For Jewish Students, Back to School Brings Hesitation and Hope

As Israel’s military efforts to punish and destroy Hamas for its October 7 attack saw ongoing casualties in Gaza this past spring, students across the United States rallied against the war. They set up protest encampments on their college campuses, urging administrators to divest from Israeli companies and U.S. weapons manufacturers that help supply arms to Israel. These protests, at which more than 3,000 students were arrested nationwide, resulted in increased tensions on campus between students and administrators.

Some Jewish students reported feeling targeted by antisemitic attacks, while others proudly joined the pro-Palestinian protests and encampments. As the end of the school year approached, some colleges canceled their commencement ceremonies. 

With the 2024-2025 school year beginning, Jewish students from a range of schools and backgrounds shared their perspectives on returning to campus.

 

 “While I don’t completely agree with everything the movement is associated with, I think it’s more important that I oppose Israel’s actions right now.”

Eitan Zomberg, Columbia University

Sophomore, applied math major 

I’m less concerned about the supposed antisemitism on Columbia’s campus, which is obviously present but dramatically exaggerated. One of my primary concerns is that the administration will crack down harder on pro-Palestine protesters than they did last spring. That’s going to have multiple effects: a) suppressed freedom of speech, b) stomping out what is a legitimate protest, and c) adversely affecting Jewish student life on campus. 

Columbia’s commission on antisemitism, which was established at the end of last year, attempted to mandate antisemitism training and includes anti-Zionism within its definition of antisemitism. This, in my view, is invariably going to result in a lot of people unfortunately associating Judaism with the current conduct of the Israeli government’s military and their operations in Gaza, which will result in an increase in antisemitism. That very much concerns me. 

At the same time, I think Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)  often miss the mark with respect to their expectations. They’ve converted the protests into an anti-Zionist movement and have specifically alienated progressive Zionists, and while I understand why they do that, I don’t think that’s particularly helpful or useful. I also think that they’ve very often missed the mark with respect to addressing antisemitism within their own ranks. I don’t think SJP or JVP are antisemitic institutionally, and I think in the future I will join their protests. While I don’t completely agree with everything the movement is associated with, I think it’s more important that I oppose Israel’s actions more than anything else right now. The administration has supposedly been codifying rules designed to make it easier to crack down on protesters. That, paired with the mandatory antisemitism training and the likelihood of the Gaza situation getting worse, is going to make this upcoming semester difficult.

 

“Although it looks like things will only continue to get worse on campuses, I have faith in Brandeis.”

 

Brooke Bass, Brandeis University

Senior, computer science major

I’m honestly not worried about returning to campus. There are some people I’m upset with—certain former friends, for example—because they have been so gullible in regard to the news, and so quick to think terribly of Israelis and of Jews. There are people I don’t want to talk to anymore, people I’ve distanced myself from. However, during the past two semesters, our administration had a pretty tight handle on anti-Israel and antisemitic activity on campus, and they did a lot to ensure that Jewish students were comfortable.

There were a few protests during the last year, particularly last semester. However, the Brandeis administration made it pretty clear what they would not tolerate. During one protest in November, our administration made sure members of our local police force were present in order to keep students safe. When protesters began chanting things that were antisemitic (i.e. “Globalize the Intifada”) and ignored warnings to stop, they were made to disperse. When a few of those protesters refused to disperse and got violent with the local police force, they were arrested. Out of the seven who were arrested, only three were students. 

I’m not that worried if the few antisemites on campus need to find people who aren’t even Brandeis students in order to build up their sad little protests, and I know that our administration (unlike, say, NYU’s) is prepared to take action against students who encourage violence. Although it looks like things will only continue to get worse on campuses, I have faith in Brandeis to keep things under control from a safety perspective.

As for the political environment, if people want to engage me in conversation, I’m happy to talk with them. This past year, I talked to a few pro-Palestine students. One was under the impression that Israelis had pulled out of Gaza in 2012, and insisted that Hamas was not the government of Gaza. Another, who is head of our campus’s now-derecognized SJP, claimed that Israel destroyed Gazan infrastructure “just because,” and had no idea what Al-Aqsa was built on top of. If these people want to debate with me, I’m not worried.

 

“I wish I felt safe and actually welcome in pro-Palestinian spaces beyond just being a token Jew.”

 

Shira Schon, University of Michigan

Junior, neuroscience major

I haven’t been in any specific groups for Palestine or for Israel, but I’m a Frum Jew and am involved in the Orthodox Jewish community on campus. The way I tend to describe it to people is that I wish I felt safe and actually welcome in pro-Palestinian spaces beyond just being a token Jew. In general (and some might say this is a controversial take), I think most people mean well. However, that doesn’t excuse ignorance. The responses to chants of the pro-Palestine coalitions on campus range from “Yes, absolutely I agree!” to “Well, that could be okay depending on if you have educated context and intention there” to “Oh no, that’s blatantly antisemitic, bordering on inciting violence.” For some people it doesn’t matter if it’s antisemitic; they don’t consider it to be a priority. And they don’t think about the safety of Jews on campus who are impacted by their words and the way other people interpret their words. 

We don’t exist in a vacuum, and if you want to fight for collective liberation, that liberation cannot include/ignore antisemitism and it can’t include a future where Jews don’t have a right to live safely in their indigenous homeland. There are just more, or perhaps louder, pro-Palestinian activists, but I have the same struggles with the pro-Israel crowd. It’s important to fight for Jews  to live safely in Israel, but that cannot be the only thing that matters. It cannot come at the expense of horrific destruction of human life and infrastructure. Achieving peace by destroying your “opponent” is not true peace. I find that most pro-Israel people also mean well; they’re focused on what the word Zionism means to them but not to the rest of the world. 

“I’m afraid of losing religious spaces I used to enjoy.”

And on both sides, when the “other” becomes diminished to “colonizer” or “terrorist,” then the countless generations of people on both sides who have been living in the land, their descendants and children are now swept into a category of “dangerous evil.” It is painful for me to balance two aspects of my identity—being a religious Jew and being a leftist. When you fight for the rights of some people while ignoring or dismissing the active harm you are doing to others because it can’t be the priority right now, you are irreparably damaging your cause. I am scared of the antisemitism that I know I will continue to face in the fall, and I’m also afraid of losing religious spaces I used to enjoy because I cannot tolerate the people who might not even realize the prejudice and dehumanization underlying their words—even though they have the responsibility to notice it.

 

Anonymous, Emerson College 

Sophomore, journalism major

My experience at Emerson started out really wonderful. I felt like I was making friends and networking within the journalism department, and I felt very welcome and included on campus. Unfortunately, after October 7 and the ensuing war between Israel and Hamas, this changed dramatically. My roommate had a white board hanging outside our dorm room  and started writing hostile messages on it, such as, “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free.” They also verbally called for the Israeli international student who lived across the hall to be removed from campus. As a Jewish person with an Israeli mom, this also began to impact me. I asked housing if I could move rooms and provided them with pictures of the white board messages. Housing took about a month to find me new housing, during which I simply did not feel safe to be in my room. This impacted how I felt on campus, and, in turn, my academic performance. 

When I moved rooms, things started to get better. I joined Alpha Epsilon Phi, the Jewish sorority on campus, and went to all the Hillel events. Still, I remember feeling really anxious returning to campus for my second semester. However, I served as an engagement intern, which allowed me to meet with other Jewish students on campus, which made me feel more connected to the Jewish community in Boston. 

Also in October, my mom was diagnosed with terminal leukemia, adding to the struggles I had as an out-of-state student who had moved across the country to attend Emerson. 

As the war progressed, students got angrier, which I understand. I tried to educate myself as much as possible, reading books and listening to firsthand experiences of both Israelis and Palestinians. I put in the effort to be as well-read and well-spoken on the topic as possible. I had some friends who I felt were empathetic and compassionate, but people’s ignorance and choice to generalize that all Israelis are bad people or contributing to committing genocide and other narratives felt ostracizing. 

At the end of April, the Students for Justice in Palestine student group created an encampment near Emerson’s campus. I had friends in the SJP, but my ex-roommate contributed heavily to creating the encampment, so I started to avoid that area. It was difficult because it was near the entrance to the dining hall and some of my classrooms. Generally, everyone else there was respectful of the space and wanted to create an environment to protest. Even some of the professors held classes in the encampment. Other than feeling uncomfortable around my roommate, I had no issue with the encampment. 

However, a week before finals, protesters started chanting until two in the morning. It interfered with many students’ ability to sleep and get things done. The space where the encampment was located was city property, so the mayor asked them to move. When they didn’t, both Boston police and state troopers raided the encampment violently, arresting over 120 community members and injuring some of them in the process. This was truly my last straw at Emerson. I felt unsafe both because of my former roommate and because of the police presence on and around campus. The aftermath of the arrests shook up everyone in the community, and I am guessing there will be more students transferring out this semester and next semester. I am sad that I felt I had to transfer because I truly wanted Emerson to be a positive and fun college experience. 

“I am still learning and figuring out how my Jewish and Israeli identity fit with my passion for social justice and my belief in everyone’s right to a safe and peaceful home.”

I am feeling better about attending Oregon State University in the fall and feeling hopeful about the attitude towards the Jewish community on campus. I have thought a lot about my identity, and I would say I am not sure how I currently identify with regard to Zionism. Israel has always been important to my identity and my family history. 

I also see how much pain and suffering Israel’s existence has caused Palestinians, and I am not sure how to begin to repair that relationship, or if there is a possibility of coexistence. I am still learning and figuring out how my Jewish and Israeli identity fit with my passion for social justice and my belief in everyone’s right to a safe and peaceful home. I had friends in Israel who experienced sexual assault on October 7, and I feel like my job as a friend is to first and foremost be there for my friends and believe them. I feel like everyone seems to have different definitions and ideas about Zionism and that makes it hard for me to know if I fully identify with that term. 

If I had a message for protestors on campus, I would say that your passion and empathy are wonderful qualities—and to also be listening to your Jewish friends to see if you can learn anything from us. Do not assume that your Jewish friends or community members support or contribute to violence, because so many of us support coexistence and have called for a cease-fire. 

We also have families and friends whose lives have been threatened, and so many of us are unsure of how to create peace and safety for both Palestinians and Israelis in the Middle East. I think it’s significant for people to know that unity is important. Ostracizing Jewish students is not going to have an impact on the decisions that are made by Israeli government officials. Antisemitism and Islamophobia are both completely inappropriate responses to what has been going on. 

 

 

“We’re Jews; we’re strong, and we’re going to get through this.”

 

Aidan Cullers, George Washington University

Junior, political science and economics major

My campus experience last year included good times and bad times. We have a strong Jewish community on our campus that was able to come together after October 7. I had a lot of professors who were sympathetic, and the administration did a good job reaching out to Jewish students. I remember the president of the Interfraternity Council checking in to see how we were all doing. He wasn’t Jewish and went out of his way to ask, which I really appreciated. 

“What they saw in a TikTok or on Instagram, which has brought them out to protest, may not be the whole story.”

Thinking about what happened toward the end of the semester, when there were large protests and demonstrations, it was upsetting because I think a lot of the people who were participating were very ill-informed. Many of them were unwilling to listen to other perspectives. People have the right to demonstrate and protest, but people should also be willing to hear other viewpoints and understand that what they saw in a TikTok or on Instagram, which has brought them out to protest, may not be the whole story. 

There was no material change that came out of the protests. And people were saying the demonstrations weren’t explicitly antisemitic and that they were just in opposition to Israel. But we’re in Washington, DC; the Israeli embassy is in the city. Why camp out and cause this big disruption on our campus when you could have gone to the Israeli embassy to protest? Why target Jewish students on campus if it was solely out of opposition to the policy of the Israeli government?

Protestors need to open up a little bit more; being closed minded isn’t going to move the needle. The only way that we can reach a solution and have peace in the Middle East is for people to come together and make a connection. We started to see it between Israel and the United Arab Emirates with the Abraham Accords. That was a great example of the cross-cultural exchange that needs to happen to make peace. Here at home, we need to be able to look at each other, not as enemies, not as people who are committing genocide against each other. 

I’m optimistic, but I’m also a little hesitant about starting school in the fall. It’s a new year, and I think there is always an opportunity to do good and for some people to come around to realizing that supporting a terrorist organization is not the best thing in the world. I think when you’re optimistic, you have agency. We can do things that will make change, that will drive things for the better on our campus. I’m hoping that the semester will be calm and that the university will continue to support us the way they have been. 

The biggest thing I want people to know is that Jewish students on campus are strong, and we’re fighting back. We want and need support, but we’re still living our lives. We’re still having fun. My goal is to have a joyful year and to enjoy my college experience. We’re dealing with a lot of difficult things: antisemitism, campus protests and other disruptive issues. People are scared. People are being threatened. But at the same time, we’re Jews; we’re strong, and we’re going to get through this. 

 

“Everyone has a right to protest, and that’s fair, but it makes for a strained campus environment.”

 

Emma Schwarz, Vanderbilt University

Sophomore, human organizational development and English major

As a whole, last year was a really good year. I found a good group of friends and got involved in a lot of things on campus. Whether I experienced antisemitism depends on how you define antisemitism. I wouldn’t say that I was seeing anyone on campus actually target Jews. It was more of an anti-Zionist feeling. As a Zionist, it definitely felt targeted but in a more subtle way than I saw on other campuses. At Vanderbilt, it wasn’t like at Columbia where they were chanting “Death to Zionists!” Here, it’s more of a “Zionists don’t respect human rights” dialog. It’s also slightly more difficult because it’s harder to combat and report. I can’t say they’re targeting me just because they’re protesting. Everyone has a right to protest, and that’s fair, but it makes for a strained campus environment. 

Depending on where I was on campus, I have felt uncomfortable. There was an encampment at one of the halls and most of my friends wouldn’t walk past it. They would take the long way because they didn’t want to see it. Some of my other friends took a different approach and walked past it because they wanted to show they aren’t afraid of them. Either way, it was a discussion. It factored into our daily lives. 

“Whether I experienced antisemitism depends on how you define antisemitism.”

I personally was worried about walking past the encampment because some of these protests got out of hand when they broke into the chancellor’s office and allegedly attacked a security guard. 

In terms of academics, the administration takes a very strong neutrality stance, where they don’t allow for extremes on either side. I think if people started to cause a commotion in class, the administration would step in and stop it. From what I’ve seen, most of the Vanderbilt students care about their academics. Even the ones who are extremely pro-Palestine and spend all day at the encampments aren’t willing to go into classes and disrupt them. I’m not sure how that’s going to change. 

I’m very lucky to have a strong support system. I’m very involved in the Jewish community here. I’m on the Chabad executive board, I’m in Hillel and most of my friends are Jewish. At times, it feels like I’m in a more pro-Israel environment than I was in high school, where I wasn’t friends with any Jews. But there is that undercurrent, and when I go outside of my little Jewish bubble, I feel it. 

This year, I am a little nervous about our student government. The candidates who won president and vice president don’t lean pro-Israel. The vice president holds leadership in Jewish Voice for Peace at Vanderbilt. When it’s a Jewish person who isn’t pro-Israel, it makes it easier for people to say they’re not being antisemitic,  that they’re only anti-Israel.

Vanderbilt student government already shut down the BDS movement here, so I’m hoping there aren’t many avenues they can take with that. There are certain things that have already happened. For instance, Students Support Israel wasn’t allowed into the multicultural group, but JVP was, which is a complete double standard and it’s very reflective of the student administration. 

With the dissolution of the encampment over the summer, I’m hoping this upcoming semester will be a little bit calmer. If I had a message for pro-Palestinian protesters, I’d say that I wish we could have open conversations without it becoming targeting each other’s morality. When I’ve tried to argue with a pro-Palestine supporter, it usually becomes an attack on me as a person and my morals. “You don’t care about human rights,” they say. If they let us actually talk, they would see that we do care. Everyone who is involved in this cares a lot about human rights.

 

 “I definitely am not one to say that Zionism and Judaism are very different.”

 

 

Zane Borenstein, University of Florida

Senior, behavioral and cognitive neuroscience major

Honestly, I didn’t really feel too much of the antisemitism effect at the University of Florida; the school largely seems to be in favor of Israel. There were definitely some protesters but nothing crazy. I feel safe at UF. I’m sure if I went to a different school, like an Ivy league, I probably wouldn’t feel as safe. I attended a Jewish high school in New York, and some of my friends who go to the University of Pennsylvania or Columbia are dreading going back to school, because the administration has been so unwilling to do anything about the pro-Hamas protesters. 

I am a huge Zionist. I really like this term. I definitely am not one to say that Zionism and Judaism are very different; I feel like Judaism and Zionism are inseparable. I think that the term is being used in a derogatory way when people say “Oh, don’t talk to him because he’s a Zionist.” I don’t take it as an insult. I take it as a compliment.

So far, the UF administration has not sent a message out about protests in the new semester, which I’m happy about. because if you’re bringing attention to it, then it can spark more of it.

 

Jordan Katz, Queens College       

Junior, anthropology major

Last semester there was an event hosted by Rabbi Schneir of CUNY’s Jewish Advisory Panel and Imam Ali of the Jamaica Muslim Center that invited students from both sides to try to have a civil conversation. Unfortunately, it was anything but that. It became a contest of who could shout their opinions the loudest, with a Muslim student even spitting at the imam. 

“Being an open supporter of Israel makes it much more difficult to be in college compared to someone supporting Palestine.”

I’ve had a couple of students say casual antisemitic things to me but I pretty much ignore it. Aside from that, the protests are just a waste of time and I’ve pretty much avoided everything that has to do with the conflict. I’m more anxious about just trying to have a normal college experience that doesn’t get me thrown in the middle of a never-ending war. I just want to go back to school and I’m hoping that people will be respectful of others’ beliefs even if they may disagree with them. There’s more to the world than a conflict happening 5,000 miles away. 

I think also being an open supporter of Israel makes it much more difficult to be in college compared to someone supporting Palestine; I’ve seen on multiple occasions someone saying that there’s a fundraiser or something of the sort for Palestine, which is usually met with support, whereas with Israel the reaction is not the same.

 

Top image: Jewish students from universities across the nation (Credit: Eitan Zomberg, Brooke Bass, Shira Schon, Aidan Cullers, Emma Schwartz, Zane Borenstein and Abbad Diraneyya)