Today, one can say with confidence that the fastest growing “religion” after “Leftism-Progressive-Liberalism” is the spread of anti-Israel hatred, a guise for anti-Semitism. And the nucleus of this movement is the North American university campus, acting as a leading incubator for this dehumanization fashion.
Antisemitism on Campus
Campus protest against Israel, speakers who speak against Israel, events held against Israel flourish on many American campuses that are incubating hostile environments to Jewish students and the number of such activities on campus is on the rise.
It requires to point out that many of the anti-Israel activities on campus veer far beyond ecumenism and political or social debate resulting in hateful anti-Semitism sentiments. This has gone as far as Jewish students on many American campuses have been verbally threatened and physically abused.
Anti-Israel sentiments are openly expressed by professors. Therefore verbal anti-Semitism frequently occur at lectures presented by anti-Israel campus faculty and by invited guest speakers.
On campus they have taken anti-Israel as far as they can. They hold ‘Palestine Awareness Week’ and ‘Israel Apartheid Week.’ They hold anti-Israel demonstrations, involved in incitement, whereby the common yelling is “From the River to the Sea – Palestine will be Free,” a clear call to get the State of Israel free of all Jews. That means either destroy the country or conquer it from the Jewish inhabitants, something the Arab countries have tried do, mind you unsuccessfully, few times.
Additionally, there is a drive for the university to join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. In student government BDS resolution they vote to further claim the merits of boycotting, sanctioning and divesting from only the State Israel, blaming the Jewish state of being the world’s one and only evil and human rights-abusing country.
Free Pass for Human Rights Violators
One must note that nothing resembles this kind of intensified anger and venom expressed on campuses about Israel regarding the world’s massive human rights violators among them are North Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Sudan and the list of many other despicable and lawless countries is long.
But it is only Israel that is maliciously separated out for harsh attitude and treatment and only Jews are held to blame for whatever they could be blamed for. The real human rights abusers are not mentioned, are not dealt with and are given a pass by most universities, student organizations, professors and guest lecturers. Besides Israel’s blamed on ill conduct, there is a perfect world.
Incitement at UC Irvine, Rutgers
The baseless anger, manifested by fierce emotions at the anti-Israel demonstrations often reaches extreme levels. University of California Irvine is a center of vile anti-Semitic behavior. There, often, Arab, Moslem and pro-Arab-Palestinian students become enraged at Jewish and pro-Israel students. And this anger extends beyond pro-Israel students. It is directed at all Jewish students, regardless of their views on Israel. Israel and Jews are a permanent target.
On Rutgers campus anti-Zionism, which translates to anti-Semitism is heard loud. Rutgers does not do enough to protect its faculty, staff, and students from harassment and persecution based on religion. Phrases like “Allahu Akbar,” or “Salam Aleikoom,” two very common Islamic phrases are shouted, to pester passing by students. Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg, who wears a skullcap and is outspoken on behalf of the Jewish community and taught public speaking at Rutgers for years, was targeted by Moslems who complained about his class, but had no reason to complain about it.
Palestinian Authority and Hamas Call For Killing Jews
Nowadays, without any shame, the Palestinian Authority, from where the anti-Israel movement on campus sucks its vile hate of Jews oxygen, and Hamas’ leadership are calling, daily, for their people to go murder as many Jews as possible, whether by stabbing, ramming a car into a crowd or shooting. The call to kill Jews is the fundamental base of Arab-Palestinian national and religious identity. It is not about “occupation,” which the protestors at the universities shout about, or the security wall, Israel erected to stop and prevent the murder of Jews, or the call for the right of return of some 5 million Arabs who never set a foot in the land of Israel. Rather, it is a new style intifada, which the perpetrators call “the knife intifada” and “the youth intifada.” It is about Arab youth whose ultimate inspiration is to kill a Jew and die a martyr.
This is a third intifada in the land of Israel. Much of it is effected from videos gone viral on social media, published by the Palestinian Authority with instructions from imams detailing how to effectively stab and murder Jews.
This intifada is the outcome of years of Arab-Palestinian leadership, media and clerics’ indoctrination of the people and relentless incitement against Israel and Jews from the day an Arab is born. And this indoctrination and incitement has taken off to lands that never knew such hate, like the United States of America and Canada.
Much of the anti-Israel activities on university campus go to the extreme, prompted by hate teachings and incitement, all with the objective to stir emotions to senseless but highly agitated levels.
In these anti-Israel demonstrations on campus they demonstrate zeal support for the Arab-Palestinian movement, its leadership’s right out stated goals, now, without any shadow of a doubt, encouraged, with incentives, to bring about the death of all Jews living anywhere in Israel, with the goal to end the Jewish state’s existence.
A change of tune at UC - To lead against anti-Semitism
Accepting the continuity of threatening and fearing environment for Jewish students on campuses across North America must not be tolerated nor condoned.
US State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism is: "Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities."
The University of California (UC) is considering adopting the US State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism to address the frightening rise - and continuing to rise - of anti-Semitism on its 10 campuses. As such, UC has the opportunity to serve as a model leader to other public universities across the US and Canada, where anti-Semitism is openly practiced, and it should adopt this anti-Semitism definition step immediately. Universities across North America should follow suit or our society is constantly crossing red lines and our values being dowsed.
From Israel, where Jews are attacked for being Jews, to USA campuses where Jews are targeted for being Jews the picture is gloomy. And here I, for one, thought we live in a society that believes in tolerance and ecumenism.