Antisemitism on College Campuses

Antisemitism on College Campuses

Recent years have seen a steady increase in antisemitism on college campuses, and increasingly, studies show it is often masked by anti-Israel activity or sentiment. Israeli politician Natan Sharansky suggests using the “Three Ds” as criteria to distinguish legitimate criticism of Israel from antisemitism masked as anti-Zionism: demonization, delegitimization, and double standards.

When Israel’s very founding is questioned, and Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state is decried, that qualifies as delegitimization—and it is antisemitic. Anti-Israel activists on campus often demand a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea,” which is the Mediterranean coast to the Jordan River. With those borders, Israel would not even exist.

The United Nations Human Rights Council is guilty of employing double standards when it comes to Israel. Instead of focusing resolutions on any number of the human rights violators in the world today, the UNHRC focuses obsessively on the world’s only Jewish state, a beacon of democracy in the Middle East.

Demonization involves attributing evil intentions to Israelis, including comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, portraying Israel as a bully, and employing classic antisemitic tropes to describe Israel. Furthermore, the apartheid allegation is demonization of Israel and absolutely false. In Israel, unlike apartheid South Africa,  all Israeli citizens regardless of race, religion or background enjoy full and equal rights.