US campus activists unite against anti-Semitism in Europe

This type of initiative will never happen in Europe.  When Jewish  students protested against actions they qualified antisemitic at the Free University of Brussels (Université Libre de Bruxelles), predictably it all turned against them (see Jewish students humiliated at the Free University of Brussels).  One of the most serious charges came from influential blogger Marcel Sel (here in French).  Former students wrote a protest letter but were accused of having written a partisan text spreading lies and - worse - of having tarnish the reputation of a "noble" university.American students are right to be shocked by what is happening in Europe and to claim that "silence is tantamount to guilt", but the likelihood is that they will not be heard.

Times of Israel reports:

Two months ago, Brandeis University senior Ryan Yuffe took special note of Martin Luther King Day on his campus, including the emotional involvement of students from many backgrounds.

Having already been thinking about the growing tide of anti-Semitism in Europe, the 22-year-old organizer had an “activist’s epiphany,” as he told The Times of Israel. “We should organize the same kind of thing on campus, but for European Jews,” Yuffe remembers thinking.

 Flash forward to Monday night, when more than 100 Brandeis students attended a vigil in solidarity with European Jewry, as well as the creation of a Brandeis student-led movement to focus on battling anti-Semitism in Europe.

At the start of the vigil outside Boston, 20 students read aloud the details of anti-Semitic incidents in Europe since the start of February, ranging from physical assaults to desecration of Jewish cemeteries. Simultaneous to the Brandeis gathering, vigils were held at Philadelphia’s Drexel University, Rutgers University in New Jersey, and the University of Rochester in New York.

Soon after Yuffe’s Martin Luther King Day vision, he and nine other Brandeis undergraduates decided to focus efforts on holding European governments accountable for promises made to combat anti-Semitism. Vigils were one thing, but the students — who named themselves the Coalition Against Anti-Semitism in Europe (CAASE) — had even bigger plans in mind.

According to Yuffe, a long-term goal is to march on the embassies of European countries which are in violation of commitments to address anti-Semitism. In the meantime, activists are conducting research, designing infographics, and tapping faculty advisors for guidance. The group also hopes to raise funds for a student mission to Europe to meet members of Jewish communities there. 

“The recent targeted attacks against European Jews are not aberrations, but rather manifestations of the deteriorating conditions faced by European Jews,” according to the CAASE mission statement. “Our grassroots campaign demands accountability on behalf of European institutions. Silence is tantamount to guilt; we will not allow history to repeat.”  More.