As students return to college campuses this month, university officials and pro-Israel activists are wary of a resurgence of anti-Israel protests that disrupted daily business at major universities in the spring and often blurred the line between free speech and overt anti-Semitism.
On Tuesday, Fox News Digital spoke with Rabbi Moshe Hauer, vice president of the Union of Orthodox Judaism, to get a better gauge of the Jewish community's sense of comfort as the new school year approaches.
“We're very worried about what's going to happen. The good news is, everybody was using the summer off to get ready for the new semester. The bad news is, everybody was using the summer off to get ready for the new semester,” Hauer said.
Towards the end of the spring semester, protests spread to university campuses across the country in response to the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza, which has claimed 40,000 Palestinians' lives since October 7, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry — a figure that does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Anti-Israel agitators target elite university campus on first day of school year
A screenshot of Rabbi Moshe Hauer during an interview with Fox News Digital. (Fox News Digital)
Protesters took to campus courtyards, disrupting daily operations and, in some cases, leading to violent clashes with police and more than 3,000 arrests.
In the months since, university officials have imposed new rules banning camping, limiting the duration of demonstrations, allowing protests only in designated locations, and restricting campus access to only those with university identification.
“I think a lot of universities recognized that, whatever their personal feelings, this was a furor, this was not healthy, and this couldn't continue,” Hauer said, “and they looked at policies around time and location restrictions and how to respond.”
Hauer's organization, the Orthodox Union, represents a broad range of Jewish communities, including rabbinical families on dozens of college campuses, and provides resources to student leaders who address anti-Semitism on campuses.
Hauer argued that the movement behind these protests goes far beyond college campuses, with “very murky” funding sources.
“[It’s] “This movement will not be solved by people understanding each other, because their goal is not to understand each other. Their goal is to drive out anyone who supports Israel. Their goal, as they say in their protests, is one state – to go back to the way it was before '48,” Hauer said, referring to the year Israel became a state.
Anti-Israel supporters set up a protest camp and continue to demonstrate on the Columbia University campus in New York City on April 29, 2024. (Spencer Pratt/Getty Images)
Hauer made it clear that neither he nor his organization supports silencing protests against the state of Israel or the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I think there's a lot of room for legitimate protest, and I think we've seen an incredible amount of unjustified protest in this movement,” Hauer said. “It's perfectly appropriate for people to choose to protest the Netanyahu government and its policies. And … it may also be OK to protest the existence of the state of Israel. That may be something I don't agree with at all. But that doesn't mean they don't have a right to say it.”
Despite the restrictions in place for the new school year, Hauer remains concerned that school authorities are powerless to rein in extremist anti-Israel protests.
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“We are concerned because the university is facing an incredibly formidable movement that has demonstrated incredible resilience and adaptability, able to circumvent and break through any safety measures and protections that campuses have in place,” Hauer said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
