Anti-Semitism on College Campuses

Parents Forum
101

I agree that boycott is a form of freedom of speech and therefore is protected. Boycotts are infinitely preferable to actual violence. I also celebrate @brantly’s remark that the response to ugly speech should be more speech, not forbidden speech.

Of all the world’s nations, so many of which treat certain groups or ethnicities within their countries worse, it is only Israel that gets boycotted as a nation as a whole and only Israel that some college students think should be eliminated entirely as a state. Think about that.

The events leading to the Holocaust began with a boycott of Jewish businesses.

102

Free speech a slippery slope.
Here’s how free speech (including the public wearing of a kippa) is manifesting in Germany these days.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/26/jews-in-germany-warned-of-risks-of-wearing-kippah-cap-in-public

But I agree - the response to ugly speech should be more speech.

103

From today’s New York Times:

(It may be that I am in a rural area right now, but this link is inconsistently linking to today’s editorial on anti-Semitism. If you try it and it just sends you to the Times cover page, scroll until the editorial or go to the opinions page.)

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/26/opinion/antisemitism-europe-germany.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

104

I’m 100% as Jewish as it gets and I can tell you there’s a massive difference between actual anti-semitism, innocent ignorance and whining about nothing. Actual anti-semitism isn’t overly common, but when it happens it has to be swiftly dealt with. There was something insane going on at Rutgers some years back and I did my part with Letters to the Editor in two major newspapers. The event was cancelled.

Being a Jew myself and a keen student of all of this on many levels sometimes (maybe most of the time) the biggest culprit are liberal Jews. In a few different ways they promote anti-semitism and it saddens me when they’re the face of American Judaism. It’s pretty terrible at times and I do what I can; which sometimes means publicly (figuratively) eviscerating them when appropriate.

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Can you give examples of what you mean by each of these?

Define “liberal Jews,” please. And can you be specific about what you mean by “they promote anti-semitism”?

106

@brantly thank you for posing those questions more politely than I probably would have. I guess we’re still waiting for the follow up, unless one of those who agreed with the comments would like to share their insights.

107

Sure - An actual terrorist organization holding a conference at Rutgers (with some wicked anti-Jewish activity), my Marine Corps OCS bunkmate’s mother-in-law (who was otherwise very very nice) from the backwoods of Georgia thinking that we all live in Miami and, well, whining about nothing.
Point #2 - The literally insane and very loud anti-American political views of some make it look like we’re all like that and that’s extremely far from the truth. Like, for example, it seems like the leaders of various gun control organizations and efforts are often Jewish which if anyone should support especially this part of the US Constitution it should be Jews (and is in many cases). In fact the number one, in my humble opinion, organization in support of the number one civil right of many is www.jpfo.org .

It is what it is and I think one of my primary duties as a Jew is to call this stuff out.
When there’s real anti-semitism I’m the guy you want in your corner. Otherwise, you may not like me. It’s all good. I’m very much used to it.

108

OMG - And I love to pieces when fellow Jews are part of the BDS movement. In fact the new “Rabbi” down the street at the synagogue we used to belong to is all-in with that. You can look her name up and she’s all over it. We went to a Bar Mitzvah there recently along with the Friday night service the day before and she went off on an absolutely relentless 45 minute tirade the likes of which I never thought possible. I won’t go into details because you’ll think I’m hysterical, but it would boggle the mind of anyone with one that functions.

109

One More Kid- Gun control organizations? You’ll have to be more specific.

The cruel and violent and exorbitantly anti-semitic vitriol that the Jewish families of children who died in the Sandy Hook school shooting and Parkland has been unbelievable. If your 6 year old died in a school massacre- I understand the parents calling for gun control. (Mind you- not the elimination of privately owned firearms. But preventing a young man with a longstanding psychiatric disorder whose only two hobbies were violent video games and going to a shooting range with his mother from obtaining MORE firearms-- seems like a common sense kind of gun regulation.)

Your kid dies at school. You join an organization which calls for preventing lunatics like the young man mentioned above from obtaining even MORE guns- and all of a sudden, your family is being targeted by rabid anti-semites claiming that because you’re calling for gun control your 6 year old deserved a violent death?

Sorry One More Kid- your views are nowhere near as nuanced and sophisticated as you think. An anti-semite is an anti-semite is an anti-semite. And getting dressed up by wrapping it as concern for the Bill of Rights doesn’t dress up the hatred and the bigotry. There are violent extremist organizations which have become adept at finding Jewish families in the news (not of their own volition- but as victims of tragedy) and hounding them online and victimizing them all over again-- including sending protesters to their child’s funeral.

I neither like you nor dislike you. But you make some distinctions which just don’t fly in the real world.

110

You make good points that seem rational, but it’s clearly a mental health issue. No one disagrees that pennies on the dollar of health care dollars go to health care and the reason is… politics. So, naturally, we seek quick fixes where we medicate away one behavior which, at times, manifests itself in another sometimes more dangerous one. We can’t fix the real problem if we’re constantly distracted by the one that addressing makes it look like we’re doing something when we’re really not.
As far as anti-semitism goes - it’s very much not a natural human phenomena to be anti-semitic, racist or hateful. It’s almost always a tool or strategy to some end founded on division or some other agenda. The culprits are usually radical political activists and not normal people like you, I or almost anyone else that you’ve ever come in contact with.
But, you’re right and when it rears its ugly head there’s only one way to address it and that one way usually works. Very rare when it’s actual honest to goodness pure racism of some sort or another, but it does happen.

Just follow our Founding Documents in their entirety (especially the part where everyone is equal and doesn’t need to be made that way) and many of these problems will greatly diminish; if not nearly entirely go away.

111

I think it is naturally human to want to identify with a group and to see the world in terms of groups. Those groups could be family clans, religions, ethnicities, political groups, etc., etc. Sometimes an outgrowth of seeing oneself as “in” a group is seeing others as “out” of it. And in political climates such as today’s, there is much more tribalism and much more villainizing of “the other.”

The sad thing for Jews nowadays is that they are seen as “out” not only by the far right, but also by the progressives seeking equal rights for just about every other group… and this is a group with which a fairly large group of American Jews identify. That is part of what is so disorienting for some Jewish students on college campuses. The groups with which they self-identify do not welcome them anymore.

I think that is why some Jews are pro-BDS. I think they view it as a social justice movement, want to prove themselves as true progressives, and blind themselves to the anti-Semitism of the movement. But that is their right. They are 100% entitled to voice their views and offer their argument

The views of Jews on any matter are not monolithic. Nor should they be. And no view should be taken as the view of “THE JEWS” (some sinister coordinated force) and used to justify anti-Semitism.

The problems occur in part because some students try to silence and demonize Jews voicing anti-BDS and pro-Israel views and rationales, and in even larger part because some people make anti-Semitic comments as part of their pro-Palestinian agenda without recognizing that what they are saying is harmful. So fast to recognize “microaggressions” against other minorities, they do not recognize them against Jews.

These students truly believe that Jews are inherently evil and manipulative. It is horrible to be a Jewish student on campus and sometimes hear your peers say things like that “the Jews” are an entitled group who secretly control the world, that rich Jews in Hollywood are responsible for most of the sexual harassment revealed in the MeToo movement, etc., etc. And these students think they are just stating ‘facts.’ They think they are not anti-Semitic because they are not drawing swastikas or bombing synagogues.

It is scary to be a Jew on a college campus nowadays. Some Jewish college students I know are hiding the fact that they are Jewish because they do not want to deal with all the anti-Semitism. They just want to be accepted by their peers.

It is time to speak up on campus and call out anti-Semitism when it occurs. The answer to speech is more speech.

Point out stereotypes and tropes. Do not allow casually anti-Semitic comments to become normal and acceptable.

This is true whether you are Jewish or not. If you hear something that troubles your heart, say something.

And, if you feel Israel is important, then explain why Israel is so important to so many Jews, reveal how much anti-Israel sentiment is a weak cover for anti-Jewish sentiment by contrasting the way people react to Israel vs. other nations with ethnic and territorial tensions, and teach the history of Israel.

112

When I first immigrated to USA from an Asian country being able to speak only “I don’t understand English”, I never understood why some white kids didn’t like Jews. Of course, I also was called racist names often just for existing, but I looked different from whites and blacks. First, Jesus was a Jew, and second, they seemed like good students. I just put it down to jealousy, and I still feel the same way even after I became better at distinguishing Jews from non-Jews.

113

@websensation Don’t take this the wrong way, but why is it important to be able to distinguish between Jews and non-Jews?

114

^I think @websensation was being supportive and friendly. He was new to the country and learning about prejudices that exist in the U.S… but clearly not sharing those prejudices!

115

I agree with this interpretation ^^ of friendly comments about learning to read cues in an unfamiliar cultural context.

I also feel that distingishing between Jews and non-Jews is just fine. Difference itself is not a problem—quite the contrary. It’s assigning/assuming/imputing negative characteristics that is problematic.

Similarly, many white folks are finally learning that the claim “I don’t even see color!” is not an anti-racist stance. It’s rooted in the privilege of not having to notice and be afraid that you’ll be attacked because of your differences.

116

With all due respect, attributing traits perceived as positive to an entire group (good students, hard working, good athletes, etc.) is just as bad as attributing negative traits based on race, religion, gender, or whatever. They both propagate stereotypes and enable discriminatory thinking (in this case antisemitic).

I wanted to make sure it’s clear that I’m not suggesting anyone here is antisemitic.

117

Has anyone ever listened to the song “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist,” from the show “Avenue Q?” It is a fun song that, in a playful way, makes some points that pertain to the recent part of this conversation.

118

^^^
Remarkable song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=28&v=y-GcEUWHiOs

119

Not important. Just getting acclimated to American culture. I stand by my previous statements that most Jewish students at my high school were good students. Doesn’t mean I thought all Jewish students were good students. You are reading into things way too much. I was describing how I became acclimated to the American culture at that time. People were definitely racist against Jews then but not as openly as against Asians. More subtly then. As it is now against Asians.

120

If it helps at all I once knew of someone named Mae Ling Schwartz. True story.