By Jonathan Greenblatt
NEW YORK — As students head back to school, they deserve to feel safe and supported on campus.
But that hasn’t been the experience for far too many Jewish students. ADL needs your immediate support to tackle this crisis, keep all students safe and fight antisemitism everywhere.
We have seen an unprecedented increase of antisemitic incidents in education spaces.
The statistics paint an alarming picture: A shocking 83% of Jewish college students have experienced or witnessed antisemitism on campus since October 7, 2023.
This includes harassment, threats, physical assaults, vandalism and the glorification of terrorism against Jews.
The impact on our young people has been devastating.
In one instance, a Jewish student was assaulted and hospitalized after he tried to share his point of view with another student. His name and face appeared on wanted posters on campus. Students called for his expulsion. He was getting death threats. And the administration wasn’t doing enough to help him feel safe.
As the student explained: “I got in touch with ADL, because I didn’t know where to turn. The support I’ve received has just been incredible.”
And it’s not just at colleges. In K-12 schools, students have faced antisemitic chants, posters and signs… curricula with an anti-Israel bias… verbal harassment… swastikas on school desks and walls… Holocaust jokes… and attempts by teachers and other students to make them feel responsible for Israel’s actions.
An eighth-grade Jewish student at a Philadelphia school was severely bullied by a fellow student yelling profanities at him and “free Palestine.” The young victim was also confronted with taunts including “Praise Hitler” and a Nazi salute. The response from the school was so inadequate that the student was forced to drop out of the district.
Donald, no student should feel threatened or intimidated at school. No parent should ever have to wonder whether it’s safe to send their kids to certain schools.
With friends like you, ADL has rolled out programs and policies to help administrators. We work with them to counter antisemitism, change perspectives and create safer, more inclusive environments. And when they don’t, we hold them accountable.
We’ve filed legal complaints against colleges and K-12 school districts for their failure to address patterns of vicious harassment and bullying, including in Philadelphia. In response to this legal pressure, the school district agreed to take concrete steps to address repeated incidents of antisemitic bullying and discrimination.
With your help, we’ll continue to flex our full legal muscle to defend students and all people who are targets of hate.
Right now students are returning to schools across the country. We need your gift today to fight antisemitism across the country and help protect students from hate.
*
Jonathan Greenblatt is the national director and chief executive officer of the Anti-Defamation League.