Students worried about anti-Israel professors may want to steer clear of Georgetown, Columbia and New York University, to name a few, based on a newly released guide.
The AMCHA Initiative unveiled Wednesday its Anti-Zionist Faculty Barometer, a first-of-its-kind rating system designed to evaluate the pervasiveness of anti-Israel sentiment at more than 700 colleges and universities.
The group said its research shows that “anti-Zionist faculty played an astonishing role this past year in escalating antisemitic incidents, fomenting chaos, spreading anti-Israel propaganda, and pushing anti-Israel activities.”
“While much attention has been paid to the antisemitic behavior of anti-Zionist students and student groups and the inability or unwillingness of school leaders to address it, the enormous influence of anti-Zionist faculty on campus climate is often overlooked because much of it happens away from public view,” said Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, director of the AMCHA Initiative, which fights antisemitism on campus.
In fact, “faculty might be the most determinative variable when it comes to attacks on Jewish students,” she said.
The barometer ranks post-secondary institutions on a scale from 0 to 5 based on four measures: faculty members’ endorsements of academic boycotts of Israel; anti-Israel departmental statements; the presence of Faculty for Justice in Palestine chapters, and FJP-sponsored activities and statements.
The “top ten worst” schools based on the ranking system were: New York University; University of Minnesota Twin Cities; Columbia; University of California Santa Cruz; University of Washington; Georgetown; University of California Los Angeles; City University of New York Graduate Center; University of California Irvine, and the University of Hawaii Manoa.
The barometer also found that most of the 725 schools don’t have a problem: Nearly 500 received a “0” or “negligible” rating. At the other end of the scale, 33 schools received a “4” or “severe” ranking, and 30 earned a “5” or “extreme” ranking.
INTRODUCING: The Anti-Zionist Faculty (AZF) Barometer, a ranking of U.S. campuses by the presence of anti-Zionist faculty, empowering stakeholders to advocate for stronger protections against the normalization of academic antisemitism.
— The AMCHA Initiative (@AMCHAInitiative) December 11, 2024
Explore the AZF Barometer at:… pic.twitter.com/pIHBMkzkXI
Ms. Rossman-Benjamin said that unlike students and university presidents, “most anti-Zionist faculty members are tenured or tenure-track, which means they can, with impunity, incorporate anti-Zionist advocacy and activism into their professional activities for decades.”
“Many anti-Zionist faculty also serve in administrative roles such as department chairs and deans, wielding still more influence over campus life,” she said.
The Faculty for Justice in Palestine Network launched after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israeli civilians, spurred by a call from the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.
The campaign said the chapters were needed to support National Students for Justice in Palestine and local organizers, as well as “offer faculty defense, organize teach-ins and other actions, and engage in Palestine solidarity work generally.”
Faculty for Justice in Palestine, which specifically advocates for divestment from Israel and dismantling study abroad programs in Israel, now has chapters at 170 colleges and universities, according to AMCHA.
A previous study by the AMCHA Initiative found that schools with FJP chapters were seven times more likely to see assaults on Jewish students; three times more likely to see threats of violence or death against Jewish students, and prolonged anti-Israel encampments.
“In addition, according to the research, professors at FJP schools spent 9.5 more days involved in protests than those at non-FJP schools, and academic boycott calls were nearly 11 times more likely in student demands at schools with FJPs,” said AMCHA in a press release.
The FJP network said in a back-to-school statement that “we are looking forward to a renewal of pro-Palestinian expression on our campuses.”
“With the arrival of a fresh class of students who are invested in freedom in Palestine and beyond, the work to educate and organize will continue and grow in new ways,” said the statement.
The network also called on faculty to defend students from efforts aimed at “suppressing speech, criminalizing protest, and weaponizing fragility.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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