Antisemitism in European academia, which has become radicalized over the last two years of war in Gaza, is going to persist for decades to come more openly and extreme, the president of the European Union of Jewish Students warned Tuesday.
The remarks come amid a burst of antisemitism across the globe following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, which triggered the two-year war in Gaza and has continued despite the ceasefire two months ago.
“The Pandora’s box of antisemitism has been opened,” Hanna Veiler, president of the Brussels-based European Union of Jewish Students, told JNS ahead of a conference on academic antisemitism at the European Parliament. “The consensus has shifted immensely and the hate has become much more open and radical than it has been for years.”
She added that European academics are no longer afraid to glorify the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, in some countries with government backing, and that amid a “tsunami of antisemitism” on the continent, it has become legitimate to target Jewish students.
“There is a general climate of intimidation against Jewish students across Europe,” Veiler said.
“Universities all across Europe cut ties with Israeli partners, Jewish scholars are under threat and students occupy university campuses to protest against Israel,” said Dutch MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen, who will co-host the Wednesday parliamentary conference “Facing the Academic Front Against Israel” due to be attended by European lawmakers, diplomats, academics and civil society leaders.
“The enormous increase in antisemitism on university campuses and throughout the academic sphere in relation to Israel clearly demonstrates how the thin line between anti-Zionism and antisemitism has disappeared,” said Leo van Doesburg, the Europe director of the Israel Allies Foundation, which is organizing the event.
He noted that more than 80 universities within the EU have partially or completely severed ties with Israeli universities or researchers.
“Universities that discriminate against Jewish and/or Israeli students and professors should have their EU funding reviewed since it violates the core principles on which the European Union was founded, he said.
The conference will call for stronger protections for Jewish students, renewed academic cooperation with Israeli institutions, and a firm European response to discriminatory boycotts that undermine fundamental democratic principles.
“For years, we have witnessed how extremist movements have exploited academic institutions to spread anti-Israel narratives and normalize antisemitism,” said Josh Reinstein, president of the Israel Allies Foundation. “Strengthening cooperation between lawmakers, faith leaders, and civil society is essential to ensuring that universities remain places of truth, freedom and education.”
