In recent news from Ivy League campuses, tensions surrounding Zionism and anti-Zionism have come to the forefront, causing rifts among students and sparking debates on campus culture.
At Yale College, a Jewish junior found herself in a difficult situation when members of a secret society she had been admitted to began to suspect she was a Zionist after she mentioned attending an event at the Slifka Center, Yale’s main hub for Jewish life. Despite clarifying that she was not a Zionist, the student felt discouraged from joining the society, named Ceres Athena, as members had misconstrued old social media posts related to Israel without directly reaching out to her for clarification.
Meanwhile, at Columbia University, a senior named Dessa Gerger decided to step back from participating in college radio after a member of the station’s board expressed ambivalence about the idea of a program featuring Israeli music. Gerger, who is critical of peers who equate anti-Zionism with antisemitism, felt that her desire to be in a radio station outweighed any political affiliations.
The debate surrounding Zionism and anti-Zionism also extends to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, which operates on the principle of “anti-normalization” and prohibits joint events or projects between Arabs and Jewish Israelis who do not recognize Palestinians’ right of return. This stance has put pressure on Jewish students who are navigating tensions between their commitment to justice and their support for Zionism.
For Palestinian American student Layla Saliba at Columbia School of Social Work, the issue hits close to home as she has faced offensive treatment on campus, including chants and jeering when speaking out about her family in Gaza.
As the conversation around Zionism and anti-Zionism continues to evolve on college campuses, students are grappling with complex questions of identity, justice, and solidarity.
