Amid a widespread climate of hatred towards Jews, particularly on university campuses, Alicia Verdugo—a University of California, Los Angeles student and the cultural affairs commissioner—has been accused of refusing to hire Jews by telling her staff not to hire “Zionists” and creating a blacklist, causing all Jewish applicants to be rejected. The rejected applicants made no mention of Israel or Zionism in their applications but merely hinted at their Jewish heritage or faith. In a classic case of “throw the rock, hide the hand,” antisemites have cloaked their vehement antisemitism by simply substituting “Zionist” for “Jew.”
“Lots of Zionists are applying—please do your research, and I will also share a no hire list.”
Verdugo sent the message to her staff to alert them to watch for Zionist (Jewish) applicants and adhere to her “no hire” list. Jewish student newspaper leader Bella Brannon filed a complaint with the Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC) judicial board over the discrimination. Brannon called on the board to remove Verdugo. She alleged that Verdugo violated both USAC and UC policies, as well as state and federal anti-discrimination laws, by singling out Jewish applicants during the commission’s hiring cycle.
This was not Alicia Verdugo’s first accusation of antisemitic harassment. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, previously claimed in a letter to UC leaders that Verdugo “had previously been involved in the targeted harassment of students” who disagreed with the commission’s position on the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The committee investigated the university in the spring of 2024 for its “inadequate response to antisemitism and failure to protect Jewish students.” In July of this year, a federal judge ruled that UCLA discriminated against three Jewish students when they were excluded from certain parts of campus because they refused to disavow their “religious beliefs concerning the Jewish state of Israel.”
The increasing prevalence and normalization of Zionist terminology being used to whitewash antisemitism has followed an explosion of global anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hate post-Oct. 7. In the United States, attacks targeting Jews have reached historic levels since Oct. 7, according to FBI director Christopher Wray. In Australia, antisemitic attacks are up 316% and have soared across Europe, Canada, the United Kingdom and other countries.
In the violent attacks in Amsterdam on the night of Nov. 7, Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans were targeted, hunted down and brutally assaulted because they were easily recognized as Jews. Zionism alone was clearly not a motive. The thin line between “Zionist” and “Jew” is disappearing.
Double standards and definitions
Double standards are consistently applied to Israel with demands and expectations that are not made of any other country. They are evident in the halls of the United Nations, on university campuses and in political institutions under the guise of human rights. The United Nations routinely condemns Israel for supposed rights violations. Campus groups advocate for the boycotting, divestment and sanctioning of Israel. Some far-left-wing politicians use anti-Zionist rhetoric to advance policies targeting Israel. Israel’s right to defend itself from the enemies that seek its destruction is routinely challenged—something inconceivable to question when it comes to any other country.
Human-rights activist Natan Sharansky, who spent nine years in Soviet prisons, created the 3D test of antisemitism to serve as a guide for differentiating between the legitimate criticism of Israeli policies and actual hatred for Jews. His first test was the Demonization of the Jewish state. Sharansky stated that “when Israel’s actions are blown out of all sensible proportion, when comparisons are made between Israelis and Nazis and between Palestinian refugee camps and Auschwitz; this is antisemitism, not legitimate criticism of Israel.” He defined Double standards as “criticism of Israel applied selectively; when Israel is singled out by the United Nations for human-rights abuses while the behavior of known and major abusers, such as China, Iran, Cuba and Syria is ignored; this is antisemitism.” The final element of Sharansky’s 3D test is the Delegitimization of Israel, when “Israel’s fundamental right to exist is denied.”
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism helps explain when legitimate criticism of Israel’s policies crosses the line into antisemitism or anti-Zionism. The IHRA definition incorporates Sharansky’s 3D Test by including examples illustrating double standards, delegitimization and demonization of Israel.
While no one definition is perfect or all-encompassing, IHRA has become the leading definition of antisemitism worldwide. It is widely adopted by numerous world governments, including the U.S. State Department and more than half of the American states. It has also been adopted by international organizations and educational institutions. The Executive Order on Combating Antisemitism, issued in 2019 and still in effect, makes IHRA a legally binding part of federal anti-discrimination law.
Antisemitism cannot be properly addressed if it is not properly understood, and the IHRA definition is a useful tool to recognize classic and contemporary forms of antisemitism. The definition helps governments and institutions classify and identify when antisemitism occurs so it can be properly addressed. Finally, the IHRA definition does not punish or prohibit speech; it merely helps to evaluate antisemitic conduct so that law enforcement and civil-rights enforcement agencies can choose how to address it. Having a defined measure for what constitutes antisemitism prevents the normalization of hatred and protects Jewish individuals and communities.
Repairing the campus climate
Occidental College in California is the latest institution of higher education that has agreed to take a series of steps to address and prevent anti-Zionist harassment and discrimination on campus. The college reached a sweeping settlement agreement in response to a federal Title VI complaint filed by the Anti-Defamation League and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law. Jewish students enrolled at Occidental experienced a “pervasive and hostile environment” that included severe antisemitic bullying, intimidation and physical threats in the weeks and months following the Hamas massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Among the steps being taken, the college will use IHRA when reviewing complaints of potential antisemitic harassment or discrimination; incorporate the definition into its educational materials; provide staff training about Jewish identity and antisemitic discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students with examples of anti-Zionism; and update the College’s Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation Policy.
“This agreement demonstrates Occidental College’s commitment to counter all forms of contemporary antisemitism and underscores their recognition that effectively combating antisemitism requires understanding the relationship between Jewish identity, Israel and Zionism,” said Alyza D. Lewin, president of the Brandeis Center.
“We are pleased that Occidental College has committed to meaningful steps to ensure that the civil rights of Jewish students on campus are protected and affirm that antisemitism has no place on campus,” added Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the ADL. “This outcome demonstrates how the Title VI OCR process can work to effectively protect Jewish students.”
New York University, George Mason University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and other universities have taken similar steps to address contemporary manifestations of antisemitism on campus by modifying their nondiscrimination policies and policy guidance to include examples of anti-Zionist harassment and discrimination; recognizing that “Zionist” is often used as a codeword for “Jew” to mask unlawful activity; and using the IHRA definition to evaluate discriminatory intent.
Title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin, including discrimination against Jews on the basis of their actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, in educational institutions that receive federal funding. Under the law, harassing, marginalizing, demonizing and excluding Jewish students based on the Zionist component of their Jewish identity is unlawful.
Points to consider:
1. Zionist is a code word for hatred against Jews.
When anti-Jewish bigots need a way to hide their hate in more socially acceptable ways, they often choose words or names just far enough removed to provide a cover. Post-Oct. 7 antisemitic propaganda peddles this strategy. “Zionist” is frequently used as a thinly veiled substitute for “Jew.” Most Jews define themselves as being part of a people with a shared ancestry and heritage rooted in the Land of Israel; therefore, most Jews consider their connection to Israel or “Zionism” to be an important component of Jewish identity, not a political viewpoint. Anti-Israel activists wield the word Zionist as a weapon to demonize Jews and delegitimize Israel’s existence. This linguistic sleight-of-hand allows individuals to mask their hatred of Jews. Anti-Jewish bigots don’t want to be called out for targeting Jews but believe they can get away with directing hate towards Zionism and Zionists.
2. Hatred towards Jews should receive equal outrage as when it is directed at any other group.
The American public expresses outrage if any other minority group is singled out, vilified, targeted or assaulted. But when it’s a Jew who is the target of a hate crime—when calls for death to Israel and Zionists are being chanted on the streets, and Jewish students feel terrified to walk across their own campus—all too many go quiet. Silence becomes complicity and Jews—a mere 2% of the population—must defend themselves with the support of their allies. No religious or ethnic group should be villainized and left alone to fight that battle. Friends and supporters of Jews and Israel must stand in solidarity and end the silence.
3. Israel is used as an excuse to target Jews.
The Jewish state is consistently used to justify targeting Jews and Jewish communities worldwide. Under the guise of opposing Israeli policies, hate speech often leads to anti-Israel activists engaging in antisemitic acts, increasing from vandalism to violent assaults against Jews. Recent attacks in Amsterdam highlight this disturbing trend, where hostility towards Israel was used as an excuse to harm Jews. Hatred against Jews has existed for centuries before Israel was even a state, proving that Israel is just an excuse. Masked as political expression, hateful rhetoric fuels prejudice, inciting hostility and isolating Jewish communities as targets. Antisemitism in all forms must be loudly condemned.
4. Zionism is integral to Jewish identity for most American Jews, not a political viewpoint.
More than 80% of American Jews believe that Israel is an essential or important part of what being Jewish means to them. Passover and Yom Kippur both conclude with the phrase: “Next year in Jerusalem.” Israel encompasses a deep connection to Jewish history, religion, culture and the aspiration for a homeland. Recognizing Israel’s significance as a safe haven in the aftermath of persecutions, pogroms, expulsions and the Holocaust, Zionism serves as a unifying force that binds Jewish communities across the Diaspora. It goes beyond policy debates, embodying the resilience of a people who have endured centuries of adversity. Dismissing Zionism as mere politics overlooks its profound cultural and spiritual relevance. No one would conceive of telling any other group “you can’t define yourself,” and the same stands for the Jewish people.
5. Jewish identity must be both protected and celebrated.
There is a concerted effort to erase and deny shared Jewish ethnicity, particularly on university campuses. Ideas and policies can be debated, and criticism of government policies is legitimate, but no one should be dehumanized, excluded or attacked based on their ethnic, religious or national identity. Jewish identity is highly personal and means different things to different Jews. Jewish identity spans a wide landscape covering religion, culture, ethnicity, tradition, connection to Israel and a shared almost 4,000-year history as a people. American Jews should not fear wearing a kippah (yarmulke) or a Magen David (Star of David) or be forced to decide whether they should hide their Jewish identity in public for their own safety. Every expression of Jewish identity and culture should be freely celebrated and fiercely protected.
6. To combat antisemitism, it must first be defined.
“When Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism. And that is unacceptable.” — The U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism has been adopted by more than 40 countries, high-profile universities and institutions, and is used by all U.S. executive departments and agencies that enforce Title VI civil-rights protections. The definition explains what constitutes antisemitism and why. It makes clear that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.” It is common for opponents of Zionism to say that they are merely criticizing Israeli policies when they are, in fact, expressing hatred of Jews—let alone opposed to the existence of Israel in any form. Anti-Jewish hatred has often been cloaked in anti-Zionist rhetoric, using it as a smokescreen to perpetuate harmful stereotypes, deny historical facts and delegitimize Israel’s existence.
In Memoriam
Until now, American-Israeli hostage Capt. Omer Neutra, a New York native, was believed to be a living hostage still held in Gaza. Omer, 21, was a New York Knicks fan, an athlete and a passionate Zionist who delayed beginning college at Binghamton to spend a year in Israel. He was a “lone soldier,” a title for a soldier whose parents are not in Israel, and was a tank platoon commander defending Israel on the morning of Oct. 7. Footage from that horrific day shows his tank in smoke as Hamas fighters pulled soldiers from the tank. It was believed that they were all kidnapped and taken to Gaza. With recently received intelligence, it’s now known that Omer was murdered on Oct. 7, 2023, and his dead body has been held in Gaza, where 96 hostages remain in captivity.
For 14 months, Omer’s parents have advocated for the hostages and campaigned for their release—speaking to world leaders and even addressing the Republican National Convention in July with desperate pleas to bring their son home. Only now have they received the heart-wrenching news that their son has been dead for the past 14 months. Heavy grief grips the Neutra family as they wait for Omer’s body to be retrieved from Gaza for a proper Jewish burial in Israel.