As colleges and universities resumed their classes over the past week, disturbing incidents of campus antisemitism have returned. At Harvard University, faculty formed a “Faculty for Justice in Palestine,” mirroring the “Students for Justice in Palestine” that has called for the destruction of the State of Israel and just this week attempted to storm the Hillel building at the University of Oregon. Also at Harvard flyers of Israeli hostages held by Hamas were defaced with “Jews did 9/11,” and it was discovered that the co-chair of Harvard’s Antisemitism Task Force previously minimized instances of antisemitism and accused Israel of “Apartheid.” At Rutgers University students praised “Dying as a Martyr” and called to “Globalize the Intifada,” and at Columbia University students similarly chanted for “Intifada” and also heaped praise on the Houthis.

In Europe, police in Greece are investigating after an Israel-owned business was bombed and flyers saying “Free Palestine” were located at the scene of the crime. In the United Kingdom 3 Israelis were assaulted by a mob for speaking Hebrew and it was discovered that a civil servant signed a letter denying the sexual crimes committed by Hamas on October 7th. In Spain police arrested a 17-year-old who was planning an attack against a high school, influenced by ISIS ideology and motivated by antisemitism and homophobia.

In the Middle East, Israeli police disrupted a planned terrorist attack in East Jerusalem, the second potential attack prevented in the past month. In the Palestinian Daily newspaper an article was published accusing the Talmud of permitting the cutting open of pregnant women to kill fetuses, and a member of the Fatah Military Wing praised “children martyrs” for committing acts of terror.

Several U.S. states are currently advancing initiatives to embrace the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, which has already been adopted legislatively or through an executive order in 34 states. Legislation adopting the definition advanced in both the Indiana legislature, passing unanimously through the State House, and Georgia, where it unanimously passed through the State Senate Judiciary Committee.  

Both South Dakota and Florida, which have already endorsed the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, are taking further steps to enshrine it into law. The South Dakota bill seeks to legislatively adopt the definition (as it was previously adopted via an Executive Proclamation) and have it be utilized by the state’s Department of Human Rights. The Florida bill expands usage of the definition to define criminal hate crimes, as the definition currently is only applicable to K-20 educational investigations of antisemitic incidents.

Amid the onslaught of antisemitism global Jewry has experienced after the October 7th Hamas massacre, the IHRA working definition remains a critical tool in the fight against Jew-hatred. Being able to define antisemitism allows governmental entities and civil society bodies across the globe to better understand and address the problem. CAM, in collaboration with Tel Aviv University’s Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, published on Monday its third-annual report on global adoptions and endorsements of the definition, which reached a total of 1,216 as of the end of 2023.

This week’s Global Antisemitism Report highlights 88 new incidents, categorized as follows: 4 (4.54%) as Holocaust minimization and distortion, 15 (17.05%) as classical antisemitism, 59 (67.05%) as Israel-related, 3 (3.41%) as Islamist, and 7 (7.95%) as unattributable.