10 | AUGUST 24 • 2023 

PURELY COMMENTARY
column

At CAMERA on Campus Conference, 
Learning Tools to Battle Jew-Hatred
O

n college campuses 
today, hearing false-
hoods like “Zionism is 
racism” and “Israel is an apart-
heid state” is a 
reprehensible but 
inevitable reality 
for most Jewish 
and pro-Israel 
students. What is 
to be done about 
it? CAMERA on 
Campus believes it 
has an answer.
In light of the increasing chal-
lenges posed against students, 
CAMERA on Campus hosted 
its 13th annual International 
Student Leadership Conference 
in Boston from July 28-30.
Forty top student leaders from 
across the United States, the 
United Kingdom and Israel gath-
ered for a weekend of intensive 
training with the goal of foster-
ing a tight-knit community of 
battle-ready Zionists.
Diverse perspectives were rep-
resented at the conference, with 
attendees from across the politi-
cal and religious spectrum.
Speakers included members of 
the CAMERA on Campus team 
and a selection of CAMERA
’s 
research analysts. Experts in 
journalism, media monitoring, 
law, history and political science 
lectured at the conference and 
held essential discussions with 
students.
The topics discussed included 
the legal rights of students on 
campus; addressing calls for 
divestment in student govern-
ment; responding to the apar-
theid libel; and how to navigate 
difficult conversations about 
complex geopolitical issues, 
domestic policy in Israel and 

international law. 
Among those who attended 
were the incoming cohort of 
2023-24 CAMERA fellows and 
CAMERA on Campus coalition 
members — a cadre of students 
committed to the fight against 
the deluge of anti-Israel propa-
ganda on college campuses.
Fellows publish articles in 
their campus papers, host events 
and speakers, and provide the 
study body access to reliable 
information about Israel and 
Zionism.
CAMERA fellows, CAMERA 
researchers and staff constituted 
53 out of the 73 publications 
featured on the CAMERA on 
Campus blog during the 2022-23 
academic year. Many were fea-
tured in the Jerusalem Post, the 
Algemeiner, Times of Israel and 
other major outlets, including 
JNS.
CAMERA on Campus coa-
lition members routinely hold 
events on campus and receive 
funding for programming. They 
also participate in three annual 
campaigns: Mizrahi Stories, 
Apartheid Week Exposed and 
This Is Zionism.
Sessions at the conference 
emphasized ways to address 
misinformation and antisemi-

tism on the digital frontlines — 
namely, social-media platforms 
like TikTok, Instagram and 
Facebook. A recent study con-
ducted by researchers at Brandeis 
University found “a 41% increase 
in antisemitic posts, a 912% 
increase in antisemitic com-
ments and a 1,375% increase 
in antisemitic usernames” on 
TikTok between February and 
May of 2020 and 2021.
Attendees learned effective 
strategies to use social-media 
platforms for the greater good, to 
raise awareness about the prob-
lem of antisemitism, and to share 
accurate information about Israel 
and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The challenges students face 
were also discussed at the con-
ference, as pro-Israel and Zionist 
students are often silenced, 
harassed and singled out by 
anti-Zionist groups on campus.
For instance, at the University 
of Vermont, a federal investi-
gation revealed lapses in how 
university administrators han-
dled allegations of antisemitism, 
including one example where 
a teaching assistant claimed to 
withhold course credits from 
Jewish students, subtracted 
points from Jewish students, 
praised the theft of an Israeli 

flag from a Jewish student’s res-
idence and even wrote the word 
“Kristallnacht” above a photo 
of a damaged storefront with 
Hebrew writing on it. 
To help students get an under-
standing of what their rights are 
on campus, CAMERA senior 
research analyst David Litman, 
an alumnus of Case Western 
Reserve University School of 
Law, gave students comprehen-
sive insight into invoking their 
First Amendment rights and 
understanding anti-discrimina-
tion laws in the United States, 
both of which have become 
increasingly important in pro-
tecting Zionist student voices on 
campus.
These sessions are a window 
into the tremendous effort that 
CAMERA on Campus places 
in developing comprehensive 
resources for student leaders.
While attendees come in as 
Zionists, they leave with confi-
dence, knowing that the facts are 
on our side and a reliable net-
work of peers, researchers and 
professionals are behind them. 

Adam Gordon is a senior campus adviser 

at the Committee for Accuracy in Middle 

East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), 

where he works with students across the 

United States and Canada.

Adam 
Gordon
JNS.org
Students from the 2023 Student Leadership Conference.

CAMERA ON CAMPUS

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