The number of Israel-related, anti-Semitic incidents against Jewish students on campuses increased 70 percent from 2017 to 2018, according to a report published on Tuesday by the nonprofit watchdog AMCHA Initiative.
In its report, “The Harassment of Jewish Students on U.S. Campuses: How Eliminationist Anti-Zionism and Academic BDS Incite Campus Anti-Semitism,” AMCHA monitored more than 400 college campuses across America for anti-Semitic activity and its report highlights the increases in campus anti-Semitism in the past year, as well as recommendations to help universities tackle the issue.
“While acts of classical anti-Semitism in the U.S. reached near-historic levels in 2018 and included the deadliest attack against Jews in American history, the nation’s colleges and universities revealed a somewhat different but nonetheless troubling story. On U.S. campuses across the country, harassment motivated by classical anti-Semitism actually decreased, and significantly so. At the same time, however, the number of Israel-related acts of harassment increased significantly,” wrote the report’s researchers.
The report documented how academic BDS-compliant behavior was linked to 86 percent of Israel-related acts of anti-Semitic harassment of students. Overall, academic BDS activity more than doubled from 2017 to 2018, while promotion or implementation of academic BDS increased by more than 100 percent in the same time frame. Continue Reading…