LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Open letter from U. faculty, staff regarding antisemitism on campus
We, the undersigned faculty and staff members at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, strongly condemn the many recent expressions of antisemitism on our campuses and call on the entire community to reject antisemitism in all its forms.
Following the horrific October 7 massacre of more than 1,200 people in Israel by Hamas, an acknowledged terrorist organization that has called for the violent destruction of the Jewish state and the deaths of Jews worldwide, there has been an alarming rise in antisemitic hate in the U.S. and around the globe. On college campuses and online, Jews are being attacked, harassed, intimidated and vilified.
At Rutgers, an undergraduate student has been arrested and charged after making a death threat against an Israeli student at the Alpha Epsilon Pi (predominantly Jewish) fraternity. Student groups at Rutgers have called Hamas' massacre of Jews in Israel "justified" and have organized events expressing support for its heinous actions.
Posters calling attention to the roughly 240 hostages initially held by Hamas in Gaza (now approximately 120) are being torn down. Many Jews and Israelis on our campuses feel betrayed and alienated by their colleagues and peers, who, consciously or not, repeat age-old antisemitic tropes, such as the notions that Jews are overly powerful, bloodthirsty or vengeful.
Muslim and Arab students have also reported being intimidated and harassed on campus. We condemn any expressions of anti-Arab or anti-Muslim sentiment, just as we condemn antisemitism, and affirm the rights of all members of the Rutgers community to walk their campuses without fear.
We affirm our commitment to free and open exchange. In that spirit, we refuse to yield the public discourse at our University to those who promote dishonest narratives, engage in vilification and slander in lieu of reasoned debate or support, excuse or remain silent about terror or antisemitism. At its core, the mission of the University is to increase knowledge and understanding and to seek truth in all its complexity. Faculty and students must be able to talk to one another honestly and civilly about deeply challenging issues.
We call upon members of the Rutgers community to stand against the murderous regime of Hamas and to recognize the right of both the Palestinian people and the Israeli people to live in safety within secure borders. We ask the University administration to create a comprehensive plan to address antisemitism specifically, and we ask our colleagues to commit to fostering open, honest inquiry, free of hate and demonization, on the Israeli-Hamas conflict and all other related issues at our University.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to state the current number of hostages in Gaza.
This letter was written and signatures were collected by Rutgers JFAS (Jewish Faculty, Administrators, and Staff), a group that brings together Jewish employees of Rutgers around issues of shared interest and concern.
The group is co-chaired by Rebecca Cypess, a professor in the Department of Music and faculty affiliate in Jewish Studies, David Greenberg a professor in the Department of History, the Department of Journalism and Media Studies and a faculty affiliate in Jewish Studies and Jenny Mandelbaum, a professor emerita in the Department of Communication. Here is a full list of the 356 signatories.
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