Almost three in four Jewish students surveyed in the US 'exposed to anti-Semitism'

Students cited examples ranging from anti-Semitic vandalism on campuses to threats of violence and assault
CUNY Students Hold Rally In Support Of Palestine
Pro-Israel protesters in New York
Getty Images
Jordan King29 November 2023

Nearly three in four Jewish university students in the US said they have experienced or witnessed anti-Semitism during the current school year.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) revealed these results on Wednesday, after conducting a survery of more than 3,000 American university students, of which 527 were Jewish, from 689 campuses nationwide

Some 73 per cent of more than 500 Jewish university students questioned said they were exposed to anti-Semitism since the 2023-2024 school year started, according to the ADL, which fights anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination.

The survey also showed that the percentage of Jewish students who said they feel comfortable with others on campus knowing they are Jewish dropped to 38.6 per cent since October 7 - this figure was 63.7 per cent before that date.

Those who responded cited incidents which ranged from anti-Semitic vandalism on campuses to threats of violence and assault.

Last month the ADL reported that anti-Semitic incidents in the US rose by about 400 per cent in the first two weeks after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostage.

Another anti-discrimination group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, had said that complaints of incidents motivated by Islamophobia and bias against Palestinians and Arabs had almost tripled last year's average in the first two weeks after the war began.

The US Justice Department has said it is monitoring rising threats against the Jewish and Muslim communities - and President Joe Biden has condemned antisemitism and Islamophobia.

The survey for Wednesday's data was conducted in two waves, one from July 26 to August 30, and then from November 6 to November 10.

It comes amid rising tensions at some US university campuses over the Israel-Hamas war and a proliferation of protests in support of either Israel or the Palestinians.

After weeks of bombardment from Israel following the October 7 attack, much of the northern part of Hamas-ruled Gaza has been reduced to rubble with more than 15,000 people dead, according to health officials there.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in