The Berlin office of the American Jewish Committee together with the Jewish Student Union of Germany released an alarming report titled “Anti-Semitism at German universities” highlighting a surge in antisemitism on German college campuses since October 7th, the Jerusalem Post reported.
By Rachel Avraham
Lahav Shapira was beaten on a Berlin street in early February 2024 in an antisemitic attack, DW reported. According to the report, the Jewish student had expressed his opinion at his university on the Middle East conflict. DW added that the trial of the alleged perpetrator, a 23-year-old former fellow student of the victim, is due to begin at Tiergarten District Court on April 8.
Following this grave anti-Semitic attack, the Berlin office of the American Jewish Committee together with the Jewish Student Union of Germany released an alarming report titled “Antisemitism at German universities” highlighting a surge in antisemitism on German college campuses since October 7th, the Jerusalem Post reported. According to a recent tweet on X, the American Jewish Committee proclaimed: “The report reveals that since October 7, 2023, Jewish students have not felt safe on campuses across Germany, with antisemitism becoming a troubling status quo at many institutions.”
They added that in the report, the American Jewish Committee and Jewish Student Union of Germany “call for clear sanctions for antisemitic incidents and emphasize the need for educational and preventive measures to ensure that Jewish students can learn and live without fear of discrimination and attacks.”
Outgoing JSUD president Hanna Veiler, 27, spoke of a “tsunami of antisemitism” in the university environment, outlining a chronology of incidents including the brutal attack on Shapira, along with numerous university occupations and “so-called pro-Palestinian protest camps” where people have called for Israel to be wiped off the map, DW added.
The number of antisemitic incidents involving German universities rose from 16 in 2021 and 23 in 2022, to 151 in 2023, DW added. Jewish students have had to become experts on antisemitism at universities over the past 17 months,” Veiler told DW. According to the report, for some, the fear of entering university buildings and feeling abandoned has impacted the course of their studies, and possibly their financial support as students.
“Since October 7, many universities have ceased to be safe places for Jewish students. They stay away from campus out of fear, hide their Jewish identity, or are afraid to express their opinions due to the massive anti-Israel and antisemitic agitation on campus. In this report, we have compiled our experiences from the past year,” Veiler told the Jerusalem Post.
“Although many universities have now recognized the problem, and the German Rectors’ Conference has also taken action, this is still not enough in many places,” she said to the Jerusalem Post. “Our report shows that some universities still lack effective prevention and intervention structures, which is why antisemitic incidents are often not adequately responded to. Our report explicitly calls on those responsible at universities and in politics to take measures to ensure that universities are safe places for everyone again.”
Dr. Remko Leemhuis, director of AJC Berlin, added in the Jerusalem Post, “The antisemitism we are currently experiencing at our universities is primarily a threat to Jews in Germany. However, it also jeopardizes the university as a space for free expression and the development of knowledge. It is all the more dismaying that Jewish students often receive little or no support even from university administrations, and that to this day, antisemitic hostility and attacks are relativized or even negated.”
Leemhuis continued, “Likewise, to this day, there is still not enough action taken against antisemitic actions such as lecture hall occupations, and appropriate sanctions, such as police reports or bans from the premises, are not enforced. This situation report is not only directed at university administrations and those responsible in politics, but is also a call to non-Jewish students and university members to no longer turn a blind eye to antisemitism, but to actively oppose it.”
