Jewish Anti-Israel Groups
The 2015-2016 school year saw a significant rise in the activity of anti-Israel Jewish groups on
some U.S. campuses. Radical Jewish organizations – previously non-existent or little-known to
Israel’s detractors – emerged as influential forces on a small number of campuses in the anti-Israel
community.
The tactics of radical Jewish groups reflect a philosophy of fierce opposition to the pro-Israel
community. Throughout the academic year, these groups refused dialogue with Israel’s
supporters, requiring that they condemn Israel as a precondition for conversation. On several
occasions, Jewish detractors issued “demands” for Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank, the
return of Arab refugees, recognition of a Palestinian state, and other concessions unrelated to the
decision-making of American Jewish organizations.
At the conclusion of the 2015-2016 academic year, ICC recorded JVP chapters on 23 campuses.
Over the course of the 2015-2016 academic year, JVP solidified its position as a leader in the
campus BDS movement. Boston, New York, Chicago, and San Diego became hubs of activity
for JVP activists. For the first time, JVP chapters co-sponsored BDS measures, increasing their
involvement in anti-Israel initiatives.
These trends represented dramatic changes in JVP’s campus-based activism. In recent years,
JVP has gradually broadened its campus footprint, introducing chapters to a small number of
campuses each semester. In a transition from this pattern of steady but deliberate growth, JVP
student activism surged throughout the 2015-2016 school year. Last summer, the group hired
its first full-time director of campus affairs, and later appointed a coordinator for its new faculty
Academic Advisory Council. In late 2015, JVP held its first national student summit, hosting 25
student representatives from 15 campus chapters.
On a number of campuses that saw BDS campaigns, collaborative initiatives became a pillar
of JVP’s activism. At Columbia University, JVP students cofounded the school’s “Columbia
University Apartheid Divest” campaign co-sponsored by SJP. In the spring of 2016, JVP co-organized Columbia’s Israeli Apartheid Week, hosting anti-Israel speakers and erecting a mock
apartheid wall on campus. Its members also protested the visit of Jerusalem’s mayor Nir Barkat to
campus, accusing Barkat of incitement and “ethnic cleansing” in Israel.10 In the 2016 edition of the
Barnard/Columbia “Disorientation Guide,” a student-compiled document for incoming freshmen
that highlights opportunities for campus’ activism, pages showcasing JVP and SJP appear
side-by-side.11
At the University of Chicago, JVP worked with SJP to promote a successful divestment
resolution on campus. The Chicago chapter also organized several BDS events, including a
10. https://www.facebook.com/JVPColumbia/posts/1688580458068428
11. https://issuu.com/disguide/docs/final_dis_guide_2016_print
10
www.israelcc.org