Letter to the Editor: Swastikas and Slurs on Campus: The concerning rise of antisemitism at Ohio State

Alex Grosman, Sami Ginsberg
Thu, 03 Nov 2022 01:04:44 +0000
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An antisemitic sticker from the Goyim Defense League found just south of Park Stradley residence hall. Courtesy of unnamed Jewish Ohio State student.

The opinions expressed in the article belong solely to the co-authors.

On Oct. 22, members of the neo-Nazi group, the Goyim Defense League, hung banners with the message “Kanye is right about the Jews” over a Los Angeles freeway while raising their arms in a Nazi salute. This was, of course, in reference to the rapper Ye’s? — formerly known as Kanye West — recent and now removed antisemitic tweet in which he said “when I wake up I’m going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.”?

Although these egregiously antisemitic statements may appear to have no importance to the daily life of Ohio State students, only a day later was a discovery that struck fear into the hearts of every Jewish student on campus. On a pole just south of the Park Stradley residence hall, a sticker by the GDL was found displaying a number of antisemitic slogans, including “2 party Jew party,” “Holocaust hoax,” “usury debt slavery” and “Jewish censorship of social media.” These slogans promote centuries-old antisemitic tropes suggesting Jews control the government and banks and faked the Holocaust for their political and financial advantage.

Aside from this, both the banner flown over the Los Angeles freeway and the sticker found outside Park Stradley provide a link for viewers, directing them to a streaming platform modeled after YouTube with a seemingly endless number of vehemently antisemitic videos, including ones depicting Jews as grotesque, devil-like creatures and others calling for the resurrection of Adolf Hitler.

As disturbing as this sticker is, it is only one of several racist and antisemitic motifs found on Ohio State’s campus in recent weeks. The same day the GDL sticker was found, another Jewish student found graffiti of a swastika and racist slurs on a rock along the Olentangy River trail just off campus. Weeks prior, several stickers of an Israeli flag burning with the words “Free Palestine” were found across campus. To see that someone would go out of their way to publicly display a bastardization of the Star of David, a feature of the Israeli flag and a symbol of our religion and peoplehood, is frightening, to say the least. To think that these stickers may have been placed by a fellow Ohio State student only unnerves our community more.?

This begs the question of how Ohio State reached a point where such flagrant public antisemitism is normalized. Antisemitism has of course been on the rise across the U.S. and college campuses. According to 2020 FBI hate crime statistics, Jews are the most targeted religious group for hate crimes in the U.S. Additionally, the Anti-Defamation League reported 359 antisemitic incidents on college campuses last year, nearly one per day. Although an alarming amount of Americans believe in the stereotypes advertised by the GDL sticker, the number of antisemitic symbols found on Ohio State’s campus within the span of a few weeks is unprecedented. The question follows: What factors could have contributed to the increasing blatancy with which antisemites are willing to promote their hateful ideology?

Although general attitudes certainly play a role, Jewish students at Ohio State can’t help but feel that the major events of last year, which impacted the Jewish community so severely, play a role as well. Last year, members of the Undergraduate Student Government General Assembly introduced and voted “yes” to a Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) resolution which demanded the university’s divestment from companies that the bill’s proponents allege aid in carrying out war crimes in Palestine. Although the bill was not put into effect, whether one agrees with the allegations of the bill or not, the truth of the matter is that BDS creates a hostile environment for Jewish students at the campuses where it is introduced. U.S. Senators have repeatedly called out BDS for being a driving factor for antisemitism on college campuses. In the cases of schools, like the University of Michigan and Columbia University, swastikas were found on campus hours after the passing of BDS resolutions.?

However, vocal concerns by Jewish students and USG senators during the BDS vote last year about potential increases in antisemitism were quickly dismissed. The goal of those of us who protested BDS was not to diminish the voices of pro-Palestinian students; it was simply to find a way to create a more inclusive political critique rather than brushing off Jewish students. In the end, neither side got what it wanted, and the Jewish students of Ohio State were left to carry the burden.?

The fright we feel in the face of rising antisemitism on our campus should, G-d willing, finally, open the eyes of the greater OSU community to this growing issue and its causes. We are only a generation and a half away from one of the world’s most brutal genocides, one that some relatives of the authors of this article survived, but others did not. We can no longer sit idly by as our voices are ignored just as they were decades ago, for we know the consequences. Antisemitism is a clear and present danger on our campus, and as such, we demand to be included in your activism and dialogue in future conversations and when creating resolutions that will impact the Jewish community.?

The Jewish community writes “G-d” instead of spelling out the full name as a sign of respect.?

Bio: Alex Grosman, a third-year in international studies, is a member of the Schottenstein Chabad House at OSU. Sami Ginsberg is a third-year in accounting and public policy.??

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