Anti-Israel Hostility and Antisemitism in Context
Hotspots of antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment on US campuses 31
Anti-Israel Hostility and Antisemitism in Context
The analyses presented above demonstrate the extent to which Jewish students experience harassment and perceive hostility toward Israel and Jews on their respective campuses. But it is important to put these issues in context in terms of other contentious issues on campus( e. g., race / diversity, sexual assault, costs of attendance).
Respondents were asked to list what they felt were the three most“ pressing” issues on their campus. These results were coded and classified into a number of different general categories, which included issues related to“ Jews” or“ Israel”( these categories were not mutually exclusive and a given issue could be categorized as concerning both“ Israel” and“ Jews”).
Some examples of pressing issues coded as related to Jews include: specific concerns such as“ swastikas being painted on campus property,”“ not having one centralized Jewish home for students,” or general mentions of“ antisemitism.” Examples of pressing issues that were coded as relating to Israel include:“ BDS,”“ SJP”,“ dialogue about the Israel / Palestinian conflict,” or simply mentions of“ Israel” or“ Palestine.” Figure 12 illustrates that, at most schools, fewer than 10 % of Jewish students listed issues pertaining to either Jews or Israel as among the most pressing on campus. Many of campuses where
Jews and Israel were mentioned as pressing issues by a significant portion of respondents have been discussed in this report in terms of their level of hostility toward Jews or Israel: CUNY-Brooklyn, Texas, BU, UCLA, and UCSB. Jews and Israel were also pressing issues on other campuses where perceived hostility to Jews and Israel were lower, such as Ohio State.
Figure 13 shows the proportion of students who listed a number of pressing issues at their school. The figure is limited to the four schools where the largest proportion of students listed either Jews or Israel as a pressing issue.
Cost is a pressing issue at all four schools. Safety, health, and violence( including sexual assault) were commonly mentioned issues at Ohio State and BU, but less so at CUNY- Brooklyn and UCLA. In contrast, race and diversity were frequently mentioned issues at BU and UCLA, but less so at Ohio State, and hardly mentioned at all at CUNY-Brooklyn( the only school where issues of Jews and religion were more pressing than issues of cost or safety). Greek life was rarely mentioned as a pressing issue at any of these four schools, with the exception of Ohio State. Logistical aspects of student life( including parking, food, housing, and traffic) were only occasionally mentioned.