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Can College Campuses Get a Grip on Antisemitism?
(Wall Street Journal) William A. Galston - In a better world, Hamas's cold-blooded murder of six hostages in a tunnel under Rafah would deter student radicals from chanting pro-Hamas slogans. High-level task forces at Columbia and Stanford have issued detailed reports of their findings and recommendations regarding the mishandling of campus protests last academic year. What they uncovered is deeply disturbing. Large numbers of Jewish students report harassment, intimidation and even physical assault. Students wearing yarmulkes have been spat on, humiliated, and shoved up against walls. Necklaces with Jewish symbols have been ripped from their necks. Jewish students have been chased off campus by groups threatening violence, and many avoid walking alone on campus. Some have been excluded from public spaces. The Columbia task force found that "some critiques of Zionism on campus in recent months have incorporated traditional antisemitic tropes about secretive power, money, global conspiracies, bloodthirstiness, and comparisons of Zionists to Nazis or rodents." The Stanford task force concluded that "antisemitism exists today on the Stanford campus in ways that are widespread and pernicious." At both campuses, there were prominent examples of teachers abusing their authority to stigmatize and humiliate Jewish students. At both, Jewish students, faculty and staff reported that when they took their stories of misconduct on campus and in the classroom to administrators, their complaints often weren't taken seriously, and some students were advised to seek mental-health counseling instead of redress.