Latest News from Campus

Two Israeli citizens, one soldier and one civilian, were arrested and briefly detained in Belgium after traveling to attend the annual Tomorrowland music festival after a complaint by the Hind Rajab Foundation. The foundation was launched in September to advocate for the arrest of Israeli soldiers when they travel abroad for “alleged war crimes.” The two Israelis have since been released, but one claims that he was beaten by the police while being held.

Yoav Segev, a Jewish Harvard student, filed a lawsuit against the school for failing to protect him after he was attacked on campus during an anti-Israel “die-in”, and later rewarding the assailants with honors. Segev had previously tried to join lawsuits against Harvard anonymously, but his information ended up being leaked, including by the student paper, the Harvard Crimson.

University of Kentucky suspended Ramsi Woodcock, a professor at the J. David Rosenberg College of Law, for creating and sharing a petition that calls for “every country in the world to make war on Israel immediately,” while advocating for the country to “submit permanently and unconditionally to the government of Palestine.” The president of the university condemned the petition and said that it does not reflect the views of the University of Kentucky.

Hillel International’s just-released 2024-2025 antisemitic incident report saw an increase in the overall number of antisemitic incidents, but a sharp decline in antisemitic vandalism, assaults, and encampments on campus. While physical antisemitic incidents declined, Jewish students faced an increase in online bullying and harassment as hateful incidents multiplied on digital and social media.

In an effort to regain the $400 million in federal funding that it lost earlier this year, Columbia University announced that it will: require its Office of Institutional Equity to use the IHRA definition of antisemitism, appoint a Title VI coordinator, mandate antisemitism training for students, staff, and faculty, and refuse to recognize or meet with the Columbia University Apartheid Divest coalition, which is banned by Instagram due to promotion of violent material. Brian Cohen, executive director of Columbia Barnard Hillel, said these steps are welcome as their implementation shows an acknowledgement of the antisemitism spike on campus.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons appeared in front of the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee in the latest hearing focused on antisemitism on college campuses. Lyons testified that UC Berkeley has “more work to do” when it comes to antisemitism, but also defended free speech on campus, saying that pro-Palestinian views are not necessarily antisemitic.