Alums for Campus Fairness

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Alums for Campus Fairness
Alums for Campus Fairness logo.png
Type Nonprofit
Area served
United States
Website campusfairness.org

Alums for Campus Fairness (ACF) is an American nonprofit organization that utilizes alumni networks to combat anti-Zionism at American universities. ACF has more than 40 college and university chapters and some 10,000 members engaging their alma maters. Vassar College alumni founded ACF in 2014 in response to the rise of antisemitism, demonization of Israel, and activism against Israeli human rights violations on American college campuses. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Reports

In October 2019 ACF released a report on antisemitism on the campus of Columbia University and the affiliated Barnard College detailing "harassment" of Jewish students and anti-Semitic statements by members of the faculty. [4] [6]

Demands

The group has called for Columbia University literature professor Hamid Dabashi to be suspended for anti-Zionist social media posts. [7] [8]

ACF has called on Oberlin College to address the antisemitic hate-speech directed to Jewish students. [1] [9] [10]

Related Research Articles

Antisemitism is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.

New antisemitism is the idea that a new form of antisemitism has developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, tending to manifest itself as opposition to Zionism and criticism of the Israeli government. The concept is included in some definitions of antisemitism, such as the Working Definition of Antisemitism and the 3D test of antisemitism.

Gilad Atzmon British jazz saxophonist, political activist, and writer (born 1963)

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Self-hating Jew Pejorative term used for a Jew who holds antisemitic views

Self-hating Jew or self-loathing Jew, both associated with auto-antisemitism, is a term which is used to describe Jews whose views are perceived as antisemitic. The concept gained widespread currency after Theodor Lessing's 1930 book Der jüdische Selbsthaß, which sought to explain a perceived inclination among Jewish intellectuals, toward inciting antisemitism, by stating their views about Judaism. The term is said to have become "something of a key term of opprobrium in and beyond Cold War-era debates about Zionism".

Antisemitism in universities has taken place in many countries at various times. Antisemitism has been manifested in various policies and practices, such as restricting the admission of Jewish students by a Jewish quota, or ostracism, intimidation or violence against Jewish students, as well as in the hiring, retention and treatment of Jewish staff. In some instances, universities have supported antisemitic government or social policies and condoned the development of antisemitic cultures on campus. In many jurisdictions, especially since World War II, discriminatory practices, including within the context of a university, are in breach of anti-discrimination laws, though antisemitic cultural values still persists on many campuses.

History of antisemitism in the United States

There have been different opinions among historians with regard to the extent of antisemitism in America's past and how American antisemitism contrasted with its European counterpart. Earlier students of American Jewish life minimized the presence of antisemitism in the United States, which they considered a late and alien phenomenon that arose on the American scene in the late 19th century. More recently however, scholars have asserted that no period in American Jewish history was free of antisemitism. The debate about the significance of antisemitism during different periods of American history has continued to the present day.

Antisemitism in the United States Hatred towards the Jewish people within the US

Antisemitism in the United States has existed for centuries. In the United States, most Jewish community relations agencies draw distinctions between antisemitism, which is measured in terms of attitudes and behaviors, and the security and status of American Jews, which are both measured by the occurrence of specific incidents. FBI data shows that in every year since 1991, Jews were the most frequent victims of religiously motivated hate crimes, according to a report which was published by the Anti-Defamation League in 2019. Evidence suggests that the true number of hate crimes against Jews is underreported, as is the case for many other targeted groups.

Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. The term is broadly defined in the modern era as opposition to the State of Israel or, prior to 1948, the Jewish community in the Land of Israel, as well as to the political movement of Jews to self-determination.

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Criticism of the Israeli government Ongoing disapproval towards the Israeli government

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The Working Definition of Antisemitism is a non-legally binding statement on what antisemitism is which was adopted by the IHRA Plenary in Bucharest, Romania, on 26 May 2016. The statement reads:

Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

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References

  1. 1 2 Farkas, Karen (10 April 2018). "Oberlin College alumni group claims college is unwelcoming to Jewish students". The Plain Dealer . Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  2. Prince, Cathryn (11 July 2018). "To pressure colleges into combating anti-Semitism, alumni become activists". Times of Israel. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  3. "Alums for Campus Fairness Bringing decency back to colleges when it comes to Israel". Jerusalem Post. 22 March 2019.
  4. 1 2 Jaffee-Hoffman, Mayaan (25 October 2019). "Columbia University, Barnard are 'a hotbed for hate' - report Alums for Campus Fairness found more than 100 anti-Israel, antisemitic incidents on these campuses since 2016". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  5. "Alumni, Act Now to Purge Oberlin and Other Colleges of anti-Semitism". Haaretz. 4 March 2016.
  6. Kaplan, Talia (25 October 2019). "Columbia University and Barnard College 'hotbed for hate,' report documenting 'systemic anti-Antisemitism' at the schools says". Fox News. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  7. "Columbia University alums call for professor to be suspended over anti-Zionist Facebook posts". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 6 June 2018.
  8. "Columbia Professor Under Fire for Referring to Zionists As 'Hyenas'". Jewish Journal. 31 May 2018.
  9. "Former Students, Faculty Members Call on Oberlin to End "Concerted Hostility Toward Israel"". The Tower Magazine. 30 March 2018.
  10. Koehn, Amanda (5 April 2018). "Alumni: Oberlin hostile toward Israel, Jews". Cleveland Jewish News.