When Liz Scoggin’s Jewish friends apply to colleges this year, they might skip the University of Chicago. Scoggin, a U. of Chicago junior, says her friends are afraid to be on a campus that seems to be a breeding ground for anti-Semitism.

“It has gotten to the point that Jewish friends of mine who are brilliant [will say], ‘I’ve read about your campus, and I’m not comfortable applying,’” she says.

In January, a community member showed up to a Gaza panel at U. of Chicago with a flag decorated with a Star of David, crosses and a swastika. Scoggin says that even though the community member was allowed to stay at the event after he agreed to put his poster down, he stood outside the student center afterwards with the swastika shouting anti-Semitic comments and handing out flyers.

“I can only imagine what they said,” Scoggin says.

After the incident, Scoggin’s pro-Israel group asked the University for a forum to discuss the meaning of free speech at a private institution. Although the administration met with the students, Scoggin says not much has come of those meetings.

The University of Chicago isn’t the only campus experiencing anti-Semitic activity. When Bernie Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme unraveled and Israeli military action in Gaza occurred within weeks of each other last December, some students and experts reported increased anti-Semitic activity.

“When the scandal broke, it was almost as if we had handed [anti-Semitic people] a Christmas present,” says Lonnie Nasatir, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Greater Chicago/Upper Midwest region. “There is no question that they viewed this information to reaffirm [stereotypes] about Jews.”
Nasatir says the anti-Semitism also may have come from the recession.

“If you look at the history of anti-Semitism, there has always been kind of an uptick when societies are in economic peril,” Nasatir says.

He also says there was a similar increase in anti-Semitism on various message boards, blogs and extremist websites when Jewish former lobbyist Jack Abramoff was charged with fraud, tax evasion and other corrupt activities. According to Nasatir, the sentiment was expressed more online than it was through actual incidents.

“I think America is different now than it was 100 years ago, but still, we have to be cognizant of the fact that people take out their frustrations on Jews,” says Nasatir.
He calls the tension toward Jews a “springboard” for both anti-Israel and anti-Semitic feelings.

According to Melissa Solin, pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli rhetoric echoes some campuses on the West Coast as well. Solin, a junior at the University of California, Berkeley and co-chair of the Israel Action Committee, says she has experienced anti-Israeli activism on campus with anti-Semitic undertones.

“Students for Justice in Palestine started at UC Berkeley, so they are very good at what they do,” says Solin about the national pro-Palestinian group with chapters on many college campuses. In January, the group placed fake coffins across campus, representing civilians who died in the Gaza attacks.

“It’s demonizing Israel in a way that’s completely disproportionate,” says Solin, a San Jose, Calif. native. Many of the pro-Palestinian groups call Israel a human rights abuser, when it is one of the freest countries in the Middle East, she adds.

“People are just misrepresenting the events to make Israel look worse,” Solin says.

While there may not be an easy solution to anti-Semitism on college campuses, Nasatir thinks strong Hillel and Chabad programs can help students deal with any hatred they might face.

“Hillel has to be there for students,” Nasatir says, “I see Hillel as an advocate for these students, making sure that the administration is doing what they’re supposed to do and speaking out against hate crimes.”

To further ensure that college students and campuses are ready to face all forms of campus prejudice, the Anti-Defamation League produced a guide about free speech for university administrators at almost every major college in the country called Responding to Bigotry and Intergroup Strife on Campus: Guide for College and University Administrators. With sections on different types of hate crimes and how best to respond, the goal of the guide is to help university administrators make their campuses a safe environment for all students.

But for Jewish students, Nasatir says learning to handle anti-Semitism as a college student should begin in middle school with the ADL’s Confronting Anti-Semitism program.
“[This program gives students] the resources they need to deal with anti-Israeli rhetoric, making sure they have the facts that they need when they hear something that’s not accurate and they have the facts to respond appropriately,” Nasatir says. She points out that, for many students, college is the first time they will experience anti-Semitism.

“A challenge we have in the Jewish community,” Nasatir says, “is to make sure that our voices are heard and that we stand up.”

Text By: Elizabeth Weingarten