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JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.

WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

I’m heading to Israel later today, but first: University president put on leave after he agrees to academic boycott of Israel, five Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza by friendly fire, The Hague hearing case on Rafah operation, and a teacher who showed students a photo of “cute” baby Hitler is under investigation.

CONFLICT ON CAMPUS

Sara Beer, a University of Florida student and the president of the Jewish Student Union, near a pro-Palestinian protest on campus in April. (Ilene Prusher)

The University of Florida calls itself a haven for Jews. For some students, it doesn’t always feel that way.

As pro-Palestinian protests rocked elite campuses across the country, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis invited Jewish students to seek refuge in his state’s public colleges. An estimated one-fifth of the undergrads are Jewish at the University of Florida and the school’s commencement was held with little disruption.

But despite the crackdown on protests, and the official Florida welcome to Jewish students, many of them said they feel alienated on campus, and that it’s not the utopia Jewish students elsewhere may be seeking. “I didn’t really experience antisemitism until I got here,” said Gina Roginsky, an environmental science major from the New York area.

Ilene Prusher reports from Gainesville on the complexities of campus life at the university.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators face off with police as they clear an encampment Wednesday at the University of California, Irvine. (Getty)

Related…

On Tuesday, the president of Sonoma State University, a small public university in northern California, said the school would become the first in the United States to agree to an academic boycott of Israel, and that it would not engage in any collaborations with Israeli universities. On Wednesday, the president was put on administrative leave.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators at UC Berkeley shut down their weekslong encampment this week after the university agreed to support some of the students’ goals.

A masked antiwar protester showed up in the middle of the night at the home of a Jewish man who sits on the Board of Regents at the University of Michigan.

A branch of the City University of New York canceled an event organized by Hillel this week marking Israel’s Memorial Day, citing an anti-Israel protest and security concerns.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared Israelis protesting his government and the lack of a hostage deal to pro-Palestinian campus protesters.

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ISRAEL AT WAR

Sapir Cohen, who was released in November after being held hostage by Hamas, spoke Wednesday at an event for the Jewish community in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Getty)

Two IDF tanks mistakenly fired on their own troops in Gaza, killing five soldiers and injuring seven.

A low-level Jewish staffer resigned from the Biden administration, saying she could no longer work for the administration because of President Biden’s continued support of Israel’s war in Gaza.

The International Court of Justice opened its two-day hearings at The Hague on Israel’s Rafah military operation. Israel is set to present its case, including how it is relocating Palestinians to safety, on Friday.

Lizzo, the Grammy-winning musician, thanked activists working for “the people who have been genocided all over the world, specifically Palestine, Sudan and the Congo.”

‘Jewish enough to be murdered,’ but not buried in a Jewish cemetery: On Oct. 7, Hamas killed the Kapshitter family: Dina, Evgeny and their two small children. The parents had immigrated from the former Soviet Union under the Law of Return, which gives people with one or more Jewish grandparents the right to acquire Israeli citizenship. But Evgeny was not considered Jewish by the burial society, as his father was Jewish but his mother was not. Their four graves are now located outside of the cemetery. The Kapshitter family is not alone. After months of war, an increasing number of immigrants are making their voices heard on the issue. Read the story ➤

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WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Students came to show support Wednesday after a kosher restaurant in Manhattan was vandalized. (Courtesy)

🍽️ A vandal on Wednesday smashed the front glass at a kosher restaurant in Manhattan. Hours later, Jewish high schoolers came by to eat, pray and show their support. (Forward)

🤦 An assignment at an Atlanta private school asked students to rate Hitler as a “solution seeker” and an “ethical decision-maker.” And in a separate incident, a Connecticut middle school teacher who showed a photo of “cute” baby Hitler is under investigation. (FOX 5 Atlanta, JTA)

💰 The Anti-Defamation League increased its spending on lobbying 16-fold — from $100,000 in 2020 to an estimated projection of $1.6 million this year — for a “vast legislative agenda,” including stripping nonprofit status from some groups that support pro-Palestinian protesters, and expanding the legal definition of antisemitism to include anti-Zionism. (Guardian)

🤝 A bipartisan group of 36 senators wants to nearly double funding for the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, the role currently occupied by Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt. (Jewish Insider)

What else we’re reading ➤ Charleston’s Jewish leaders mark 275 years of history — and ghosts … A Palestinian converted to Judaism. An Israeli soldier saw him as a threat and opened fire … Giant jars in a small ancient town in Israel puzzle archaeologists.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing Wednesday about antisemitism on college campuses. Two students — one from Harvard and the other from the University of Pennsylvania — testified, along with the head of the National Jewish Advocacy Center. Watch it above.

Thanks to Jacob Kornbluh for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Beth Harpaz for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected].

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