College campuses have become known as havens for
some of the most virulent anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic material
anywhere. At a recent
"pro-Palestinian" rally
held near Rutgers University in New Jersey, speakers led a crowd in
hateful chants against Israel, and protestors physically attacked a
cameraman who attempted to interview them. Israeli Minister Natan
Sharansky, who received a pie in the face during a U.S. campus
visit last month, had the following view expressed to him by a
current Harvard University student:
[She] admitted to me
that she was afraid ― afraid to express support for Israel, afraid
to take part in pro-Israel organizations, afraid to be identified.
The mood on campus had turned so anti-Israel that she was afraid
that her open identification could cost her, damaging her grades and
her academic future...my conversations with other students at
various universities made it clear that her feelings are widespread,
that the situation on campuses in the United States and Canada is
more serious than we think. And this is truly
frightening.
The growing problem extends to ostensibly "neutral" forums:
student newspapers. On October 24, the
student paper of the
University of Florida (Gainesville) published this editorial
cartoon
for 48,000 students to view:
The
cartoonist both resuscitates the canard that the Jewish people
killed Jesus, and unfairly characterizes pro-Israel activism as
"hateful" ― while outrageously paralleling it with Nazism.
Comments to: letters@alligator.org
[See the new HonestReporting weblog ―
BackSpin ― for a follow-up on the U of F cartoonist.]
In response to the problem of biased coverage of the Mideast
conflict in campus newspapers, HonestReporting has now launched a
new affiliate: HonestReporting
for Campus. Student subscribers from campuses across
the US and Canada receive weekly updates, which include texts of
biased campus articles and the key information necessary to
intelligently refute the articles' claims.
If you know a student on a North American college campus,
encourage them to get involved! They can sign up for HonestReporting
for Campus mailings or ― better yet ― become a local campus
representative by emailing : campus@honestreporting.com.
By uniting, Jewish students will be able to lessen their fears,
and find a common voice to counter the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic
material rampant on college campuses today.
HonestReporting.com 
