AMCHA Initiative
The nonprofit’s research has “consistently shown a strong correlation between the presence of anti-Zionist faculty and the incidence of behavior targeting Jewish students for harm.”
The AMCHA Initiative discovered that such policies are not as robust in their protections as policies designed to protect “protected identity groups.”
AMCHA Initiative’s report shines a light on a disturbing phenomenon.
“The university needs to examine the legality of marginalizing other students, and at a bare minimum, issue a statement denouncing the targeting of Jewish students for their identity,” says Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, director of the AMCHA Initiative.
Titled “Faculty Academic Boycotters: Ground Zero for Campus Antisemitism,” it explored anti-Semitic activity at universities starting from the onset of the 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza last May through the end of the 2020-21 academic year.
“Campuses today are as politically charged and polarized as I’ve ever seen them, with zero tolerance for individuals whose identities, beliefs or opinions run afoul of dominant campus ideologies,” said Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, director of the AMCHA Initiative.
“While the list of protected groups in USC’s policy is long, Jewish students experiencing anti-Zionist harassment do not naturally fit into a group that guarantees them protection,” says a letter to the university president Carol Folt.
“Every member of the Jewish community in California and across the country should be deeply concerned about the passage of AB 101,” said AMCHA Initiative director Tammi Rossman-Benjamin.
“It’s no coincidence that anti-Israel forces focus on schools with more Jewish students to try to poison their minds about Israel,” says Hillel International president and CEO Adam Lehman. “Like the child at the seder who doesn’t even know how to ask, many of our kids are vulnerable.”
The scholarly review comes as concerns continue to mount on the development of California’s Ethnic Studies curriculum, which has been accused of containing anti-Semitic material.
“I would urge college and university stakeholders to pay special attention to the way in which schools handle the harassment of Jewish and pro-Israel students, and whether it’s consistent with how they treat all other students on campus,” Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, co-founder and director of the AMCHA Initiative, told JNS.
Schools with one or more incidents involving expression challenging the definition of anti-Semitism were more than twice as likely to host acts of Israel-related behavior targeting students for harm and the more such expression, the more Israel-related acts of harassment.
