A Look at Antisemitism

Community Leaders Gather for Film

Antisemitism has risen sharply since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel, with U.S. college campuses Ground Zero for attacks and violent rhetoric against Jews.
    The terrorists left 1,200 Israelis dead and more than 250 hostages kidnapped into Gaza. The surprise attacks drew condemnation around the U.S. and the world.
    The rise in antisemitism was driven home to about 40 local officials, clergy, and civic and education leaders during a private showing of “October 8,”  which explores the explosion of antisemitism in social media and throughout American society, tracing the origins to “globalize the Intifada” to a well-organized campaign built over decades.
    The screening, organized by the Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey and Menemsha Films, was held June 12 at Temple B’nai Shalom in East Brunswick. Reflecting the fear that has permeated the Jewish community was the secrecy surrounding the event, in which those attending weren’t informed where it was being held until mere hours before.
    East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen, who helped coordinate the program, told the gathering that he feels that concern as a Jew and sees it in his duties as mayor.
    “I walk into mosques and no one stops me,” he said. “I walk into churches and no one stops me.”
    However, Cohen said, “We have shuls on lockdown,” with police or armed guards at programs and services.
    Cohen cited attacks on Jews in Boulder, Colorado, walking in support of the hostages, the firebombing of the residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and the shooting deaths of a couple employed by the Israeli Embassy outside the Capital Jewish Museum  in Washington. One of them, Sarah Milgrim, was the niece of  B’nai Shalom’s former longtime religious leader, Rabbi Eric Milgrim.
    Cohen warned those at the screening not to think a violent resurgence against Jews couldn’t happen on American shores and referenced the indoctrination of American youth, calling it a “well-organized campaign.” Cohen called attention to the need for the non-Jewish community to become involved.
    The film builds on that idea, focusing on the rising antisemitism on college campuses, social media and on American streets beginning the day after the Hamas attacks. The documentary by executive producer Debra Messing and director Wendy Sachs details how Hamas created sophisticated networks over many years as part of a meticulous campaign. It lays out how that is the impetus behind the antisemitic unrest on college campuses through organizations such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).  

  Driving home the fear and attacks some Jewish college students have experienced on campus was Matthew Nezaria of East Brunswick, a junior at Rutgers University. As the son of an Israeli-born father, he told the crowd he was proud of his identity and not afraid to share it.
    However, Nezaria recalled a disturbing incident in which he was walking home late after a night out with friends when four males walking behind him demanded to know his ethnicity.
    “I thought maybe I could change a mind,” but the ensuing conversation proved to be anything but a cordial exchange of ideas and ended up with one of them calling Nezaria an obscenity and telling him he should die. 
    While antisemitism has shown an alarming jump nationally in recent years,  nowhere was the increase in incidents greater than on college campuses,  which showed an 84% rise from 2022’s 219 incidents to 2024 when the number leapt to1,694, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
    In New Jersey, 78 campus incidents were reported, 60% at Rutgers. Other incidents occurred at Montclair State University. There were encampments at Rutgers and Princeton universities. Last spring Rutgers was forced to cancel some finals on its College Avenue campus because of the encampment, resulting in its SJP chapter being suspended for this past school year.

    Antisemitic hate crimes more than doubled between 2021 and 2023, according to FBI statistics, and continued rising in 2024. Those statistics also show that Jews are more likely to become victims of a hate crime than any other demographic group.
    However, it doesn’t happen only at the college level.
Nezaria said his younger sister, Natalie, was subjected to antisemitic comments from a teacher at East Brunswick High School who is no longer there.
    Stacy Gallin, director of the federation’s Center to Combat Antisemitism and Reinforce Multicultural Acceptance (CARMA) told the gathering that the Jewish community needs allies such as those who came to the event, because it cannot fight the hatred alone.
    She noted that the conflation of criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza and antisemitism have morphed into something the community has never seen before. Gallin stressed the need for passing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s  definition of antisemitism, which has been stalled in the state Legislature for more than a year.
    “We can’t fight antisemitism unless we can define it,” she said, and urged the leaders to educate others—CARMA will help if requested.
    “That’s what it means to be an ally, and we can’t do this by ourselves,” said Gallin. “And I would say that if there’s one thing that we all leave here with tonight, it’s the hope that we can teach the next generation that.”
    The message seemed to hit home.
    Highland Park Mayor Elsie Foster said she knew the Jewish community had been subjected to increased antisemitism since Oct.7, but had no idea how widespread and threatening it had become to Jewish students on college campuses. She pledged her support in combating the hatred. 

WHERE TO WATCH
“October 8” is a documentary examining the emergence of antisemitism on college campuses, in social media and on the streets since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. To find out where it is streaming, go to www.october8film.com/watch-at-home/.

Debra Rubin has had a long career in journalism writing Secular weekly daily newspapers and Jewish publications. She most recently served as Middlesex/Monmouth bureau chief for the New Jersey Jewish News. She also worked with the media at several nonprofits, including serving as assistant public relations director of HIAS and assistant director of media relations at Yeshiva University.