J

ewish organizational
administrators, faculty and Jewish
student leaders agree that, though
they are disturbed by a two antisemitic
incidents that occurred on small online
forums as well as an anti-Israel rhetoric
sprayed on the “MSU Rock,” they are
encouraged that the incidents were
reported to campus law enforcement
authorities by non-Jews.
On Wednesday, Sept. 15, MSU’s
Michael and Elaine Serling Institute
for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel
released a statement detailing the
offenses under investigation.
In one incident, an individual joined
a biology class group chat using a Nazi
swastika as a profile picture, claiming
they study biology to prove that “Jews
are scum.” Other students in the chat
denounced those statements, removed
the perpetrator from the chat, and
reported the incident to the class
professor and to a number of campus
units, including the Serling Institute.
An individual using the same
screenname also made antisemitic
comments in the chatroom of an
off-campus apartment complex,

responding to another resident’s
message with, “Shut the hell up Jew
boy.” When asked to leave the chat
by other participants, the perpetrator
answered, “This is why you don’t trust
Jews.”
MSU investigations are trying to
determine if the individual is a member
of the MSU community.
A third incident happened at the
MSU Rock on Farm Lane, which
featured an American flag with the
caption “Never Forget” to honor the
20th anniversary of the 9-11 terror
attacks. The word “Israel” was spray
painted over the American flag and the
word “never” was painted over.
The Serling Institute views the use
of the word Israel as an evocation of
the conspiracy theory that Israel was
responsible for the 9-11 attack and is a
“modern iteration of the centuries-old
trope that Jews control world events.”
The MSU Department of Police and
Public Safety was made aware of an
incident that occurred on Sept.13 in
an online chat group. A police report
was initiated, and a police investigator
was immediately assigned to the case,

which is ongoing.
“Investigators are currently
following up on all available leads and
are in touch with people who were
impacted by the incident, and the case
remains an active police
investigation,” reads the
statement released by the
department.
As a local, proactive
measure to curb the
nationwide rising tide of
antisemitism on college
campuses, Serling Institute Executive
Director Yael Aronoff said she has
been working with the MSU Office
of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
to increase antisemitism awareness
on campus and would like to see
information about anti-Jewish bias to
become standardized in orientations
for all incoming students.
This year, as an initiative-
taking approach to counter the
presence of antisemitism at MSU,
the Serling Institute will host “The
Jonathan Netanyahu Symposium on
Antisemitism” from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 8. The free online event

Yael
Aronoff

OUR COMMUNITY

Antisemitic online interloper is rebuffed.
MSU
Fights Back

22 | SEPTEMBER 30 • 2021

This sign
welcomes
people to the
MSU campus.

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER