Jewish donors and heads of Jewish communities in the diaspora should stop funding and supporting academic institutions which promote hate against Jews, according to a letter written by World Zionist Organization (WZO) chairman Yaakov Hagoel on Wednesday.
The letter, obtained by The Jerusalem Post, was addressed to the heads of Jewish communities, donors, and heads of Jewish Federations. In the appeal, Hagoel issued an urgent request for support in the face of rising antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiments on university campuses worldwide.
“I therefore call on you, the donors to the universities and academic institutions that promote hatred of Jews on their territory, to immediately halt all your donations to these institutions,” Hagoel urged.
“Since October 7th, 2023, the Jewish world was shaken by a wave of hatred and violence unprecedented since the Holocaust,” Hagoel stated in his letter.
“It was unfathomable to have suffered an attack the likes of which had not occurred since the Holocaust. Hearing widespread calls for our people’s annihilation was devastating, heartbreaking, and sobering,” he added.
Universities allowing for student bodies to call for destruction of Jewish people
Hagoel described the harrowing experience of hearing widespread calls for the annihilation of the Jewish people and relentless attacks on Israel, which was supposed to be a safe haven for Jews.
Hagoel emphasized that many in the Western world may have struggled to grasp the depth of the danger facing the Jewish community. “In this war, the moral lines were crossed, and the struggle then was very clear. It was a battle between good and evil, between light and darkness, between love of life and glorification of death, between religious extremism and tolerance, between barbarism and civilization,” he stated.
“One particularly alarming aspect highlighted in the letter was the enormous support for Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist organization, on university campuses across the United States and globally,” Hagoel noted. “Thousands of students and even some professors openly supported Hamas and incited violence against Jews. Shockingly, signs calling for the murder of Jews were displayed on campuses, and Jewish students were facing harassment and attacks,” he added.
Hagoel also called on academic administrations, professors, and faculty members to stand firmly against incitement and antisemitism. “We, the Jewish people, continued to stand strong and united in the fight for our continued existence and the struggle against Antisemitism,” he affirmed.
Antisemitism on university campuses has surged since the outbreak of Operation Swords of Iron. New York University (NYU) was sued on Tuesday by three Jewish students who accused the school of creating a hostile environment in which Jewish students are subjected to pervasive antisemitic hatred, discrimination, harassment and intimidation.Bella Ingber, Sabrina Maslavi and Saul Tawil said in their complaint filed in Manhattan federal court that NYU has refused to enforce its own policies against bigotry, including by allowing chants such as “gas the Jews” and “Hitler was right.”
Other universities saw racist threats by faculty or swastikas spray painted on Jewish affiliated institutions on campus.
REUTERS contributed to this report.