# Anti-Semitism on College Campuses **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 4, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608 "2024-01-04T20:35:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/61 "2024-01-16T22:38:09Z")
Or “Final Solution.” I mean, who doesn’t like solutions? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/62 "2024-01-16T23:12:29Z")
Has anyone considered reviving the Teach-Ins that colleges and universities held during the Vietnam War? Or is the medium of public discourse too polluted in the current age? Yea, for some of us with memories, the fact that people in 2024 can’t hold their shit compared to 1968 is disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/63 "2024-01-16T23:15:58Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Or “Final Solution.” I mean, who doesn’t like solutions? It’s been a while since I went to university, but we dealt with solutions quite frequently in my chemistry class. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/64 "2024-01-16T23:33:28Z")
Watson: Well, have you solved it? Holmes: Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/65 "2024-01-16T23:48:27Z")
I don’t recall politics ever coming up in under grad or graduate school. We were too busy biasing transistors. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2024, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/66 "2024-01-17T00:01:38Z")
Let’s just say politics came up pretty dramatically at my university on September 11, 2001. And yeah, our diverse body of students, from Jewish New Yorkers to Arab American Muslims living locally, held their shit together pretty well. I’m not in college any more so it’s hard for me to gauge whether the day to day has really changed all that much, but it seems to me the “mutual respect in a forum of ideas” ideal has been lost over time. But I think my undergraduate school was also exceptional even for its time. But maybe I’m just idealizing the past. I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2024, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/67 "2024-01-17T00:25:19Z")
If you not part of the solution, you’re part of the precipitate. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/68 "2024-01-21T00:31:45Z")
The double standard arises logically from current progressive beliefs. There’s a huge focus on fighting racism right now, but at the same time, it has been redefined in a way that makes it hard to recognise anti-Semitism as a form of racism. The old definition was based on prejudice, but the new one is based on privilege and power; a group that is wealthier than average, and well represented in politics and influential jobs, is considered privileged by definition. And we are told that it is impossible for a privileged group to suffer from racism. Anti-Semitism in the past was frequently motivated by resentment of success, and there are several other examples of this dynamic, but it’s very different to the most common forms of racism in America. Perhaps this explains why it was and is overlooked by US progressives? But even when anti-Semitism is recognised as a problem, it is not always possible for progressives to do anything about it. Since Palestinians - and Muslims in general - are seen (not unreasonably) as more oppressed than Jews, protecting and supporting them must always take precedence. People who would be eager to denounce white nationalists for anti-Semitism do not feel able to criticise Muslims or their left-wing allies for the same thing. And since the current issue arises from the actions of Hamas and Israel, it’s easy for a defence of one side to be seen as an attack on the other. And there is another issue that comes into play, especially pertinent to Israel: a kind of black and white thinking, where weakness and oppression are conflated with moral goodness, and strength and privilege with moral badness. If one group is oppressed, then the more privileged group are all responsible - even babies, even people trying to fight the oppression as best they can. Most people are not willing to take this to its disturbing logical conclusion, but enough are to create a very unpleasant climate. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/69 "2024-01-27T21:05:08Z")
None of this is accurate. It is all a ridiculous caricature of progressive beliefs, completely unmoored from actual progressive beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/70 "2024-01-28T00:37:00Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > People who would be eager to denounce white nationalists for anti-Semitism do not feel able to criticise Muslims or their left-wing allies for the same thing. When they murder, rape and kidnap? ---
**Author:** ![WalterBishop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@WalterBishop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WalterBishop)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/71 "2024-01-28T17:17:53Z")
It’s true that you’ll never hear a progressive _saying_ any of those things. But if you look at how progressives actually _behave_ it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that **Demon Tree** is on to something. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/72 "2024-01-28T17:34:43Z")
> [@WalterBishop](#): > > But if you look at how progressives actually _behave_ it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that **Demon Tree** is on to something. Strangely, I look at how progressives are behaving and find it quite easy to avoid that conclusion. I won’t speculate as to her–or your–reasons for reaching that unsupported conclusion, but will invite you instead to bring facts, not smears, to the conversation. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/73 "2024-01-28T21:06:45Z")
I was not surprised by the current outbreak of anti-Semitism, because I’ve seen progressives react similarly over other issues. Being able to predict people’s actions seems to me the best test of whether you understand them correctly. Christians profess to love their neighbours and turn the other cheek, but historically it has been dangerous to rely on them to do so. Israelis would be wise to treat progressives with the same scepticism. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/74 "2024-01-28T21:13:17Z")
What evidence do you have that it’s progressives who are engaging in antisemitism? My guess is it’s mostly conservatives. Or, people who don’t really identify politically and just hate “others”. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/75 "2024-01-28T21:35:40Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > What evidence do you have that it’s progressives who are engaging in antisemitism? My guess is it’s mostly conservatives. Or, people who don’t really identify politically and just hate “others” On college campuses? 🤨 In general I expect conservatives are more anti-Semitic, depending how you define the terms. (In Europe Muslims would easily be the most anti-Semitic group, but I don’t think this is true in the Americas.) My point is that currently-popular progressive beliefs can lead to anti-Semitic attitudes and to toleration of anti-Semitism in practice, even among people who are generally well-intentioned and very anxious not to be racist. This seems bad and something progressives might want, and importantly be able, to address. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/76 "2024-01-28T21:41:37Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > My point is that currently-popular progressive beliefs can lead to anti-Semitic attitudes and to toleration of anti-Semitism in practice, even among people who are generally well-intentioned and very anxious not to be racist. This seems bad and something progressives might want, and importantly be able, to address. Of course progressives should address antisemitism in our community. Your diagnosis for it is foolishness, though, almost certainly born out of your own personal distaste for progressivism and not out of anything factual. A much simpler theory than your unsupported one is this: antisemitism pervades our culture. Progressives are part of our culture. Some progressives are antisemitic, just like some conservatives and some tennis players and some Pokemon fans and some cancer patients and some people with red hair. Pretending to address antisemitism by acting like it stems inevitably from progressive ideals is counterproductive: any progressive silly enough to believe your assertions would have to choose between their deeply held beliefs in progressivism and their deeply-held beliefs in anti-bigotry. Some of the progressives silly enough to believe that nonsense might be antisemitic enough to make the wrong choice. Address the real problem, don’t use antisemitism as a stalking horse to snipe at progressive ideals, please. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/77 "2024-01-28T22:04:06Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Of course progressives should address antisemitism in our community. Your diagnosis for it is foolishness, though, almost certainly born out of your own personal distaste for progressivism and not out of anything factual. My personal distaste arises from seeing and at times experiencing the negative consequences of these beliefs on other occasions. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > choose between their deeply held beliefs in progressivism and their deeply-held beliefs in anti-bigotry. Progressive beliefs have changed radically in my lifetime. There’s no religious book you have to stick to. I don’t see the problem in updating them if they aren’t doing a good job at preventing bigotry. 🤷‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/78 "2024-01-28T22:16:08Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > > [@puzzlegal](#): > > > > What evidence do you have that it’s progressives who are engaging in antisemitism? My guess is it’s mostly conservatives. Or, people who don’t really identify politically and just hate “others” > > On college campuses? 🤨 Yes, on college campuses. Despite what the media says, college campuses contain people with a wide variety of political beliefs, including no particular political beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/79 "2024-01-28T22:23:13Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > Progressive beliefs have changed radically in my lifetime. There’s no religious book you have to stick to. I don’t see the problem in updating them if they aren’t doing a good job at preventing bigotry. 🤷‍♀️ You haven’t established that that’s happened, so the bizarre non sequitur about a religious book is totally irrelevant. > [@DemonTree](#): > > My personal distaste arises from seeing and at times experiencing the negative consequences of these beliefs on other occasions. Please say the quiet part out loud. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608/80 "2024-01-28T22:41:19Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Yes, on college campuses. Despite what the media says, college campuses contain people with a wide variety of political beliefs, including no particular political beliefs. When I was at university, there was a Conservative student society, affiliated with the major right-wing party in UK politics, and a Socialist Workers Student Society, affiliated with an electorally negligible socialist party - and these two societies were approximately the same size. That’s how far to the left of national politics the campus was. I see no evidence that students have become significantly more conservative since then; if anything, they appear to have moved even further left. (I lived next door to the president of the socialist society, and don’t recall him being particularly radical. He once graffitied the anarchist symbol under a bridge in response to someone else drawing a fascist symbol. My impression was that student politics was mostly larping.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitism-on-college-campuses/995608.md?page=5)