The German Union of Jewish Students (JSUD) and the American Jewish Committee Berlin (AJC) presented a “Situation Report on Antisemitism at German Universities.”
Outgoing JSUD president Hanna Veiler, 27, spoke of a “tsunami of antisemitism” in the university environment, outlining a chronology of incidents, along with numerous university occupations and “so-called pro-Palestinian protest camps” where people have called for Israel to be wiped off the map.
The new report is important because a “really central challenge” for the JSUD has been that there is little research on antisemitism at universities, she said. A such, the 26-page report does not contain any newly collected figures. The authors used statistics from the Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS).
According to the report, the number of antisemitic incidents involving universities rose from 16 in 2021 and 23 in 2022, to 151 in 2023.
Veiler said that the report is an important resource for Jewish students, who must deal with the issue whether they want to or not. “Jewish students have had to become experts on antisemitism at universities over the past 17 months,” she said. 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.
The report makes clear that while there have been incidents, antisemitic statements or intimidation at universities nationwide, Berlin is a hotspot. The German capital has seen several university buildings occupied by protesters, often with anti-Israeli graffiti found inside afterwards.
The report called for a number of preventative policy changes in response, including the consistent prosecution of antisemitic crimes, compulsory training on modern forms of antisemitism at universities, and clearly named points of contact for Jewish students. In addition, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s controversial working definition of antisemitism should be included in university constitutions, it said.
