Posted on 09/13/24
| News Source: JPost
Jewish students are bracing for renewed anti-Israel demonstrations at campuses around the world as the new academic year begins, with Jewish campus groups sharing their concerns about escalating rhetoric while also maintaining some optimism about new protest regulations and the strengthening of Jewish identity.
Hillel International president and CEO Adam Lehman, World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) president Yana Naftalieva, and Chabad on Campus International CEO Yossy Gordon related to The Jerusalem Post in interviews last week the difficulties that their Jewish students had experienced in the previous academic year, which included bullying, physical altercations, protests, and the occupation of campus buildings and grounds by anti-Israel actors following the October 7 massacre.
“Last year for them was horrible; there was an unprecedented increase of antisemitism on campuses,” said Naftalieva.
Lehman said that there had already been protests at campuses that had been hotbeds of political unrest last year. Hillel heard from students about a mix of emotions, with many excited to begin or resume their academic journeys, but with the worry how anti-Israel protests may interrupt the experience.
Safety was a chief concern for students last year, and these fears were repeatedly verbalized to WUJS about the return to school. Naftalieva shared their worries about the potential for physical assault and verbal assault. Students wondered whether the encampments would be allowed to return, and whether they would be more intense than before.