Non-Jewish students must fight anti-Israel initiatives on college campuses

In the months since the war between Israel and Hamas began, American college campuses have been rocked by anti-Israel, and, far too often, blatantly antisemitic incidents.  

Many of these have been driven by the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement, which describes itself as “a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice, and equality” and advocates for companies, organizations, and individuals to divest and economically boycott Israel. 

BDS has also long been condemned for what many consider its role in fomenting antisemitism and anti-Jewish sentiment, particularly on college campuses, an issue which has received increased attention since Hamas’s brutal Oct. 7 attack, in which more than 1,200 Israeli civilians were killed and some 250 taken hostage, which sparked the current war in Gaza and a surge in anti-Israel and antisemitic demonstrations throughout the country.  

However, new polling by Schoen Cooperman Research, conducted on behalf of Israel on Campus Coalition, shines a troubling light on the danger Jewish college students now feel because of BDS and similar anti-Israel movements.  

Further, the data reveals the necessity — and likely success — of a campaign that would mobilize Jewish students against the spread of BDS on campus as well as work to inform the broader student body about the dangers posed by this nefarious movement.  

Alarmingly, the survey revealed that Jewish students on college campuses feel under attack solely because they are Jewish. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of Jewish college students say that as Jews, they are less safe on campus than they were before the war in Gaza began.  

That number mirrors a report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Hillel International last November, which found 73 percent of Jewish college students reported experiencing or witnessing antisemitism on campus. 

In that same vein, the SCR-ICC survey found that Jewish college students overwhelmingly (77 percent) believe that the BDS movement is antisemitic itself or has antisemitic supporters, while two-thirds (65 percent) say BDS poses a threat to Jewish students.  

To that end, while Jewish college students largely feel under siege on campus, they also feel it is incredibly important to rebut BDS and its on-campus efforts, and would likely be active participants in that fight. 

More than six in 10 (62 percent) Jewish college students say it is important to use their voice to stand against BDS, while a majority (52 percent) say it is “critical” that Jewish students and organizations fight back against the BDS movement, with just one-quarter believing that the negative attention engendered by combatting BDS does more harm than good.  

While these findings indicate a clear failure of college administrators to protect their Jewish students, they also reveal something about the wider population of college students: Among all college students — including non-Jewish students — there is a significant lack of awareness of the BDS movement. 

Indeed, just 27 percent of college students overall say they know “a lot” or “some” information about the movement — and a majority (56 percent) are unsure where they stand on it.  

Yet once college students were informed about the BDS movement and its efforts to put economic pressure on Israel by imploring companies and organizations to divest from the country, a plurality (43 percent) of college students believe BDS is either antisemitic itself or has antisemitic supporters.  

Similarly, after learning about BDS, just 29 percent of college students say BDS does not pose a threat to Jewish students.  

Put another way, once college students learn about the BDS movement, a sizable bloc of college students recognize the antisemitism at its core, and the risks Jewish students are facing from the uncontrolled spread of BDS and pro-BDS resolutions on campus.  

Taken together, these findings are nothing short of startling. They reveal not only the alarming situation facing Jewish students on American college campuses, but also the clear information gap vis-à-vis the BDS movement on campus, and the need to inform students about BDS and its antisemitic efforts to prevent further growth of these movements.  

Outside reports reinforce the need for a campaign that focuses on the youngest adults if our country is to be serious about fighting antisemitism. Younger generations are increasingly likely to believe antisemitic tropes compared to older Americans, a reversal of the trend that had existed since the second half of the 20th century.  

Millennial and Gen Z Americans, the latter of which overlaps with college students, are the most likely to hold antisemitic beliefs, with millennials agreeing with an average of 5.4 antisemitic tropes — out of 14 — followed by Gen Z at 5, and ahead of Gen X (4.2) and Baby Boomers (3.1), according to the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) 2024 “Antisemitic Attitudes in America” report. 

A key conclusion that can be drawn from the SCR-ICC’s survey is, should a campaign like the one called for here come to fruition, it would find a base of Jewish students very willing to join. Slightly more than 8 in 10 (81 percent) Jewish college students feel it is important to use their voices to stand with the Jewish community on campus.  

Ultimately, the eruption of antisemitism couched as anti-Israel activism on America’s college campuses must be fought. Groups like BDS may think they are masking the world’s oldest hatred in the “socially acceptable” language of opposition to Israel, but the data is clear: Jewish students no longer feel safe on campus, and if their non-Jewish peers realized what BDS truly stood for, the BDS movement and other similarly sinister movements would not find such a receptive audience.  

An organized campaign must focus on uniting and mobilizing Jewish students on campuses across the country and take the extra step of reaching out to non-Jewish students. It is clear that the non-Jewish majority would also recognize the dangers of BDS, provided that the campaigns do the essential job of filling the — very evident — information gap. 

Douglas E. Schoen and Carly Cooperman are pollsters and partners with the public opinion company Schoen Cooperman Research based in New York. They are co-authors of the book, “America: Unite or Die.”