The hardest place to be a Jew is on an American college campus. Just look at UC Davis | Opinion

During my 25-year tenure as senior rabbi at the Mosaic Law Congregation in Sacramento, I told my congregants that the hardest place to be a Jew today is on an American college campus. While Israel is confronted with responding to the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, college campuses are now the local front in this far-away conflict, and UC Davis is no exception.

Two weeks ago, Jemma Decristo, an assistant professor of American studies at UC Davis, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, a message threatening “zionist” journalists and their families with violence. The words she posted were hateful enough, but the emojis she included — images of drops of blood, a knife and a hatchet — are clearly an incitement to violence.

“One group of (people) we have easy access to in the US is all these zionist journalists who spread propaganda and misinformation,” Decristo posted on X, just three days after the massacre in Israel. “They have houses (with) addresses, kids in school. They can fear their bosses, but they should fear us more.”

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What is shocking is the fact that Decristo is still employed. It appears that UC Davis has a double standard of acceptable behavior when it comes to attacking Jews.

So, I wrote to UC Davis Chancellor Gary May and asked him: “Will you advocate a safe environment on college campuses for your Jewish students and faculty? Will you do the right thing and terminate Decristo and send a message to the UC Davis students, faculty, alumni and citizens of our community, state of California and to the people of our nation that UC Davis will stand strong against antisemitism and the proliferation of hate-speech? Or will you and your university hide behind the First Amendment? Let me remind you that not all hate speech is shielded by the First Amendment; it may not be protected if it incites imminent lawless action, poses a true threat of serious bodily harm or causes an immediate breach of the peace. If it falls into these categories, it loses First Amendment protection.”

I received a reply from UC Davis Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Mary Croughan.

“I can confirm I will refer this matter to the appropriate campus departments that investigate harassment, discrimination and faculty conduct, in consultation with legal counsel regarding First Amendment rights,” Croughan wrote me. “UC Davis rejects all forms of violence and discrimination, as they are antithetical to the values of our university. We strive to foster a climate of equity and justice built on mutual understanding and respect for all members of the community.”

Her response is typical of the obligatory “acknowledgment” of concern, but not of the seriousness of the crisis facing Jewish students on our college campuses. These students are feeling abandoned and marginalized.

Jewish college students across the U.S. have been subjected to antisemitism — and the incidents are only increasing. National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) has been at the forefront of demonstrations on campuses. They often use the chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” in their demonstrations, which is a rallying cry used by terrorist groups, including Hamas, the organization responsible for the recent slaughter of more than 1,400 and the wounding of 3,500 men, women and children.

Hamas’ Charter unapologetically calls for not just the destruction of Israel, but for the annihilation of the Jewish people. SJP, meanwhile, is routinely permitted by college administrators to spew its hatred toward Jews and Israel. Is it any wonder that Jewish students are increasingly feeling attacked?

The American college campus is supposed to be a safe environment for all students, yet Jewish students are being subjected to harassment and abuse. At UC Davis, antisemitic acts, including flyers and graffiti, have appeared on campus several times over the past few years.

Our campus administrators should not be hiding behind the First Amendment and turning a blind eye to veiled or downright blatant displays of antisemitism.

Alyza D. Lewin, president of Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, addressed college administrators’ refusal to protect Jewish students in a recent article in Sapir.

“Most university administrators do not appreciate that Judaism is an ethno-religion, a belief system inextricably connected to cultural heritage, traditions, history and land,” Lewin wrote. “The connection between Jews and the Land of Israel permeates the Jewish calendar, Jewish life-cycle events, Jewish law, Jewish prayer and Jewish history.”

Further, Lewin asks whether campus administrators would “permit student clubs to demand that Catholics disavow the Vatican or that Muslims shed their connection to Mecca in order to be accepted.”

“Or would the administrators recognize that such a demand is discriminatory, biased and immoral?” she writes.

I hope and pray that those entrusted with the education of our nation’s college students will confront these questions. Through their actions, they must ensure an environment where no student ever experiences vulnerability or fear. This protection is not only a moral right for Jewish students, but a moral obligation for all students.

Reuven H. Taff is rabbi emeritus of Mosaic Law Congregation in Sacramento.