In February, the BDS movement and its allies aligned themselves further with Palestinian rejectionism and with rallies calling for “intifada” and hailing Palestinian “martyrs.” These terms mesh the BDS movement’s religious-nationalist agenda and left wing anti-imperialist protests. Coupled with harassment of Israeli speakers and Palestinians who advocate peaceful dialogue, and the dramatic upswing in violence in Israel and the “territories,” a volatile situation exists on campus, and downstream in politics.

On campus, a series of protests were held calling for intifada at the University of Michigan and Brandeis University, as well as with graffiti at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. The Brandeis rally was co-sponsored by the local Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter and the Brandeis Leftist Union. Protestors’ slogans included “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free,” “There is only one solution, intifada revolution,” and “Netanyahu is the new Hitler!”

Responding to allegations that the content of the protest was antisemitic, the SJP president was quoted as saying “people don’t really know what the meaning of antisemitism is,” and “You can’t call me antisemitic when I am a Semitic person.” This misrepresentation of the term antisemitism is common if not deliberate.

In an email to the Brandeis community, university president Ron Liebowitz stated that both the SJP protest and counter protest groups “followed the proper protocols for scheduling a protest on campus,” but added that “the protections of speech will not shield from criticism those who evoke the horrors of the Holocaust in a disgraceful manner, seek to promote violence, or call for the eradication of a country.”

A complaint to the University of Michigan administration noted that calls for Israel’s destruction violated state and Federal hate speech statues, and put Jewish students in jeopardy. This was dismissed by the administration, and the rhetoric defended as “academic freedom” with the statement that “One of the most important values as an institution — one we teach and model in and out of the classroom and one that is embodied in our commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion — is the respect for those who have different opinions, have different life experiences, hold different world views.” It is virtually inconceivable that similar rhetoric aimed at other minority groups would be embraced by the university. A student government resolution demanding condemnation of Israel was later debated.

BDS sponsored rallies commemorating Palestinian terrorists killed by Israeli security forces were held at several institutions including Binghamton University, where the slogan “glory to our martyrs” was central. These rallies, and a variety of “apartheid week” style events, complemented the SJP conference at UCLA and others held in several North American cities by the BDS organization Al Awda and the Palestinian Youth Movement, and a variety of Muslim rejectionist organizations such as American Muslims for Palestine.

The centrality of “antinormalization” to the Palestinian movement has been transferred fully to the BDS movement, which demands rejection of peace from other Arabs. This was reflected in the disruption of a joint Israeli-Palestinian discussion event at Tufts University by masked individuals who shouted “genocide” and called the Palestinian participant a “slut” in Arabic before fleeing when campus police arrived. The local SJP chapter denied involvement.

The intifada protests were followed up at Princeton University and the University of Michigan, with institutionally sponsored lectures by Muhammad el-Kurd, a noted anti-Israel activist. Demonstrating the absolutist nature of pro-Palestinian reasoning, el-Kurd refused to acknowledge that any Palestinian killed were terrorists and asked rhetorically “What should happen to the seven million Palestinian refugees who are rotting in refugee camps?” There are approximately 5-6 million Palestinians total worldwide.

The extent to which BDS and Palestinian rejectionism — the absolute denial of any Jewish rights to sovereignty — has been normalized on university campuses is reflected in a course at Bard College entitled “Apartheid in Israel-Palestine.” The course, taught by Nathan Thrall, former director of the Arab-Israeli Project at the International Crisis Group (ICG), was lauded by the BDS movement and reflects the revolving door between the “human rights” industry, academia, government, and media.

The manner in which rejectionism is policed by student organizations was demonstrated in complaints lodged against the president of the Oxford Union, following the appearance of Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotoveley in a debate with several Arab ambassadors. The no confidence petition accuses the union president of “deliberately conspiring with foreign agents to promote the interests of an apartheid state” by facilitating Hotoveley’s 2022 appearance at which she was harassed and attacked by protestors. The complaint alleged further that “Israeli security conspired to harass members of colour and pro-Palestinian members” and that the union president “facilitated a severe threat to the safety and privacy of Oxford Union members.”

The denigration of concerns of Jewish and Israeli students was also reflected at the City University of New York (CUNY), where several longstanding BDS related antisemitism scandals continue to play out. In late 2022, after stonewalling critics including from the New York City Council, the CUNY chancellor adopted several conciliatory moves. At the same time, the university appointed a former CAIR official as CUNY’s chief diversity officer, to oversee the investigation.

He has been made responsible for investigating antisemitic allegations at CUNY’s Kingsborough Community College, where reports indicate that Jewish professors who had lodged complaints are now being subjected to a retaliatory investigation over discriminatory practices lodged by another faculty member.

In response to critics, CUNY has also opened an online portal for students to report antisemitic incidents, but only as one of many forms of discrimination.

Elsewhere the BDS movement and its student and faculty supporters continue to react harshly when subjected to criticism. At George Washington University, an antisemitism scandal continues to unfold around allegations that psychology professor Lara Sheehi verbally abused and discriminated against Jewish students. Sheehi is being defended by the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, and the BDS group Palestine Legal has responded by filing a complaint with the US Department of Education accusing the university of “anti-Palestinian racism.”

Similar efforts to depict the BDS movement as the real victims of university abuse and neglect was seen at the University of Chicago, where the local SJP chapter complained that university officials prevented protestors from entering an administration building to continue a rally against a course being taught by a former Israeli military officer.

BDS inspired calls to attack Jews and “Zionists” were common in February. At the University of Illinois, flyers with “Exterminate Zionists” were found, courtesy of the revolutionary communist “Party for Socialism and Liberation.” A violent postering effort that called on viewers to have Zionist teachers fired was also shown to have been created by Key48, a group founded by the Palestine Society at the University of Westminster Palestine Society, which was the source of several ISIS members including “Jihadi John.”

BDS inspired antisemitic vandalism was also frequent during February. Windows at the Purdue Hillel were broken, and antisemitic graffiti was found on the doors of the student union at the University of California at Berkeley. At the University of Denver, mezuzot were vandalized and pork products were glued to doors.

The growing atmosphere of antisemitic intimidation and violence now extends to the K-12 levels. In one February incident, a basketball game between a California Jewish school and a local rival entailed supporters of the opposing team singing Kanye West songs and waving images of Palestinian flags and swastikas on their phones. Far more serious were the assaults on Miami Jewish high school students during a soccer match with a rival Catholic school, which resulted in several injuries.

Attempted assaults on Israelis were also common in February. In Britain, Israeli Arab and pro-Israel activist Yosef Haddad was met by mobs yelling “intifada” at the University of Nottingham, the University of Exeter, and University College London. Protestors in London blocked building exits, accused Haddad of being a “war criminal,” and held pictures of Iranian “Supreme Leader” Ayatollah Khameini along with Palestinian flags.

A similar physical threat to an Israeli was encountered in Madrid, when the Israeli ambassador was attacked by pro-Palestinian demonstrators during an appearance at a university. The ambassador’s security detail drew weapons and the ambassador was withdrawn to a secure location until they were rescued by a police detail.

Outside of the educational sphere, the attempted firebombing of a New Jersey synagogue, the invasion of a San Francisco synagogue by an individual who then fired several blank rounds to terrorize individuals, and the shooting of two Jews leaving synagogues in Los Angeles, reflect a deteriorating security situation for American Jews. Some of the background to this situation was detailed in a new report from the American Jewish Committee, which showed that some 39% of respondents believe American Jews are “more loyal to Israel than America,” while 20% believe “Jews have too much power in the United States today.”

In the legal sphere, the Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging an appeals court decision that held Arkansas’ anti-BDS law to be legal. Advocates have long asserted that the laws only target economic behavior and not speech.

In the international sphere, the mayor of Barcelona, socialist Ada Colau, revoked a sister city agreement with Tel Aviv citing Israeli “apartheid.” The move came after pressure from local pro-Palestinian and LGBT groups. In response, the mayor of Barcelona, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, offered to twin with Tel Aviv. Finally, at the instigation of South Africa and Algeria, the Israeli observer delegation was removed from the African Union summit. This move was applauded by the BDS movement and Palestinian sources.

A version of this article was originally published at SPME, where the author is a contributor.

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