Responding to antisemitism on campus

Responding to antisemitism on campus

If an antisemitic incident happens on your campus:

Do: Call campus security, or call CSO immediately if there is any threat to your safety or that of your fellow students.

Do: Document the incident. If you discover antisemitic graffiti or posters, take a photo of the scene, then call the campus security and tell them you need them to come and take an incident report.

Do: Report the incident to campus authority as a bias incident. Even if campus security determines that the action was not illegal, you’re ensuring that some type of follow-up will take place.

Do: Try to find out if the perpetrator of the incident was a student or someone from off-campus. It will make a difference in how campus security and the administration deal with the matter.

Do: Report the incident by calling the Cape SAJBD, who can provide support and advice. Your report will help us keep accurate data and combat antisemitism.

Show pride in your Jewish identity and heritage.

Don’t: Use hateful language to respond. Your goal should be to show why bias is hurtful, not to even the score.

Don’t: Take matters into your own hands. If someone puts up antisemitic flyers, for example, do not remove them without approval from your university.

Don’t: Call for bans on free speech. Focus instead on countering bad speech with good speech.

Don’t: Give up. It’s important to show how much this event or incident hurts you, and share those feelings with your fellow students. The actions you take can increase understanding and lead to collaboration.

You can respond effectively. Empower your campus community to learn from the event, and to take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Report hate!

Think carefully about what you have seen or heard, so you can figure out how to respond. Stand up against hate!

Visit the Cape SA Jewish Board of Deputies website, www.capesajbd.org for information and news.

To read or download the full March issue PDF of the Chronicle, click here

To read the Editor’s column for March, click here

To read the most read article of the February issue, click here

Portal to the Jewish Community: to see a list of all the Jewish organisations in Cape Town with links to their websites, click here

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