Tammi Rossman-Benjamin has taught Hebrew to college students for 15 years.
"Most (of my) students are Jewish and most are very connected to Israel," she said. "A lot of campus anti-Semitism has to do with Israel. … "It creates a very hostile, intimidating atmosphere for Jewish students. It's hard for someone who feels harassed and intimidated to defend themselves."
Rossman-Benjamin will talk about campus anti-Semitism – and the larger Jewish community's role in fighting it – in an event set for Mon., April 30, from 7-9 p.m. at the Gordon Jewish Community Center. The National Conference on Jewish Affairs (NCJA) Nashville is presenting the program. B'nai B'rith Maimonides Lodge #46, Congregation Sherith Israel, Chabad Student Center at Vanderbilt University, Chabad of Nashville and the Nashville Chapter of Hadassah are co-sponsors.
Rossman-Benjamin will present a short film and then discuss the nature and scope of campus anti-Semitism – its sources, what it looks like and its primary effects. Her goal is to examine "what do we learn about efforts we have made, so we can come up with strategies that can work."
She has spent most of her academic career on college campuses in California, currently at the University of California Santa Cruz. Campus anti-Semitism "happens all over," she noted, and it looks pretty much the same from campus to campus nationwide.
"In general, the new anti-Semitism focuses on the Jewish state and those who support it," she said. She described an academic conference held at her university and titled "Alternative Histories Within and Beyond Zionism."
"Every one of the speakers was saying how awful Zionism is," she said. "…You hear five professors saying Israel is a Nazi state, an apartheid (state that has) no right to exist. Nobody talks about murdering Jews, but about eliminating" the state of Israel.
The conference speakers weren't simply criticizing Israeli government policies or speaking out against Jewish settlements, Rossman-Benjamin pointed out. She recognizes room for critiques and criticism of Israel, but said that "when somebody wants to destroy the Jewish state, that's an anti-Semitic impulse. … I never talk about people as anti-Semitic," she added. "I judge people (by) what they say and what they do."
She said she follows the U.S. State Department's definition of anti-Semitism. On a web page titled Defining Anti-Semitism, the State Department lists possible examples of "anti-Semitism relative to Israel," including "drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis" and "denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, and denying Israel the right to exist."
Statements like those made at the alternative histories conference create a hostile environment for Jewish students, she said. In response, she and two other professors co-founded the Investigative Taskforce on Campus Anti-Semitism. She also filed a complaint in 2009 with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, in which she alleged a hostile environment for Jewish students on her campus.
The federal government opened its investigation of her allegations just over a year ago and the case remains under investigation. If the government finds that the university violated its rules against hostile environments, it will probably work with the school to come into compliance, she said, adding that the government may withdraw funding as a last resort if a violation isn't corrected.
She believes that the larger Jewish community can take a role in addressing campus anti-Semitism. "Community members need to make sure there are protections for Jewish students," she said. Community members can speak to legislators if there are concerns about anti-Semitism at state universities. They can also build coalitions with others, write letters and withhold donations to colleges as an incentive to address anti-Semitism, she added.
Students and community members can report to the Investigative Taskforce on Campus Anti-Semitism any incidents they believe to be anti-Semitic, she said. The organization works collaboratively with legal and educational organizations dedicated to addressing the problem of campus anti-Semitism, the ITCA web site states.
Community members need to step up for students, Rossman-Benjamin said. "…It's very difficult for students who are on campus to actually fight some of this stuff. … Most pro-Israel and Jewish students aren't nearly as motivated to be out there and aggressive (as the) people on campus who are causing (a) problematic situation for them."