for college students by college students
February 15, 2018/30 Shevat 5778
Today’s Anti-Semitism
U-M Hillel
facilitates training
for administrators,
student leaders,
Jewish students.
Kendall Coden } jewish@edu writer
TOP: Cherie Brown,
center, founder and
CEO of the National
Coalition Building
Institute, trains seniors
Gaby Roth and Sarah
Parkes on how to
engage in dialogue
after hearing an anti-
Semitic comment.
38
February 15 • 2018
jn
A
nti-Semitism takes on a new
appearance in the modern
day. It looks like divestment
resolutions, isolation of the
Jewish community from other social move-
ments, and singling out Jewish people
as the oppressor as an overgeneraliza-
tion of power struggles that exist in Israel.
These expressions are different than earlier
expressions of anti-Semitism, such as
drawing swastikas and imposing restric-
tions on Jewish people, but they still exist
today, too.
This past semester at the University of
Michigan, a divestment resolution narrowly
passed our Central Student Government
(CSG). During the meeting, the language
and actions in the CSG chambers kept
pushing beyond respectful boundaries into
an area of anti-Semitism that hurt many
Jewish students. When this anti-Semitism
was called out by Jewish students, those
making the statements dismissed the
claims. After the resolution passed, stu-
dents expressed the need for education
and conversation about anti-Semitism.
In the days following the vote, several
university administrators began to reach
out to the Hillel community to see how stu-
dents were feeling and what could be done
to support students on campus. During
conversations, it quickly became apparent
that the anti-Semitism that existed resulted
from a lack of understanding and education
about what anti-Semitism is today.
To address this lack of awareness,
the U-M Hillel (of which I am chair of the
Governing Board) worked on bringing an
educator to campus who could train stu-
dents to identify anti-Semitism and develop
the skills to respond.
“We wanted to give Jewish students the
tools to identify moments of anti-Semitism
and to approach their peers from a place
of compassion,” said Tilly Shames, U-M
Hillel executive director. “We also wanted to
respond to the request for training from uni-
versity administration and the non-Jewish
student leaders who find modern forms of
anti-Semitism confusing. We developed
this three-part series, led by Cherie Brown,
founder and CEO of the National Coalition
Building Institute [in Silver Spring, Md.], to
reach all of our target audiences.”
All three groups were very supportive
and grateful for the opportunity to learn
more about anti-Semitism in its modern
forms. CSG even unanimously passed a
resolution written by Rep. Isabelle Baer to
financially support its own training session.
BREAKING THE CYCLE
In her trainings, Brown spoke about the
three defining characteristics of anti-Sem-
itism: 1) targeting, blaming or singling out
the Jewish people, 2) dividing social and
progressive movements, which leads to, 3)
isolation of the Jewish people. In addition,
Brown spoke about the cyclical nature of
anti-Semitism. There are times, such as
hard economic periods, when anti-Sem-
itism may appear often, and other times
when it is less common. There are times
when it is internalized, manifesting in com-
ments, and times when it is outright, such
as drawing a swastika.
Brown also taught about the circle of
anti-Semitism. After a flare up of anti-
Semitism, individuals respond with “scared
active” reactions and actively fight back via
demonstrations, articles, etc. These actions
are then seen as aggressive and construed
as racism. When labeled as racist, the
advocate feels that response was another
expression of anti-Semitism, which leads to
perpetuation of the cycle.
In the training for the Jewish community,
which I attended, Brown had us speak sev-
eral times with peers about our experiences
with anti-Semitism both on campus and
in life in general. After acknowledging that
we experienced anti-Semitism in our lives,
we had the opportunity to role play through
scenarios and learned how to best respond
to anti-Semitic situations.
Brown encouraged us to think of the
other person as a cup of water. She trained
us to listen to the other person and ask
them questions to “empty” their cup. This
is best done by asking them questions
such as, “Why do you think that?” and,
after diffusing the situation by listening, then
asking if they are interested in listening to
why the statement felt hurtful. This process
does not lead to the “scared active” con-
tinuation of the cycle and creates a learning
environment for the person who made the
initial statement.
I personally found the training to be very
enlightening about what anti-Semitism
looks like. Often questions and actions are
triggering, but it can be difficult to identify
why and then to address them. I learned
what anti-Semitism is, why it’s confusing
and the best way to confront a situation
without aggravating it further.
This sentiment was echoed by Sarah
Daniels, associate dean of students, who
attended the training for administrators.
“I really appreciated the opportunity to
engage in this conversation, to understand
better how anti-Semitism shows up in
the current day and to practice tools for
addressing it directly,” she said.
When asked about the overall impact of
the event, Shames said, “We are already
seeing the impact of Cherie’s visit. After
hearing of a new anti-Israel event about
Richard Spencer’s praise for Israel as a
‘white nationalist’ state, several students
who attended the training wrote an article
for the Michigan Daily, reached out to
peers running the event to discuss its hurt-
ful nature and planned an alternative event.
They felt empowered and equipped with
new skills after Cherie Brown’s training.” @
Kendall Coden of West Bloomfield is a junior at the
University of Michigan. She also serves as chair of
the U-M Hillel Governing Board.