CANTOR’S CORNER

Cantor Eyal Bitton reflects on the antisemitic nature of campus protests sweeping our universities.

2024-05-01

“AZAB”. This is what was hand-written on a sign I saw at Portland State University Monday afternoon. It was the seventh day of Passover and I had gone to the Judaic Studies department a few hours after services to lend my moral support to students dealing with the protests. This “AZAB” sign can also be seen on other campuses where “pro-Palestinian” protests are taking place. It means ”All Zionists are Bastards”. All Zionists. 

It is not a sign expressing disapproval or criticism of any policy. It expresses the idea that anyone who believes Israel should exist is a bastard. It labels every person who does not want to dismantle Israel as a contemptible person. It also happens to be that they are referring to Jews. 

Campus protests against Israel are openly hostile to Jews, and this should be unacceptable to everyone. Some universities, like Columbia, the University of Minnesota, USC, and others, have closed their doors temporarily. Why? Because the atmosphere is too dangerous and violent. Some have offered hybrid classes: in-person for those who feel safe and on Zoom for students who don’t feel safe. This means that non-Jews can come in for classes and Jews can stay at home. Again, the reason is because the atmosphere is dangerous for Jewish students. 

PSU canceled all classes on Monday and Tuesday in response to the threatening nature of the protests. On Monday, pro-Palestinian protesters occupied the university library, shattering glass, causing other damage, and barricading themselves inside. PSU’s administration opted to negotiate with the students who occupied the library. In exchange for the return of the library, the PSU administration agreed to let the protesters be released with zero repercussions. These students, who had vandalized the library and had prevented anyone from gaining access to it – would not face any consequences, neither from the law nor from the school; no legal charges, no expulsion, no suspension. I would expect an institution to teach these students, and to demonstrate to all other students, that there is accountability for one’s actions, particularly when one breaks the rules of the institution and breaks the law. 

I watched a video online of a Jewish girl at UCLA being beaten in the head by pro-Palestinian protesters wearing keffiyehs until she lost consciousness. 

I watched footage of another Jewish student at UCLA running desperately from violent pro-Palestinian protesters as campus security watched and did nothing.

At the University of Washington, Olivia Feldman, president of Students Supporting Israel, recounts how she has been spat on and told to “go back to the gas chambers”. 

At Rutgers, pro-Palestinian protesters shout

These students don’t just support the Palestinians, they identify with the Palestinians. And by Palestinians, I mean Hamas. Hamas’ stated aim is to destroy Israel. These protesters stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Hamas in a shared goal. Jewish students who see their Jewish identity as being tied to the land and to the state of Israel, view these words as highly threatening; the fall of Israel would mean the massive ethnic cleansing and genocide of half the world’s Jewish population – and it means that anyone supporting Israel’s very existence is an enemy of these protesters.

Jewish students feel unsafe. They have good reason to feel that way. They are unwelcome. These protesters have power. They have shut down universities. They have made administrators cave in to some demands. They have created no-go zones on campuses for Zionist Jews. There is footage of masked students at UCLA blocking access to class for Zionists; to gain access, you need to have a particular wristband and pass through their security. 

Our students are facing a difficult time. Many do not feel safe. Many feel that they have to hide their Jewish identity. Many are staying away from campus or finding ways to circumvent the threats. Many are not getting the education that they paid for as a result of these protests. Many feel abandoned – by groups that they themselves once supported or felt a part of, and by administrations that have allowed so much disruption and hatred on their campus.

I worry a great deal about whether these protesters are the face of tomorrow’s leaders. I worry about the direction of the government when I see political leaders like Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez applaud the protests – and, in the case of Omar, refer to Zionist Jews as Jews who are “pro-genocide”. 

However, I am very encouraged by some of the political leadership I’ve seen over the last few days. I watched House Republicans hold a press conference clearly denouncing these protests and condemning the antisemitism that’s prevalent within them. It was a forceful and highly supportive display. I am highly encouraged by the fact that the House passed the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act. The bill uses the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, which has become the gold star standard within much of the Jewish community. It passed overwhelmingly with a vote of 320 to 91. While I am concerned that the vast majority of those who voted against this bill, seventy in number, are Democrats, the Jewish community is being seen and heard by a significant majority from both parties. 

Democrat Congressman Ritchie Torres has been one of the staunchest allies to the Jewish community within the political echelon. Regarding the campus protests, he tweeted:

This is the kind of moral clarity we need and the kind of political support we require if American Jewry is to have a healthy future in this country. 

I spoke at a rally here in Portland on October 22, just two weeks after the horrific October 7 massacre. I told the crowd that we should feel encouraged because the Jewish people are not in the same position we were in prior to the Holocaust. Things may not be perfect, but we live in a time and in a country where there are more people who support Israel and the Jewish people than those who hate us and would see the Jewish state destroyed.

Unlike the late 1930s, we are supported by the highest levels of government.

Yes, the ground is shifting. Yes, it would seem that the younger generation of leaders are more hostile to the Jewish state’s existence and readily accept the prospective erasure of the Jewish state on the grounds that it would be an act of restorative justice, even if it would necessitate the genocide of the Jewish people. But the current leadership, on both sides, supports the Jewish people and the Jewish state by a significant margin. 

Let us use our voice to advocate for our people and for our youth. Let us use our voice to applaud political leaders from both parties who stand with us. Let us seek to eradicate the environment of hate that has been bred on university campuses over decades. Let us also reach out to the students who are at the front lines of this intolerance and hate and let them know that we support them, that we advocate for them, that we will endeavor to do everything we can to ensure that their future and the future of even younger generations is one in which they can walk tall as members of the Jewish faith and members of the Jewish people.