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As a New School Year Begins, Antisemitism Seems Poised to Return to Campus
People walk on the Business School campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, April 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Faith Ninivaggi
A number of attacks on Jewish individuals, institutions, or facilities took place in July. One report showed that pro-Hamas protests and violence in the US are directly supported by networks connected with the Chinese Communist Party. The arrest of a “free Palestine” activist in New York on the charge of burning 10 police vehicles, apparently as part of anti-immigration enforcement protests, also demonstrates the unity of various movements.
In a letter to the House Homeland Security Committee’s Counterterrorism and Intelligence subcommittee, the Jewish Federations of North America estimated the American Jewish community spends $765 million on security, or 14% of the annual budget for the average organization.
In the international sphere, a new report revealed the depth to which antisemitism in Britain has been normalized after October 7, 2023. Hate marches, threats of violence, cancellation of artists and musicians, harassment in academia and medicine, official neglect, and selective policing of Jewish counter-protestors, were all documented in detail. These attitudes are largely within the educated middle class and are propelled by DEI institutions that regard Jews as all purpose oppressors.
The normalization of anti-Israel views in the US and abroad has been fed and permitted by mainstream news platforms obsessed with tendentious views including The New York Times which continues to spotlight anti-Israel Jews. An analysis of headlines in the Times indicates most expressed sympathy with Palestinians and less than 10% with Israel.
Statements by the head of the BBC’s news department, Deborah Turness, in defense of a discredited documentary regarding the imaginary distinction between Hamas’ military and political wings reflected ignorance of both the facts and British law, but more significantly, a devotion to a tendentious framework that shaped reporting against Israel.
In another incident, a leaked BBC memo revealed instructions that “how much aid has crossed into Gaza is irrelevant” and that broadcasters should say the current distribution system, which cuts off Hamas theft and profiteering, doesn’t work.
Negotiations continued in July between the Trump administration and various universities regarding responses to antisemitism, DEI and hiring practices, and funding. Columbia University reached a settlement with the government that would will see $400 million in Federal funding and access to future funding restored in exchange for banning race based quotas and DEI statements in admissions, increased transparency surrounding admissions, hiring, and foreign gifts. The university will pay $200 million to the Federal government and another $21 million to Jewish faculty, students, and custodial staff to settle civil rights violations. The university did not admit to wrongdoing.
There will be no changes to shared governance, which places pro-Hamas faculty in control of university policies particularly with regard to pedagogy, and no consent decree involving Federal supervision. But a university administrator will make reports to an outside arbitrator, and disciplinary proceedings will be moved from faculty control to the administration. The IHRA definition of antisemitism was adopted, a mask ban implemented, and the university promised to expand Title VI and Title VII supervision and antisemitism training from outside groups.
In an obviously related development, Columbia announced the expulsion, suspension, and degree revocations affecting over 70 students involved in the spring 2024 encampments and building takeovers. Barnard College also reached a settlement with Israeli and Jewish students who had alleged the school had faced “pervasive discrimination.”
Columbia’s concessions were also motivated in part by embarrassing revelations from leaked text messages that acting president Claire Shipman had complained about an outspoken Jewish trustee, Shoshana Shendelman, whom she accused of being a “mole” working against the school, and suggested hiring an “Arab.”
Reports late in the month suggested Harvard was considering a similar deal with the government, with fines up to $500 million. In moves that signaled Harvard’s acquiescence to Federal demands, the university suddenly dismantled all of its DEI and associated websites. It was unclear whether this simply moved or renamed existing units or represented structural changes.
Harvard’s efforts came as university president Alan Garber again warned that Federal actions including the higher endowment tax could cost the university $1 billion a year. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has also called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate Harvard’s disclosures to bondholders, alleging massive overvaluation of its investments in private equity. A Federal investigation that found Harvard had violated the civil rights of Jewish and Israeli students increased pressure further, as did comments from US Education Secretary Linda McMahon that the finding jeopardized Harvard’s accreditation.
With all eyes on the headline cases, universities have begun to rapidly adapt to the new realities. One change being made by universities is increased hiring of Title VI coordinators to handle civil rights complaints. The move promises more middle and upper level managers of the sort which have systematically disregarded Jewish students and supported their attackers. In one July example, a lawsuit filed by an Israeli Harvard student against the university detailed the abuse he received at the hands of fellow students and the university’s support for his attackers.
More substantively, the University of California system has banned student governments from boycotting Israel. The decision cited specific guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health regarding eligibility for grants. UCLA also agreed to pay Jewish plaintiffs $6 million to settle discrimination complaints regarding pro-Hamas protests that barred their full access to campus. As part of the settlement the university entered into a permanent consent decree forbidding it from excluding Jews from any part of campus.
During the summer break anti-Israel faculty members have been vocal regarding their antipathies. Other faculty continue to leverage their authority to make statements regarding Gaza and the Trump administration’s approach to higher education. The impact of faculty antisemitism was noted in a lawsuit against Stanford University by an Israeli post-doctoral research alleging that his supervisor subjected him to a hostile work environment, permitted his research to be sabotaged by a research assistant, and then terminated him on false charges.
A new survey of faculty purported to show that only a small minority (3%) of US faculty members could be considered fundamentally antisemitic but a larger number (54%) regarded Israel as an “apartheid state.” Most appear concentrated in Middle Eastern, gender, and ethnic studies. An overwhelming majority of faculty characterized themselves as liberal, and regard climate change and President Trump as existential threats.
Elsewhere, the International Sociological Association suspended the membership of the Israeli Sociological Society in solidarity with the Palestinians and of “failure to condemn genocide in Gaza.” The association also offered a statement in solidarity with Iran and condemning the “escalating military aggression carried out by the governments of Israel and the United States against Iran, which has affected the lives of ordinary citizens of Iran” and which “represents a violation of international law.”
Similarly the European Association of Social Anthropologists announced guidelines for implementing its BDS policies. The group pledged to “not collaborate with Israeli academic institutions until Israel complies with International Law and International Humanitarian Law and ends the occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory” but claimed that “motion targets collaborations with academic institutions, however it does not per se target individuals, even those based at Israeli institutions. In this regard, it cannot be considered discriminatory.”
While K-12 education is in recess for the summer, a variety of reports including from mainstream sources have noted the sector’s growing anti-Israel radicalism, notably in teachers’ unions.
After a carefully orchestrated campaign by activists, the National Education Association (NEA) voted at its annual representative meeting to officially cut ties with the ADL and to stop using any of its consultants, programming, or materials, citing anti-Palestinian bias and the need to promote “liberatory education.” The group also accused Israel of “genocide” and ‘ethnic cleansing,” and demanded an end to US support.
The “DroptheADL” campaign was created by several academics including those associated with the “Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism” and anti-Israel activists in the K-12 space. The move was condemned by Jewish groups, but endorsed by several local NEA branches. The decision was later overturned by the group’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors.
The NEA’s structural antipathy towards Jews, however, was demonstrated in its 2025 handbook which discusses the “12 million victims of the Holocaust from different faiths” without mentioning Jews, plans to “educate members and the general public about the history of the Palestinian Nakba,” and “use existing digital communication tools to educate members about the difference between anti-Zionism and antisemitism.” After being exposed, the document was removed from the NEA website. Archived versions remain available.
In another sign of growing radicalism, the United Federation of Teachers endorsed Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral candidacy in New York. Observers note that the union was responding to Mamdani’s radicalism and his promise to end any mayoral oversight of the city’s schools, a long-time sticking point in relations between the union and the city.
The problem of antisemitism disguised as “anti-Zionism” in Massachusetts public schools had been highlighted by a series of hearings which exposed the hostility of unions and their leaders to Israel and to Jews. The efforts have now culminated in a new report documenting antisemitic incidents and hate crimes within Commonwealth schools. The California Teachers Association, at the urging of “CTA for Palestine,” has also expressed its opposition to a bill to combat antisemitism and discrimination in K-12 education, claiming that it is censorship, and urged its members to lobby instead for “liberated ethnic studies.”
The impact in K-12 education has been seen in lawsuits against Seattle public schools which allege a Jewish student had to hide in a locked classroom to avoid mobs of her peers. Another suit alleges a Virginia private school promoted Hitler as a “strong historical leader,” hung Palestinian flags in the school, and expelled Jewish students who complained.
The author is a contributor to SPME, where a version of this article was originally published.
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Iran Criticizes Arab-Islamic Summit Statement, Flags Objections After Doha Meeting
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, attends the emergency Arab-Islamic leaders’ summit in Doha, Qatar, Sept. 15, 2025. Photo: Hassan Bargash Al Menhali / UAE Presidential Court/Handout via REUTERS
Iran has criticized the final statement of the Arab-Islamic Summit held in Doha on Monday as insufficient, in the wake of last week’s Israeli attack targeting the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Qatar.
In a statement released shortly after the summit, Iran reaffirmed its “unwavering support for the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination,” while arguing that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot adequately address the Palestinian issue.
According to the Iranian delegation, “the only real and lasting solution is the establishment of a single democratic state across all of Palestine, through a referendum involving all Palestinians inside and outside the occupied territories.”
On Monday, Qatar held a summit of Arab and Islamic nations in the aftermath of last week’s Israeli strike on Hamas, with leaders gathering to express support and discuss regional responses.
The Sept. 9 strike targeting leaders of the Palestinian terrorist group in Doha marked a significant escalation of Israeli military operations, reflecting Jerusalem’s broader efforts to dismantle the terrorist group amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
Expressing solidarity with Qatar, summit leaders condemned Israel’s strike, labeling it “cowardly, illegal, and a threat to collective regional security.”
In the final statement, the heads of state declared that “an assault on a state acting as a neutral mediator in the Gaza crisis is not only a hostile act against Qatar but also a direct blow to international peace-building efforts.”
Alongside the United States and other regional powers, Qatar has served as a ceasefire mediator during the nearly two-year Gaza conflict, facilitating indirect negotiations between the Jewish state and Hamas.
However, Doha has also backed the Palestinian terrorist group for years, providing Hamas with money and diplomatic support while hosting and sheltering its top leadership.
During the summit, Arab and Muslim leaders called for a review of diplomatic and economic relations with Israel while firmly opposing any attempts to displace Palestinians.
In the final statement, the heads of state also emphasized resisting Israel’s efforts to “impose new realities on the ground,” urged enforcement of International Criminal Court (ICC) warrants for Israeli leaders over war crime allegations adamantly denied by Jerusalem, and coordinated actions to suspend Israel’s UN membership.
Although Iran participated in the summit and endorsed the declaration, its delegation issued a separate statement shortly afterward clarifying that doing so “must in no way be interpreted, explicitly or implicitly, as recognition of the Israeli regime,” reaffirming its rejection of the Jewish state’s right to exist.
Iranian leaders regularly declare their intention to destroy Israel, the world’s lone Jewish state.
The statement also stressed that the Palestinian people have the right to employ “all necessary means to achieve their inalienable right to self-determination,” emphasizing that backing this cause is “a shared duty of the international community.”
As the heads of Arab and Islamic states convened for a summit on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned he did not rule out further strikes on Hamas leaders “wherever they are.”
During a diplomatic visit to Israel, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed strong support for Israel’s position, even as Washington previously voiced concerns over the strike in Qatar, a US ally.
Speaking alongside Netanyahu, Rubio said the only way to end the war in Gaza would be for Hamas to free all hostages and surrender. While the US wants a diplomatic end to the war, “we have to be prepared for the possibility that’s not going to happen,” he said.
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“Your Name Was Included”: UC Berkeley Cooperating With Trump Administration, Admits to Disclosing Names
Students attend a protest encampment in support of Palestinians at University of California, Berkeley during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Berkeley, US, April 23, 2024. Photo: Carlos Barria via Reuters Connect
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) is cooperating with the Trump administration’s inquiry into campus antisemitism, providing materials containing the names of some 160 people identified in disciplinary reports and other official documents.
As first reported by The Daily Californian, UC Berkeley’s official campus newspaper, the university’s Office of Legal Affairs notified every person affected by the mass disclosure, writing to them on Sept. 4.
“Last spring, the [US Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, or OCR]] initiated investigations regarding allegations of antisemitic harassment and discrimination at UC Berkeley. As part of its investigation, OCR required production of comprehensive documents, including files and reports related to alleged antisemitic incidents,” chief campus counsel David Robinson wrote. “This notice is to inform you that, as required by law and as per directions provided by the UC systemic Office of General Counsel, your name was included in report as part of the documents provided by OGC [Office of General Counsel] to OCR for its investigations on Aug. 18, 2025.”
He added, “These documents contained information about reports or responses related to antisemitic incidents.”
Anti-Israel activists told the Californian that the university is helping the Trump administration hunt witches.
“I think the message was sent to anybody has who has ever been accused of antisemitism, which of course, includes a lot of Palestinians,” one said, claiming that he has been falsely accused. “Whenever we teach about Palestine, it usually leads to an investigation. I think they flagged and sent all of that information to the federal government.”
Students for Justice in Palestine, infamous for its ties to jihadist terror organizations, also criticized the move, charging that the administration had promised to conceal their identities and thereby obstruct the government’s inquiry.
“Chancellor Rich Lyons should not have given assurances that he wouldn’t be giving our information to the federal government,” the group said. “Beyond that, he should never have bowed down so easily. I would think that a university that prides itself on being this liberal haven would at least stand up to a fascist like Donald Trump.”
UC Berkeley came under scrutiny in 2024 after a mob of hundreds of pro-Palestinian students and non-students shut down an event at its Zellerbach Hall featuring Israeli reservist Ran Bar-Yoshafat, forcing Jewish students to flee to a secret safe room as the protesters overwhelmed campus police.
Footage of the incident showed a frenzied mass of anti-Zionist agitators banging on the doors of Zellerbach. The mob then, according to witnesses, eventually stormed the building — breaking windows in the process, according to reports in The Daily Wire — and precipitated the decision to evacuate the area. During the infiltration of Zellerbach, one of the mob — assembled by Bears for Palestine, which had earlier proclaimed its intention to cancel the event — spit on a Jewish student and called him a “Jew,” pejoratively.
Other incidents, including the university’s employment of a lecturer who tweeted antisemitic images — one of which accused Israel of organ harvesting, a blood libel — the rewarding of academic benefits for participating in anti-Zionist activity, and the banning of Zionist speakers from Berkeley Law, have raised concerns about anti-Jewish hated on campus. In 2017, The Algemeiner ranked UC Berkeley as number five on “The 40 Worst Colleges for Jewish Students.”
In August, an Israeli professor sued the university, alleging that school officials denied her a job because she is Israeli — a claim its own investigators corroborated in an internal investigation, according to her attorneys at the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.
Filed in the Alameda County Superior Court, the complaint is seeking justice for Dr. Yael Nativ, who taught in UC Berkeley’s Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies as a visiting professor in 2022 and received an invitation to apply to do so again for the 2024-2025 academic year just weeks after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre across southern Israel.
A hiring official allegedly believed, however, that an Israeli professor in the department would be unpalatable to students and faculty.
“My dept [sic] cannot host you for a class next fall,” the official allegedly told Nativ in a WhatsApp message. “Things are very hot here right now and many of our grad students are angry. I would be putting the dept and you in a terrible position if you taught here.”
Berkeley’s Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD) later initiated an investigation of Nativ’s denial after the professor wrote an opinion essay which publicly accused the school of cowardice and violations of her civil rights. OPHD determined that a “preponderance of evidence” proved Nativ’s claim, but school officials went on to ignore the professor’s requests for an apology and other remedial measures, including sending her a renewed invitation to teach dance. After nearly two years, the situation remains unresolved.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Israel Issues Travel Warning Ahead of Jewish Holidays Amid Rising Attacks, Discrimination Targeting Israelis Abroad
A flag is flown during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, outside the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, France, Nov. 27, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman
Israel has issued a travel warning ahead of the upcoming Jewish high holidays and the second anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, atrocities, alerting citizens of heightened terrorist threats against Israelis and Jewish communities abroad.
On Sunday, the National Security Council (NSC) urged travelers to stay alert, cautioning that the two-year anniversary of the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel could trigger attacks by Iran-backed or Hamas-linked terrorist groups targeting Jews and Israelis abroad.
“The recent period has been characterized by continued efforts to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets by the various terrorist organizations (most of them led by Iran and Hamas),” the NSC said in a statement.
“Oct. 7 may again serve as a significant date for terrorist organizations,” the statement read.
Israeli officials warned that the threat mainly stems from Iran and its terrorist proxies, which have increasingly targeted Jews and Israelis beyond Israel’s borders.
In recent months, the NSC reported that dozens of plots have been thwarted, even as violent incidents — including physical attacks, antisemitic threats, and online incitement — have continued to rise.
“With the war ongoing and the terror threat growing, we are witnessing an escalation in antisemitic violence and provocations by anti-Israel elements,” the NSC said in its statement.
“This trend may inspire extremists to carry out attacks against Israelis or Jews abroad,” it continued.
According to the NSC, Iran remains the leading source of terrorism against Israelis and Jews worldwide, acting both directly and through proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
“Iranian motivation is growing in light of the severe blows it suffered in the framework of ‘Operation Rising Lion’ and the growing desire for revenge,” the NSC said in a statement, referring to the 12-day war with Israel in June.
Amid rising tensions over the war in Gaza, Israeli officials have previously warned of Iranian sleeper cells — covert operatives or terrorists embedded in rival countries who remain dormant until they receive orders to act and carry out attacks.
In light of this reality, the NSC also warned that social media posts revealing ties to Israeli security services could put individuals at risk of being targeted.
“We advise against posting any content that suggests involvement in the security services or operational activities, including real-time location updates,” the statement read.
This latest updated warning comes amid a growing hostile environment and a shocking surge in anti-Jewish hate crimes targeting Jews and Israelis worldwide.
Across Europe, Israelis are facing a disturbing surge of targeted attacks and hostility, as a wave of antisemitic incidents — from violent assaults and vandalism to protests and legal actions — spreads amid rising tensions following recent conflicts in the Middle East.
On Saturday, a 29-year-old Israeli and his sister were attacked by three Palestinian men while on vacation in Athens, Greece.
According to local media reports, the two siblings were walking through the city’s center when three unknown individuals carrying Palestinian flags approached them, shouting antisemitic slurs.
The attackers assaulted the Israeli man, a disabled Israel Defense Forces (IDF) veteran, scratching him, throwing him to the ground, and striking him with their flagpoles, while his sister attempted to intervene and protect him.
October 7 is a global war against Jews & Israelis.
Pro-Palestinian radicals just attacked an Israeli man in Syntagma Square, Athens. via @N12News https://t.co/IZR2IdNrUI pic.twitter.com/9S2o4IjtO6
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) September 14, 2025
Greek authorities arrested all five individuals involved in the incident. According to the Israeli man’s father, his son was placed in a cell with 10 Arabs, where he was reportedly beaten again and feared for his life.
In a separate antisemitic incident earlier this year, a group of Israeli teenagers was physically assaulted by dozens of pro-Palestinian assailants — some reportedly armed with knives — on the Greek island of Rhodes.
After leaving a nightclub, the teens were followed to their hotel, where they were violently assaulted, leaving several with minor injuries.
In another example of rising anti-Israel sentiment and hostility toward Jewish communities, one of Britain’s most prestigious military academies, the Royal College of Defense Studies, announced Sunday that it will bar Israeli students from enrolling next year, citing concerns over the war in Gaza.
In Belgium, two IDF soldiers attending the Tomorrowland music festival were arrested and interrogated by local authorities following a complaint from the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), an anti-Israel legal group that pursues legal action against IDF personnel, accusing them of involvement in war crimes.
According to HRF, the soldiers were seen waving the flags of the IDF’s Givati Brigade, which they claimed has been “involved in the systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza and in carrying out mass atrocities against the Palestinian population.”
In France, a 34-year-old Algerian man was sentenced to 40 months in prison for threatening passengers with a knife and making antisemitic death threats after boarding a train at Cannes station.
In another incident earlier this year, a Jewish man wearing a kippah was brutally attacked and called a “dirty Jew” in Anduze, a small town in southern France.