The Perils of Universities’ Unscholarly Antisemitism Reports
Peter Beinart | 14 February 2025 | Jewish Currents
Almost a year after pro-Palestinian encampments filled campus lawns across the country, their demands remain largely unmet. No major American university has cut its ties to the Jewish state. What many college presidents have done instead is to restrict and punish student activists in the hopes of ensuring that protests don’t overtake campuses again—and, relatedly, to establish task forces to study antisemitism on campus. At several leading universities—Columbia University; the University of Pennsylvania; the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); and the University of Washington—these committees have now issued their reports.
In theory, these investigations are a good idea. In an era in which antisemitism appears to be rising alongside other forms of bigotry, it’s worth asking how Jewish students feel and what can be done to keep them safe. The reports chronicle genuine incidents of harassment, and even violence: slurs, swastikas, physical assaults. Columbia’s antisemitism report details Jewish students “having necklaces ripped off their necks and being pinned against walls” and being “followed, stalked, and subjected to ethnic slurs and hateful statements.” Universities should examine their culture and procedures to try to prevent such abuse….