Study: Anti-Israel Bias on Campus Is Growing

A recently published report suggests that the anti-Israel bias is growing on college campuses around the United States.

According to a report by the AMCHA Initiative, anti-Israel sentiment is expanding on American college campuses. The report concludes that acts of harassment based on an anti-Israel sentiment have significantly increased over the past few years.

Breitbart News reported in June that Williams College was facing a federal investigation by the Department of Education over their refusal to acknowledge a pro-Israel student organization. The investigation was initiated after George Mason University Professor David Bernstein filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

Although “classical antisemitism” activity has dropped on campuses, the report claims that acts and rhetoric motivated by an anti-Israel sentiment have drastically increased.

While acts of classical antisemitism in the U.S. reached near-historic levels in 2018 and included the deadliest attack against Jews in American history, the nation’s colleges and universities revealed a somewhat different but nonetheless troubling story. According to AMCHA Initiative’s survey of antisemitic activity in 2018 on campuses across the country, harassment motivated by classical antisemitism actually decreased, and significantly so. At the same time, however, the number of Israel-related acts of harassment increased significantly.

Breitbart News reported in September 2018 that a professor at the University of Michigan refused to write a letter of recommendation to a student that was planning to study abroad in Israel.

“I am very sorry, but I only scanned your first email a couple weeks ago and missed out on a key detail,” Professor John Cheney-Lippold wrote in an email to the student. “As you may know, many university departments have pledged an academic boycott against Israel in support of Palestinians living in Palestine. This boycott includes writing letters of recommendation for students planning to study there.”

In October 2018, the University of Michigan told faculty members that it was against university policy to deny support to students based on a political disagreement.

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more campus updates.