April 11, 2022
Dear President {Name was inserted}
On Monday and Tuesday (April 11-12), US college and university presidents from more than 40 schools will gather in New York City for a “summit” to have “conversations” about the rise of antisemitism on campus.
#EndJewHatred activists are gathering for a rally to demand action, and in Canada, End Jew Hatred Canada is asking that university and college presidents take action, without more conversations or conferences.
The rally in New York will be on Monday, April 11, starting at 6:30 pm, in front of the Center for Jewish History. This rally will send a clear message to the college presidents that the time to act is now.
Canadian university and college presidents also need to acknowledge that their Jewish students deserve the same level of respect as every other student. The college experience should be enlightening and help heal the intergenerational trauma experienced by the Jewish people during centuries of oppression and targeted violence. It should not perpetuate trauma by exposing students to bigotry and hate in the guise of the discriminatory BDS resolutions, the Israel Apartheid Week lies, or by providing a platform for terrorist groups like the PFLP or Hamas to propagandize and recruit supporters.
Inclusion is meaningless if Jews are not fully included, and no campus is diverse that limits the full representation and participation by Jewish and Zionist students and faculty. Students should not have to navigate a toxic atmosphere of Jew-hatred perpetrated by phrases like, “From the river to the sea,” the battle cry of terrorist group Hamas, calling for the destruction of Israel, the murder of Jews! They should not have to fear that the violent terrorist attacks of the Intifada will be globalized, and that they will be targeted for wearing a kippah or a Star of David, or for speaking Hebrew. Targeted for being Jewish.
Jewish students should be protected in their right to express their identity as Jews, and as Zionists. Jews are indigenous to Israel, and colleges need to understand that denying this basic fact is the same as denying Jewish history and lived experience –it is denying Jewish identity. Colleges need to protect Jewish identity and foster it, not enable bigotry, hate, and violence.
How should college presidents address the rise of antisemitism on campus? The answer is so simple as to be obvious: a zero-tolerance approach to Jew-hatred. You don’t need a summit to tell you that, but you need to listen to what #EndJewHatred supporters and advocates have said, repeatedly: impose real consequences on Jew-haters.
For example, if a student proclaims that she wants to “kill every mother******* Zionist,” that student should be unenrolled from school just as quickly as if she had said she wanted to kill every Black person on campus. Or every Asian. Or anyone else. There is no space for violence on campus, and there is no space for bigotry or Jew-hatred.
Consequences. Action. Not “conversations.” US College presidents met last year, and nothing changed. Things have only gotten worse. Canadian university presidents have done even less. No conversations with the Jewish community, no response to repeated calls to boycott Israel, to student activists who promote BDS, suppress Jewish voices, sponsor antisemitic speakers, and promote hatred towards Israel.
To the college and university presidents in Canada, we say, Lead! Make it clear that Jew-hatred will not be tolerated on campus, and is as unacceptable in society as every other form of bigotry.
So on Monday night, as the US college and university presidents gather for a gala dinner, Jews will gather outside with signs demanding that they act to #EndJewHatred on campus. Those inside need consult with those affected, the Jewish students and activists. Those in Canada, those to whom this letter is addressed, must act now, before things escalate and become dangerous for Jews.
Jew-hatred on college and university campuses will no longer be tolerated!
Respectfully,
Andria Spindel
Anita Bromberg,
Co-Chairs, End Jew Hatred Canada Powered by The Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation
Comments