H eadlines
Fears of Antisemitism Change Jewish Behavior
L OCA L
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
ANTISEMITISM CONTINUES
to impact many American Jews,
according to the American
Jewish Committee’s “State
of Antisemitism in America
Report” released on Oct. 25.
In its third annual and largest
antisemitism report, AJC found
that 39% of American Jews have
changed their behavior at some
point due to fears of antisem-
itism; 25% concealed their
Jewish identity online; 22%
stopped wearing anything that
would identify them as Jewish;
and 17% avoided attending
events or visiting certain areas
that would make them feel
endangered as Jews.
“In some ways, it’s very
grim,” said Marcia Bronstein,
the AJC Philadelphia/Southern
New Jersey regional director.
Bronstein attributed the
persistent antisemitism and
consequent fear of antisemi-
tism to the recent flare-up of
Israel-Hamas violence and
ignorance around comparing
events to the Holocaust, such as
the use of yellow Star of David
patches as a symbol against
COVID vaccine mandates.
“We see, a lot of times,
the use of Nazi imagery that
emboldens antisemitism,”
Bronstein said. “If someone
says a policy is like a Nazi
policy and is talking about a
public health issue and relating
it to a mass genocide — it’s just
unacceptable, yet we’ve seen it
happen over and over.”
Elana Burack, who lives in
University City, is one of the
four in 10 American Jews who
has changed behavior for fear of
becoming a target of antisemi-
tism. She stopped wearing her
Hamsa necklace from Israel
after hearing about a few men
approaching an Orthodox
Jewish woman in Philadelphia.
Though the men were
actually three Jewish men
going to wish the woman a
Shabbat shalom, Burack saw
posts on social media saying
that these men were not Jewish,
had knives and were planning
to attack the woman.
“It scared me enough to
make me think twice about
wearing something that would
be an obvious sign of my
Judaism,” Burack said.
Antisemitism fears are far
more sinister than just hiding
an article of clothing, Bronstein
argued. “It constrains who we are
and what we do,” Bronstein
said. The pervasive role of fear
in Jewish life can be seen in
the increased security of
synagogues after the Pittsburgh
Tree of Life shooting, she said.
According to the AJC survey,
the Northeast region of the U.S.
seems to be home to as much
antisemitism as other parts of
the nation. Forty-one percent
of national survey respondents
reported witnessing antisem-
itism, online or in-person,
over the past month; 46% of
Northeastern respondents
reported the same.
However, results may differ
in Philadelphia, and numbers
for specific cities were not
available. Though Burack thought of
a handful of friends in other
parts of the country who were
concerned about attending
synagogue for fear of antisem-
itism, none of her other Jewish
friends in Philadelphia have
changed their behaviors like
she has.
Bronstein attributed poten-
tial regional differences in
part to the area’s larger Jewish
population. While 64% of
the national sample of the
AJC study reported person-
ally knowing a Jewish person,
75% of the Northeast sample
reported “Yes” to the same
statement. Antisemitism may be a
result of ignorance about
Jewish people, Bronstein said.
If one knows more about
Judaism, they may be less likely
to hold antisemitic biases.
To address antisemitism,
Bronstein believes addressing
ignorance is key. The AJC has
spoken with Facebook and
Twitter executives to ensure
antisemitic posts aren’t spread
by the social media sites’
algorithms. They are working
with corporations to ensure
diversity, equity and inclusion
initiatives include Jews and,
especially, Jews of color.
Bronstein said groups such
as the Circle of Friends, the
Philadelphia chapter for the
Muslim-Jewish Advisory
Council, are key in creating
solidarity movements to
mitigate antisemitism.
Circle of Friends co-chair
Mohamed Bakry noticed
that increases in antisemi-
tism correlate with jumps in
Islamophobia and racism.
“That’s why I think allyship
is significantly more important
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Est.1988 JEWISH EXPONENT
AJC and Circle of Friends
leaders at a past advocacy trip
to Harrisburg. From left: Marcia
Bronstein, AJC Philadelphia/
SNJ regional director; Mohamed
Bakry, co-chair, Circle of Friends/
Philadelphia Muslim-Jewish
Advisory Council; Majid Alsayegh,
Circle of Friends member and
MJAC member; Michael Fabius, co-
chair, Circle of Friends/MJAC; and
Hilary Levine, AJC Philadelphia/
SNJ associate director
Courtesy of Hilary Levine
nowadays than ever before,
because one group alone can’t
combat all of the hate that’s
coming our way,” Bakry said.
Mike Fabius, the chapter’s
other co-chair, argued that
his involvement with Circle
of Friends and his friendship
with Bakry has made him
better equipped to address
Islamophobia when he encoun-
ters it in conversations with
“well-intentioned” individuals
who are prejudiced or ignorant.
“We’re never going to eradi-
cate hate and ignorance, but
if we can go back to margin-
alizing it, that would be good
progress,” Fabius said.
With efforts on the horizon
to address antisemitism,
Bronstein was heartened by
the overall survey results about
support for Israel and increased
awareness of antisemitism.
Eighty-five percent of
respondents felt that the state-
ment, “Israel has no right to
exist,” was antisemitic; 73% felt
the statement, “American Jews
are loyal to Israel and disloyal
to America” was antisemitic;
and 82% felt the statement,
“The Holocaust has been
exaggerated” was antisemitic. l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
H eadlines
How Bad is Local Campus Antisemitism?
L OCA L
JARRAD SAFFREN | JE STAFF
THE ANTI-DEFAMATION
League and Hillel International
released a report on Oct. 26
that said one in three Jewish
college students experienced
antisemitism in the past year.
According to those organi-
zations, most students who
experienced antisemitism
didn’t report it. Significant
percentages (38 and 15) also
mentioned feeling uncomfort-
able stating their Jewish pride
and revealing their Jewish
background. While the findings were
eye-opening, they only came
from 756 “self-identified Jewish
undergraduate students”
across the United States. Local
Hillel leaders say the survey is
not representative of their own
campuses. “I’d be shocked if you found
one in three Temple students
who have experienced antisem-
itism in-person on campus,”
said Daniel Levitt, the execu-
tive director of Hillel at Temple
University. Jeremy Winaker is the
executive director of the
Greater Philly Hillel Network,
which welcomes students from
West Chester University, Bryn
Mawr College and Haverford
College, as well as area graduate
students. And he backed up Levitt’s
claim. “Things are quiet on
campus,” Winaker said. “My
impression is that even the
flare-up with Gaza this past
May was not a factor.”
Winaker was referring to
the latest Israeli-Palestinian
conflict over contested terri-
tory. And while that dispute
may not have led to campus
incidents, it did lead to social
media posting from young
people. That, according to Winaker,
was how a lot of the students
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Temple students enjoy a Hillel picnic.
in his network experienced
antisemitism this year. Jewish
students would see antisemitic
posts and comments and the
support that they often received.
Levitt said it would
frequently take the form of peers
of Jewish students reposting
antisemitic statements.
“It’s a social media phenom-
enon more than anything
else,” he said. “It gives them
anxiety about people they see
on campus.”
One local student, Abby
Sullivan, a Temple senior and
the former president of the
school’s Hillel chapter, sees
these posts regularly. After
the May Israeli-Palestinian
conf lict, she opened the
Instagram story of a college
acquaintance. Sullivan saw what she
described as “incredibly offen-
sive” to the Jewish community.
So, she reached out to the girl
and told her she wanted to have
a conversation.
“‘There’s a way to discuss
this without being offen-
sive,’” Sullivan recalled of her
message. The girl blocked Sullivan on
Instagram. Later, people sent Sullivan
another story that the girl posted
that was anti-Jewish in nature.
The senior again reached out to
her acquaintance.
Photo by Lauren Marks
“I said, ‘This is not the way,’”
Sullivan remembered. “‘Just
because people can’t see it
doesn’t mean you aren’t doing
something wrong.’”
She said the passive-aggres-
sive social media culture is
present on campus, too.
Temple is the largest univer-
sity in one of the world’s
biggest Jewish regions — the
Greater Philadelphia area.
Despite that, in her almost four
years at Temple, Sullivan has
heard antisemitic comments
worthy of some town in which
residents have never met a Jew.
“‘I’ve never met a Jew before,
this is crazy, you’re so rare,’”
Sullivan said of one remark
she’s heard.
Other Temple students
have expressed surprise after
learning that her family doesn’t
own a bank. They assumed
that she supported former
President Donald Trump due
to his pro-Israel stance, that
she hated all Palestinians and
that she wanted to control the
Middle East.
Earlier this school year,
Sullivan’s roommate told a
classmate that she was Jewish.
The person responded by
saying, “OK, I got to go call
Hitler and the Nazis.”
“I know when I feel uncom-
fortable and when it feels like
antisemitism,” Sullivan said.
JEWISH EXPONENT
At the same time, she agreed
with Levitt and Winaker.
Very rarely, if ever, does this
antisemitism rise to the level of
a reportable incident.
The senior also defended
her fellow students. Most
just haven’t met or spoken to
enough Jews, Sullivan said.
And despite seeing Jews as
caricatures, they aren’t white
supremacists; they don’t
possess some doctrinal belief
in antisemitism.
Therefore, Sullivan said,
they are reachable. And so,
she tries to reach them by
explaining things like Jewish
holidays or that not all Jews
are rich.
“Nine times out of 10 I’ll
get, ‘I’m so sorry,’” she said.
“‘Please teach me more.’”
Winaker believes that Jews
and Jewish organizations need
to follow Sullivan’s lead, but
on social media. The Jewish
community has to counter
antisemitic grandstanders with
positive, pro-Jewish, pro-Zi-
onist messages.
On Oct. 27, the three-year
anniversary of the Tree of Life
synagogue complex shooting
in Pittsburgh, there was a
steady flow of tweets remem-
bering the victims. One even
came from President Joe Biden,
who is not Jewish.
Winaker saw this as an
example of what Jews need to
start doing.
“We can best serve students
by having deep conversations
in person and offering positive
images of Judaism and Israel in
social media,” he said. l
jsaffren@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
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