Report Shows Double Standard in University Responses to October 7th and Related Anti-Semitism

Report Shows Double Standard in University Responses to October 7th and Related Anti-Semitism

If you’ve been watching all of this unfold for weeks now, you already knew this.

The AMCHA Initiative reports:

New Report Reveals Disturbing Double Standard in University Responses to Oct. 7 and Ensuing Antisemitism

A new report comparing statements issued by universities after Oct. 7 with statements issued by those same schools after George Floyd’s murder in 2020 and the spike in Asian American attacks in 2021 reveals an alarming double standard.  An AMCHA Initiative scientific analysis, released today, exposes that not only do the vast majority of school leaders fail to adequately address Jewish students’ trauma and fear for safety and security, but they also employ a clear discriminatory double standard, showing far less responsiveness to Jewish students than to their African American and Asian peers.

“The harrowing October 7th massacre by Hamas generated intense shock, horror and trauma that reverberated throughout the global Jewish community. For Jewish students, this devastating event triggered a dual crisis: Coping with the immediate shock and trauma of the deadliest attack on Jews in their lifetime, and confronting fears of a surge in antisemitism on their own campuses – fears that have become a frightening reality as antisemitic incidents on campus, already at an all-time high, spiked 700% since the Hamas attacks,” stated Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, AMCHA director and one of the report’s lead researchers. “Our study revealed disturbing results:  School officials responded to Oct. 7 with a blatantly discriminatory double standard in comparison to their responses in the aftermath of similarly traumatizing events.”

AMCHA Initiative’s latest study, “Selective Sympathy: The Double Standard in Confronting Jewish Student Trauma and Antisemitism after the October 7^th Massacre,” critically examines the statements issued by nearly 100 college and university leaders following the Hamas attack. These statements were then compared to statements issued by leaders at the same schools in the wake of traumatic events affecting Black students (the George Floyd murder in 2020) and Asian/Asian American students (the murders of six Asian women in Atlanta in 2021)…

Key findings in the report, however, indicate failed leadership and a double standard:

• While nearly 100% of statements unequivocally condemned the traumatizing incidents affecting Blacks and Asians/Asian Americans, only 65% of the post-October 7th statements condemned the attack, and 60% of those statements accused Israel of perpetrating violence that harmed Palestinians or violated their civil rights. According to the researchers, this suggested moral equivalence likely diluted the sympathy and support felt by Jewish students.
• While 90% to 100% of leaders’ statements acknowledged the emotional trauma suffered by their Black and Asian/Asian American communities following attacks targeting members of those communities, only 14% acknowledged the trauma of Jewish campus members, and only 5% offered support or resources.
• While 100% of statements named racism and anti-Asian hate as the motivator of their respective incidents, and more than 90% committed to addressing bigotry directed against Blacks and Asians/Asian Americans, only 4% of statements identified the antisemitic motivation of the Hamas attack (despite Hamas’ public expressions of genocidal intent) and a mere 2% committed to addressing antisemitism.

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