Classroom antisemitism in full swing, U.S. academic tells city synagogue

Universities and colleges are fertile ground for promoting antisemitism, an American academic told an audience at Congregation Shaarey Zedek recently.

“I have deep concerns about what is happening in the classroom,” Rachel Fish told about 400 people gathered Thursday for the annual Sol and Florence Kanee Distinguished Lecture sponsored by the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada.

Fish, the director of the Brandeis University President’s Initiative on Antisemitism, said students who support Israel feel unsafe at many U.S. universities. She cited research showing that 37 per cent of Jewish students believe there is a hostile environment towards Jews on campuses — compared to only 14 per cent of non-Jewish students who believe that is the case.

“Jewish students see hostility their peers don’t,” she said, adding this is partly the result of protests and rallies on campuses that encourage extreme language such as calling Jewish students “genocidal baby killers.”

It’s also happening in classrooms, Fish said, where professors use lectures “for their own political purposes.”

These lectures that criticize the Israeli government are framed as political discussions, but can end up promoting hatred of Jews, Fish said.

She added that criticism of the Israeli government is legitimate, but not if that country is the only one targeted for critique about human rights challenges — what she called the “demonization of the State of Israel.”

The result is many Jewish students hide their identity on campus, with 62 per cent saying in 2024 there was a “social penalty” to pay if others knew they were Jewish.

Fish noted that Jewish faculty also feel insecure if they support Israel, often keeping their heads down.

“They know there will be professional repercussions if they speak up,” she said, citing things like not being published or being invited to speak at conferences.

To counter this, Fish proposed that universities “engage deeply in intellectual pluralism” and promote “diversity of thought.”

Universities should be places that model to youth how they can “engage in complex conversations,” she said, adding “we need brave spaces where people can engage deeply with this subject matter.”

Along with that, university leaders need to be held accountable when antisemitism is seen on campuses, and provide “education and training on Jew-hatred for all faculty, staff and students.”

Things are similar at universities and colleges in Canada and Manitoba, said heritage centre executive director Belle Jarniewski.

“These are the same realities we are seeing,” she said, citing the on-campus protests and events since the Oct. 7 attacks that have made Jewish students feel targeted and unsafe.

Jewish faculty are also facing similar challenges, Jarniewski said, citing a submission last fall by the Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba to the study on antisemitism in Canada by the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights.

In that submission, the association described the online harassment of faculty, who were publicly called the “top-six Zionists at the University of Manitoba” by the former leader of a pro-Palestine student group.

Other faculty in Manitoba have felt singled out for their support for Israel, Jarniewski said, adding she has heard similar fears from students.

Last fall, Jarniewski created the Manitoba Institute to Combat Antisemitism to offer education to various groups, including universities. She has done workshops at the U of M, but so far has been unsuccessful in offering presentations about antisemitism at the University of Winnipeg.

“We want to reach out and have dialogue with whoever we can,” she said. “We want to show how Jews were affected by antisemitism in the past, and how it affects us today.”

faith@freepress.mb.ca

The Free Press is committed to covering faith in Manitoba through our Religion in the News project. This reporting continues because readers like you step forward to fund it.

Donate now to support our reporting on religion.
Your donation is eligible for a charitable tax receipt. BECOME A FAITH JOURNALISM SUPPORTER