APRIL 22 • 2021 | 17

J

ewish students at Michigan State are 
estimated to number between 3,000 
and 3,500. During the past several 
years, a number of antisemitic incidents 
have occurred — threatening phone mes-
sages, a defaced mezuzah and a swastika 
painted in front of a fraternity house. In 
addition, Hillel’s sukkah was damaged and 
Jewish students have experienced some 
casual antisemitic remarks. While these 
were not considered major problems, Jewish 
student leaders thought that being proactive 
by defining antisemitism would be helpful. 
Maddi Jackson, MSU Hillel’s director 
of Israel Education and Programming, 
explains that MSU has a broad anti-dis-
crimination policy. However, without a 
clear official definition of antisemitism, she 
thinks that some incidents on campus prob-
ably go unreported.
The Jewish Student Union decided to 
propose adoption of the International 
Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) 
“working definition” of antisemitism, 
which has been approved by 30 countries 
and many universities. While approved by 
many entities, it has generated criticism for 
allegedly focusing too much on anti-Israel 
actions rather than white supremacists, 
who some contend pose a more immediate 
threat to American Jews. 
Jordan Robinson, 20, an undergraduate 
from West Bloomfield, is the Jewish Student 
Union representative to MSU’s student 
governing body — Associated Students of 
Michigan State University (ASMSU). The 
antisemitism proposal (see excerpt on this 
page) was submitted to ASMSU’s Policy 
Committee, which passed it by a voice vote 
and sent it on the full governing body. The 
proposed definition was approved as a reso-
lution by 81 percent of members on March 
18, 2021, and was scheduled to be signed.
However, Jewish student leaders were 
soon told that some student government 
representatives claimed that they hadn’t 

had time to read it. According to Jules Levy, 
MSU’s Jewish Student Union president, 
Students United for Palestinian 
Rights (SUPR) at MSU post-
ed a statement on Instagram 
opposing the proposal. This 
was posted and reposted 
online, reports Levy, a 21-year-
old senior from New Jersey. 

MISINFORMATION SPREAD
According to Jackson, several student 
organizations, including SUPR and the 
Black Students Alliance, started spreading 
misinformation about the proposed defi-
nition of antisemitism. 
“They claimed that Jewish students were 
trying to silence them, which is not true 
at all,
” she says. “Criticism of Israel is not 
antisemitic. Hillel has brought Palestinian 
speakers to campus. We don’t protest at 
Palestinian events. They are politicizing this 
and trying to make students take sides on 
the Palestinian-Israeli issue.
” 
ASMSU contradicted its official policies 
by scheduling a “re-vote” to be held after 
public comment sessions on Zoom on April 
1 and 8. Jordan Robinson says that Jewish 
student leaders were assigned 
the initial comment period. 
Then a flood of criticism and 
negative comments followed 
from students who chose 
not to identify themselves on 
Zoom. 
According to Jules Levy, 
opponents claimed that the 
antisemitism definition would prohibit any 
campus events that were critical of Israel, 
which was inaccurate. “People were really 
attacking us on Zoom. It was not expected, 
and students felt very unsafe and upset 
about this,
” she explains. “It was a very 
intense night. I had never gone through 
anything like that before and don’t want any 
other students to experience it.
”

As a result of the intense pushback, the 
Jewish Students Union decided to rescind 
the proposed resolution. When asked in ret-
rospect if the antisemitism definition was a 
good idea, Robinson focuses on the positive 
side. “It was a huge learning experience,
” he 
says, adding that there was a lot of empathy 
for Jewish students from others on campus. 
“This whole process shows that there are 
a lot of areas that need work,
” Jackson states. 
While there have been conversations with 
MSU administration about the situation, 
university officials have not commented 
about it publicly. Robinson says that the 
Jewish Student Union plans to form a work-
ing group of students and faculty to work 
on the issue over the summer. 

Read the official statement from the MSU Jewish 

Student Union, signed by 42 students, at thejewishnews.

com/2021/04/12/jewish-students-at-msu-speak-out-on-

recent-harassment.

Jewish students get nasty pushback for 
efforts to define antisemitism on campus.
Backlash at MSU

Jules Levy

Jordan 
Robinson

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

An Excerpt from A Resolution 
for: ASMSU to adopt the official 
definition of Antisemitism as stated 
by the International Holocaust 
Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)

WHEREAS, On May 26, 2016, 
the International Holocaust 
Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) 
adopted a “working definition” 
of antisemitism that reads 
“Antisemitism is a certain perception 
of Jews, which may be expressed 
as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical 
and physical manifestations of 
antisemitism are directed toward 
Jewish or non-Jewish individuals 
and/or their property, toward Jewish 
community institutions and religious 
facilities”; and,

WHEREAS, the IHRA definition 
includes numerous examples 
of antisemitic acts, including 
delegitimization, dehumanization, 
and demonization of the Holocaust, 
Jewish self-determination, and 
accusations of dual loyalty that, in its 
totality, are inextricably linked with, 
and cannot be severed from, what 
constitutes modern antisemitism. 

