, 2024, at Columbia University, when protesters chanted, "Al-Qassam [reference to Hamas] you make us proud, kill another soldier now!" Activists also chanted “we are Hamas” and “we will never let up and we will never let down until Palestine is free, Zionism is destroyed, and Zionists start to hide like the Nazis.”
Mis/Disinformation about October 7
The facts of the October 7 attack were fiercely contested and often denied by anti-Israel activists. Mis- and disinformation that was disseminated included allegations that there were no sexual assaults, that Hamas treated hostages well and that no civilians were killed. NSJP argued that all Israelis, even in Israel proper, are “settlers,” and therefore should be treated as “military assets” and legitimate targets for violence. This interpretation of international humanitarian law is so mendacious that even Palestinian historian Rashid Khalidi, who has justified the October 7 attack, rejected it.
Removal of hostage fliers and disrupting events memorializing October 7
The mis- and disinformation surrounding the October 7 terror attack likely helped give rise to at least 57 recorded incidents of hostage fliers being taken down or vandalized. Additionally, at least five campus events were protested that featured October 7 survivors or their families. Activists contended that such events spread Israeli propaganda or were forms of “normalization” with Israel and Zionism. In November 2023, at the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, protesters put up signs outside a lecture hall where an October 7 survivor was speaking that read "Warning, complicit in genocide."
Classic and Explicit Antisemitism
At some schools, there was a resurgence of classic antisemitic themes and tropes about supposed Zionist control, including over university decision-making. In other cases, Israelis, Jews and/or Zionists were associated with greed and bloodthirstiness or compared to rodents and other animals. In one incident on April 19, 2024, at the encampment at Yale University, a protester displayed a sign depicting a shirtless Joe Biden cradling and breastfeeding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is drinking drops of blood from dollar signs on Biden's bosom. In another incident, on May 17, 2024, a speaker at University of California, Irvine’s encampment stated: "The chancellor of UCI is a Zionist Jew. You're a Zionist Jew and the bad part is not that you're a Jew, the bad part is that you're a Zionist Jew."
Campus Infrastructure
Campus Groups
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)
SJP is a network of anti-Israel student groups on U.S. university campuses that has justified terror attacks against Israel, particularly the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught, engages in antisemitic rhetoric and propaganda and is a leading campus organizer of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns and anti-Israel protests on university campuses. It was a central organizing node for the student encampments that proliferated across American universities and colleges in the spring and summer of 2024, amid a surge in antisemitic activity and sentiment on university campuses. A significant segment of SJP’s rhetoric and activism aims to stigmatize and ostracize Zionism and Zionists from campus life, which disproportionately affects the Jewish community.
Additionally, professors and other educators across the country launched the National Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP) network as a response to the Israeli reaction to the October 7 terror attack and issues they claim to have seen on campus. There are chapters at more than 120 colleges and universities, with the goal of amplifying the activism of anti-Israel organizations on campus and providing guidance to faculty and students who feel they are unduly punished for their activism. FJP supports BDS and helped organize the spring 2024 encampments.
Dissenters
Dissenters is a self-described “new national movement organization that is leading our generation to reclaim our resources from the war industry, reinvest in life-giving institutions, and repair collaborative relationships with the earth and people around the world.” Formally launched in January of 2020, the organization has seen the rapid emergence of new chapters around the United States.
One of its core campaigns is “Divest From Death,” which urges universities and colleges to divest from corporations such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and others because they “fuel violence here and abroad with billions of dollars of weapons manufacturing to arm violent regimes in the Philippines, in Israel, and to local police departments across the U.S.” The group has become a key co-organizer of anti-Israel events on campuses.
Jewish Voice for Peace
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) is a radical anti-Israel activist group with several campus chapters but that mostly works in the larger community. Its campus chapters often partner closely with SJP in organizing some of the most prominent elements of anti-Israel activism on campus. JVP strenuously advocates for the eradication of Zionism and a connection to Israel from the lives of Jews worldwide. The group views it as unacceptable that fellow Jews identify with Zionism, which it sees as racist and a form of “Jewish supremacy.” Many non-Jewish anti-Zionist activists with a history of propagating antisemitic rhetoric excuse their outrageous actions by professing their support for JVP.
Students for Democratic Society (SDS)
SDS is a “national, multi-issue, progressive student organization” re-launched in 2006 in response to the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. With a focus on protests and other “direct actions” on campuses, they aim to bolster the student movement to show students they have the “power to win policies for a better campus and to move society as a whole in defense of progressive social movements.” It takes its name from the organization founded in the 1960s, which had notable Jewish and anti-Zionist contingents. SDS claims 40 chapters around the United States.
SDS chapters have collaborated in executing and planning encampments and other protests. In some instances, such as at several Florida schools where Students for Justice in Palestine chapters were temporarily banned, SDS functioned as one of the primary Palestine solidarity groups on campus. Prior to 2023, its chapters endorsed anti-Zionism and organized anti-Israel events on campus.
Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA)
The Young Democratic Socialists of America is the youth section of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Focused on building the student movement through labor unions, anti-Israel activism and the Palestinian issue is a key plank of its organizing.
Campus chapters have co-organized protests, encampments, trainings and built coalitions with other anti-Israel groups, especially Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). As of 2023, there were 126 YDSA chapters.
At their July 2024 convention, the organization voted to become explicitly anti-Zionist, and passed resolutions calling for “the dismantling of the Zionist Entity in totality” with clauses stating they will enforce its anti-Zionist stance by expelling members who “have provided material aid to Israel.” In a resolution supporting the “Student Intifada,” there are clauses to encourage as many YDSA chapters as possible to run long term divestment campaigns on their campuses.
Support from Off-Campus Organizations
Students are connected to the broader Palestine solidarity movement through a variety of organizations, such as American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Palestine Legal, which provide funding, trainings, legal assistance and other kinds of support.
Funding
Official student clubs receive much of their funding from student government resources, which are generally funded by student activity fees. Activities, especially during the spring encampments, were also supported via crowdfunding on Zelle, Venmo and CashApp. Some local organizations supplied encampments and helped fundraise for legal expenses. Organizations like YDSA are dues driven.
Some student groups also receive off-campus funding from independent donors and foundations. During the 2023–2024 academic year, funders included Resist, Inc. and the Emergent Fund, both of which gave National SJP (NSJP) an unspecified amount. In 2024, the Woods Fund gave Dissenters $50,000 as one payment of a three-year $150,000 grant. In 2023, it gave $35,000 to the group as an operating grant. Dissenters also received funds from the Third Wave Fund in November 2023 for the “safety and security measures among their membership as part of their organizing to free Palestine.”
In 2023, JVP received $150,000 (for 36 months) from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, $500,000 from the Lannan Foundation and $214,060 from the Schwab Charitable Fund.
YDSA receives some assistance from its parent organization’s 501c3, the DSA Fund. DSA Fund states that its projects include YDSA’s annual student conferences and “DSA committees for need-based travel reimbursement for speakers at conferences.” In 2023, the DSA Fund received $27,170 from the Schwab Charitable Fund, $10,000 from the One World Fund and $25,942 from the American Online Giving Foundation in the 2023 fiscal year.
Some individual chapters also received foundation or grant funding. Headwaters Foundation for Justice gave a $25,000 grant to the University of Minnesota SJP chapter for “leading local community organizing in response to the ongoing crisis in Palestine.” The Northern California War Tax Resistance gave Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Berkeley an undisclosed amount. UMass Amherst Dissenters received a grant of an unnamed amount from the Peace Development Fund in 2023.
Ideological and General Community Support
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), founded in 2005, is a Chicago-based anti-Israel and anti-Zionist activist organization whose leaders have promoted violence against Israel, the denigration of Zionism and Zionists and, at times, classic antisemitic tropes. AMP provides leadership training, funds and general support to chapters. Local chapters helped supply and fund the spring encampments. AMP was for many years a major facilitator of SJP’s activism. Though AMP has expanded its mission to focus more on areas off-campus, it remains invested in campus activism, with speakers such as AMP’s Associate Director of Outreach & Community Organizing Taher Herzallah giving talks to students. Additionally, in a statement to the Daily Mail in April 2024, one of AMP’s lawyers, Christina Jump, confirmed that the organization disburses grants of between $500 and $2000 to organizations such as SJP and JVP for “tangible expenses for specified events, such as food or copying costs for specifically identified gatherings.”
Legal Assistance
Palestine Legal provides legal aid and resources to students and community members who feel they have been persecuted for their Palestine advocacy. This could range from pro-Palestinian solidarity to engaging in outright antisemitism.
Fiscally sponsored by the Tides Foundation, Palestine Legal is perhaps one of the most visible legal assistance organizations in the campus space. The organization has represented students in court and at various government agencies.
Palestine Legal also offers a variety of “know your rights” sessions on campus, which offer objectively useful overviews of student rights on campus. It also has a toolkit with a variety of resources for what to do if one is harassed or attacked for Palestinian advocacy. While not inherently problematic, these activities demonstrate that Palestine Legal is another node in the broader support network for Palestine activism on campus. In 2023, it received funds from the Emergent Fund (unspecified amount), the Kiblawi Foundation ($10,000), the Sagner Family Foundation, by way of the North Star Fund (undisclosed amount), Women Donor’s Network ($50,000) and the Lannan Foundation ($200,500).
CAIR also provides legal representation to students on campus who have been impacted by their advocacy. CAIR is a Washington D.C.-based non-profit organization that seeks to position itself as the leading American Muslim civil rights organization in the U.S. Some prominent CAIR officials regularly infuse their criticism of Israel with explicit antisemitic ideas that portray the mainstream American Jewish community as duplicitous and overly powerful. Many of CAIR’s leaders defended or justified the attack on October 7, 2023, arguing it was a “legitimate right” of the Palestinians to “resist the occupation.” The organization has vocally opposed the Biden administration’s reactions to the campus protests and is an active supporter of various student protest efforts.
Beyond legal assistance, CAIR and A Continuous Charity (ACC) announced in July 2024 that they had launched a new fund to provide aid to students “targeted for their pro-Palestine advocacy on college campuses.” A Continuous Charity is a Muslim organization that provides interest-free loans and financial mentoring for higher education to Muslim students across the United States. The assistance is in the form of interest-free loans for tuition and housing assistance. CAIR itself receives funding from a variety of foundations and individual donors. Notably, various CAIR chapters around the United States cumulatively received over $500,000 in funding from The American Online Giving Foundation in 2022. Several CAIR chapters also accept charitable giving through cryptocurrency.
Methodology
ADL researchers gathered the incidents featured in this report primarily using open-source research methods. Much of our data on campus anti-Israel incidents was compiled by monitoring publicly available information posted online by anti-Israel activists themselves. Other information came from incidents reported to ADL by students and faculty, and by reviewing student newspapers and other news media. Important insights were also gleaned from the work of other organizations, including the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC), Hillel and AMCHA Initiative. In cases where we obtained information from the media or from third parties, we always sought out primary sources to substantiate the reporting. We did not include unsubstantiated incidents.
This snapshot is composed of thousands of individual incidents that have been documented by ADL.
The report does not distinguish between antisemitic anti-Israel incidents and general anti-Israel incidents (more information about antisemitic incidents specifically can be found in the annual ADL Audit of Antisemitic Incidents). Many incidents crossed the line from extreme anti-Israel rhetoric into antisemitism, though others did not.
The goal of this report is not to document or quantify criticism of Israel’s actions or policies, but to provide a snapshot of a more radical activist movement that seeks to make opposition to Israel and Zionism a pillar of campus life and a precondition for full acceptance in the campus community, effectively causing the marginalization of Jewish members of campus communities
This report focuses on activities that took place on campus. Student groups were frequently involved in co-sponsoring or participating in anti-Israel protests off campus; those actions are not included in this report.
Unlike reports in previous years, we did not tabulate the number of incidents involving sign-on statements, letters, petitions or general anti-Israel events like panels and webinars. The volume of incidents was so high, their tabulation was removed from the scope of the report for practical reasons.
Additionally, the types of incidents that occurred this academic year became increasingly disruptive, and as such, this report is focused on quantifying those incidents.
Not everyone involved in the incidents described in this report may identify as part of an anti-Israel activist movement. But when they espouse rhetoric or engage in tactics identical to those employed by anti-Israel activists, their actions can have the same devastating impact.
The analysis in this report is not comprehensive and undercounts relevant incidents. Many anti-Israel activists do not publicize their activities; it is likely that large numbers of victims of anti-Zionism-related harassment have not come forward; and some incidents may not have been covered by campus press. To get a complete picture of the state of anti-Israel activism on campuses, it is important to supplement this incident-based, open source-oriented report with other research, including public opinion polling and surveys of the lived experiences of American Jewish college students.
Policy Recommendations
Campus Action
Colleges and universities have the legal obligation to ensure a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students. Administrators must respond immediately to conduct that deprives students of equal access to educational opportunities in violation of Title VI. University leaders must ensure that students and faculty are aware of their campuses’ codes of conduct, including policies and procedures for managing protests, demonstrations, postings, and other speech activity, including time, place, and manner regulations. Communicate regularly about what these policies are, why they are important, how they align with core campus values, and the consequences of violating them. These policies must then be enforced in an even-handed, content-neutral, and consistent manner to prevent activities that impede the university’s academic mission or interfere with the rights of any members of the campus community to speak, listen, teach, research, learn, or participate in campus life. University leaders must promptly and directly respond to violations of these policies and any other antisemitic incidents by enforcing appropriate policies and imposing consequences for violations.
Universities must ensure free and full access to all campus buildings, spaces, events, and activities, both in policy and in effect. Conduct that blocks free access to any university spaces and/or activities must not be tolerated, and appropriate consequences must be imposed for violations. In addition to physical blocking of access to buildings, events and activities, in many cases this past year, Jewish students were marginalized and even expressly excluded from student organizations or activities because “Zionists are not welcome.” Universities must take proactive steps to ensure that all Jewish students, including the majority of Jewish students for whom Israel is an important component of their Jewish identity, have full and equal access to all the school’s registered student organizations and student government activities, without exception.
As noted in the report, Jewish institutions like Hillel, the primary center for Jewish student life on campus, and Chabad, another essential Jewish campus organization, have increasingly become targets of attacks, with protesters calling for schools to sever ties with Hillel and Chabad. This is antisemitism pure and simple and if such demands were acceded to, would remove the most important religious and cultural institutions for Jewish students from the campus. Colleges and universities must make clear that these antisemitic demands are antithetical to the institution’s values and will not be accommodated or considered.
During the past 12 months there has been a dramatic increase in demands for boycotts of Israeli universities, study abroad programs, and research collaborations. Increasingly, academic institutions, departments, and faculty leaders have begun to engage in covert or “soft” boycotts of Israeli institutions and academics that include canceling agreements with Israeli academic institutions, denying Israeli academics visiting professorships, canceling lectures by Israeli professors, etc. Colleges and universities must reaffirm their opposition to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and explain to the campus community why that movement is harmful to students and faculty and antithetical to campus values and the principle of academic freedom. Universities should publicly affirm their commitment to the free exchange of ideas and access to academic opportunities by elevating their partnerships with Israeli institutions, encouraging students to consider study abroad opportunities in Israel, featuring the work of Israeli scholars and researchers on their faculty or those who collaborate with their faculty, and highlighting the benefits these associations offer to students, faculty, and the institution.
Federal
Amidst simmering tensions on college and university campuses, Congress must take concrete actions to combat these trends. ADL is urging Congress to pass the following federal measures to protect Jewish students and fight the scourge of antisemitism:
Pass the Countering Antisemitism Act. The Countering Antisemitism Act (CAA), authored by Reps. Kathy Manning (D-NC) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK), the Co-Chairs of the House and Senate Bipartisan Task Forces for Combating Antisemitism, is the most comprehensive legislation to address antisemitism. It will implement and make permanent the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. The CAA will create lasting executive structures to prioritize and fight antisemitism, including a permanent national coordinator and a dedicated Task Force that meets regularly to coordinate efforts to fight antisemitism across agencies. It will also promote Holocaust education, address the scourge of antisemitism on college and university campuses across the country, celebrate Jewish life by declaring May Jewish American Heritage Month, and more.
Pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act. The Antisemitism Awareness Act (AAA), authored by Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA) and Tim Scott (R-SC) reinforces the use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism by the Department of Education in addressing campus harassment, continuing the policy of the past two presidential administrations. The bill has already passed the House.
Pass the Protecting Students on Campus Act. The Protecting Students on Campus Act, authored by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Fetterman (D-PA) and Reps. Kathy Manning (D-NC) and Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), requires universities to empower students by improving awareness of how to report potential civil rights violations and get the support they need. The bill creates transparency so students and faculty can understand how many incidents are being reported on campus and what schools are doing to address them. Additionally, the bill requires the Department of Education to provide Congress with monthly updates on civil rights violations being reported and how they are being handled.
State
Develop State Strategies to Counter Antisemitism.
In response to the historic rise in antisemitism that ADL is tracking across the country and on campuses, we strongly urge all states to develop and implement comprehensive, state-specific strategies to counter antisemitism, with a special focus on protecting Jewish students on college and university campuses. These students are increasingly vulnerable to antisemitic incidents, and it is crucial that states take decisive action to ensure their safety and well-being. To be effective, these strategies must unequivocally condemn rising antisemitism as a unique form of hate, commit to antisemitism training for state employees and law enforcement using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, and secure the Jewish community by establishing and funding state Nonprofit Security Grant Programs (NSGP). Moreover, protecting Jewish students must be a top priority. This includes convening K-12 school and university leaders to discuss campus safety and issue guidance reaffirming the limits of First Amendment protection for expressive activity and how campus rules, standards, policies, and faculty responsibilities must be enforced to ensure campus safety and support Jewish students and faculty. Additionally, the strategy must counter tactics of hate, including through measures to prohibit masked harassment and intimidation, both on campus and off, These strategies must be undertaken in all states, not only in those with large Jewish communities and must help to create safe and inclusive environments on every campus.
During the 2023-2024 academic year, ADL tracked more than 1,400 antisemitic incidents on campus, a nearly 500% increase over the prior year. This includes many of the incidents detailed in this report, as well as a range of incidents not designated as anti-Israel or anti-Zionist but which targeted Jews or Jewish institutions with no reference to Israel. Given the explosion of antisemitic activity on campus, state officials with oversight authority over universities and colleges within their jurisdiction should exercise that authority.
State legislative education committees should follow the lead of the Pennsylvania Senate Education Committee and call hearings to assess the level of antisemitic activity on campus and how campus leadership is responding. These hearings offer the opportunity for students, staff, faculty, administrators and experts to share critical information about what is happening on campus and can provide the basis for future legislative action to address the problems.
State legislatures can also work to fill gaps in existing laws to better address antisemitism on campus. The Ohio legislature, for example, recently passed the CAMPUS Act, which, in relevant part, establishes a uniform reporting system for hate incidents at higher education institutions, establishes grants for public safety, requires staff training regarding anti-harassment policies to counter identity-based discrimination, and directs the Chancellor of Higher Education to establish a task force addressing antisemitism and other forms of bias on campus.
In addition, State Attorneys General should communicate with law enforcement about rules governing protests, including time, place and manner restrictions and ensure clear understanding of the boundaries of First Amendment protection. They should advise about the applicability and enforceability of existing laws, if any, governing masked intimidation, harassment, and/or interference with protected civil rights. Attorneys General can share similar guidance with university leadership and also consider using their own investigative authority to protect the education rights of students on campus.
Donor Acknowledgements
The work of the ADL Center on Extremism is supported, in part, through the generosity of:
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The ADL Lewy Family Institute for Combatting Antisemitism
The Tepper Foundation
Crown Family Philanthropies
Lillian and Larry Goodman Foundations
Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund
MasterCard Impact Fund
Quadrivium Foundation
The Charles and Mildred Schnurmacher Foundation
The Zegar Family Foundation