/
Faculty activism's to blame

Faculty activism's to blame


Faculty activism's to blame

A researcher isn't surprised that anti-Zionist advocacy and activism have skyrocketed on California campuses since the Hamas massacre of hundreds of Israeli men, women, and children on October 7th.

A recent report, released by the AMCHA Initiative, shows anti-Zionism on University of California (UC) campuses has grown a staggering 1,100% among faculty. Naya Lekht, a research fellow for The Institute for Global Studies of Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), says administrators play favorites.

Lekht, Naya (Club Z) Lekht

"In terms of … to what extent did they stand with the victims, 100% for the black students, 100% for the Asian students, 16% for the Jewish students," she relays. "You must scratch your head and say, 'What's going on here?'"

Lekht says the report also shows administrators shun statements in support of Israel and Jewish students.

"They offer resources for these black students; they do the same thing with covering anti-Asian sentiments," she notes. "But when it comes to antisemitism, there's a dearth in the amount of honest statements."

Previous AMCHA research had suggested that anti-Zionist faculty play a pivotal role in fomenting the anti-Israel sentiment that fuels campus antisemitism and hostility towards supporters of the Jewish state. The current study found that incidents like lectures, statements, and rallies involving anti-Zionist advocacy and activism carried out by UC faculty, often in their official UC capacities, increased from 8 to 94.

UC's 10 campuses are clearly not enforcing their policies prohibiting faculty from engaging in political indoctrination, and the chairwoman of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce has sent a letter to UC Berkeley and UC leadership announcing her committee's investigation into Berkeley's failure to protect Jewish students.