New report highlights rise in anti-Semitic violence linked to Faculty for Justice in Palestine groups
A report by the AMCHA Initiative reveals that universities with Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP) groups are more likely to witness anti-Semitic incidents, including physical assaults and death threats.
The report urges university administrations and policymakers to intervene to prevent the escalation of violence and the targeting of Jewish students and faculty.
A recent report found that universities with a Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP) group are more likely to experience anti-Semitic incidents, including violence perpetrated against Jewish students.
The 32-page report was released by the AMCHA Initiative, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to preventing anti-Semitism at colleges and universities.
“This report demonstrates that FJP groups are not only influencing student-led antisemitic activism but are also spearheading the promotion of academic boycotts that target Jewish students, faculty, and pro-Israel organizations for harm,” the report states.
“More disturbingly, the presence of FJP chapters correlates strongly with the rise of violent antisemitic behavior on campuses, including physical assaults and death threats,” the report continued. “Unless university administrations and policymakers take immediate and decisive action, the violence and antisemitic environment fostered by these faculty groups will continue to escalate, endangering the safety of Jewish students and faculty nationwide.”
Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, AMCHA director and a researcher for the report, described the impact of the report and urged intervention from university administrations.
“The correlation between these faculty groups and violent antisemitic acts cannot be ignored,” Rossman-Benjamin stated. “Without immediate intervention from university administrations and policymakers, the situation will only worsen, leaving Jewish students and faculty vulnerable to escalating violence.”
Faculty for Justice in Palestine groups have formed at universities nationwide, including chapters at Rutgers University, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, and Princeton University.
“We, Faculty for Justice in Palestine at Princeton University, declare our solidarity and absolute political support for the cause of Palestinian liberation,” said Princeton’s chapter in an open letter. “We oppose all forms of colonialism, racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and apartheid. We stand against white supremacy in the United States and against Jewish supremacy in the land of Palestine/Israel.”
More than 60 members of the Harvard University faculty created their own chapter earlier this year, in opposition to Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza.
“The US government, media, and other institutions of knowledge production have long provided financial, military, moral, and political cover for the Israeli occupation and its colonial, racial violence,” said Harvard University’s FJP group in a statement of its own.
Campus Reform has contacted the Faculty for Justice in Palestine Network for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
