Why Jewish organizations need a road map to defeat antisemitism

How collaboration among Jewish groups can secure the future and fight global antisemitism.

By SABRINA SOFFER NOVEMBER 26, 2024 04:09

CHABAD ON CAMPUS ISRAEL student delegation releases hundreds of yellow balloons, issuing a prayer for the release of the hostages held captive in Gaza, in New York City’s Times Square. (photo credit: Yechiel Gurfein)

‘Jewish history is an invitation to travel.” – Leon Wieseltier. 

Placed at the top of my History of Jewish Civilization course syllabus, this quote encapsulates the winding paths the Jewish people have traversed from antiquity to modernity.

Throughout these long and winding roads, whose most tumultuous turns have been characterized by episodes of persecution, there have been meaningful stops: Jews merging traditions and enriching each other’s ideas at the intersection of Ashkenazi and Sephardi worlds; Jews, with origins in the Pale of Settlement, banding together to demand freedom for Soviet Jewry; the righteous among the nations, like the Szeptycki family, which sheltered Jews in churches, or the notable Arabs who protected Jews in their houses during the Iraq Farhud.

These moments of solidarity, courage, and ingenuity provided the literal, strategic, and spiritual nourishment that has sustained and guided the Jewish people on their journey forward.

Wieseltier’s words apply to the journey on which I, and many of my Jewish peers on campus, have embarked. We, too, have been invited to the table of Jewish history – to travels filled with meandering, and at times nauseating, roads of hate. Like our ancestors, however, we, too, have been fortunate, afforded homes of vibrant Jewish life, and those who support it, instilling us with the courage to fend off the hate and act proudly and strongly in our Judaism. 

Anti-Israel activists block Jewish students from walking down a street near Columbia University, February 2, 2024. (credit: LUKE TRESS)

Jewish orgs need a unified strategy

From Hillel to Chabad, Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC) to StandWithUs, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) to CAMERA on Campus, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to the Israeli-American Council, AIPAC on Campus to Students Supporting Israel, Jewish on Campus, and beyond, all have played some role in promoting and safeguarding Jewish life on campus.

Should these organizations guide this generation out of an era characterized by festering hostility toward Jews and Israel, they need a road map with a defined, forward-looking strategy. 

From my extensive involvement with numerous American Jewish organizations, it seems these groups often share similar goals and undertake overlapping initiatives. For example, both the ADL and Jewish on Campus have established hotlines to report antisemitic incidents. Similarly, AJC and the ADL compile reports on Jewish life on campus and across the US while collaborating with the federal government on national strategies to combat antisemitism. Sounds like double work.

Rather than creating new groups or subgroups to maximize efficiency, and hiring more people, these organizations should prioritize cross-collaboration, consolidating their resources and strengthening their initiatives. Competing for data to produce nearly duplicate reports on antisemitism wastes valuable time and energy that could instead be directed toward producing reviews focusing on other pressing priorities, like the infusing of more and stronger Zionist voices in academia. 

Some may argue that each organization serves a distinct purpose, with expectations defined by a unique mission. As a generalization, Chabad focuses on promoting religious practice and learning, while Hillel aims to create vibrant centers of Jewish life on campus. CAMERA on Campus dominates the media sphere, helping students publish articles in support of Israel and against BDS in university publications. The ADL compiles research reports, lobbies Congress, and combats all forms of hate, including antisemitism. StandWithUs assists in filing Title VI complaints on behalf of Jewish students facing antisemitism. ICC focuses on building coalitions between Jewish and non-Jewish students in unified support for Zionism. 

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In the aftermath of October 7, most if not all of these organizations have stepped up to the plate to help navigate the global and national antisemitism crises while promoting education on Israel and Judaism. Despite their specific responsibilities, these organizations bear a greater collective purpose to which they could contribute using their specific missions in a strategic way. This purpose, securing the Jewish future, is inextricably tied to turning off the faucet of Jew-hatred. Currently, dozens of Jewish organizations hold conferences aimed at empowering students, providing Jewish and Zionist education, and offering breakout sessions with eminent thinkers, advocates, and activists.

 The AJC Global Forum, the Hillel International Israel Leadership Summit, AIPAC’s Political Student Leadership Summit, and the Jewish National Fund’s Global Conference for Israel each pours millions of dollars into renting venues, booking speakers, and hosting students. While these events are valuable and provide great networking opportunities, they often feature repetitive content. As someone who has served on a planning committee for one such conference, I’ve seen how resource-intensive these events can be, with planning beginning a year in advance and requiring an entire institutional team.

Imagine if, instead of hosting so many individual conferences, these organizations pooled their resources to coordinate efforts, share knowledge, and brainstorm creative solutions to combat antisemitism more strategically and define success metrics.

GOOD NEWS – a promising model for such collaboration already exists. Every summer, ICC holds a Fields Professionals Retreat with leaders from their various coalition partners, including Hillel, AJC, StandwithUS, and more. 

An akin concept – facilitated by an independent representative – should be expanded, inviting members from all Jewish and pro-Israel organizations in the United States. Its members should reconvene every month to discuss updates related to their strategy. The representative can be an appointed official from the US government’s Office of the Special Envoy to Combat and Monitor Antisemitism or the Jewish liaison to the White House.

Such involvement from the government in addressing antisemitism has become inevitable, as the issue has already escalated to the federal level. For instance, proposed legislation like the Deterrence Act and the Antisemitism Awareness Act, hearings held by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Ways and Means Committee, and the White House’s National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism have all spotlighted and addressed the problem. These efforts have included testimony from experts at the ADL and members of antisemitism task forces.

While the government should not interfere in crafting the road map, it can play a constructive role by requiring monthly updates on the strategy to Washington. This effort would ensure that tangible progress in combating antisemitism – beyond simply increasing resource allocations and organizing unity conferences – is being made. 

One example in which Congress and Jewish organizations can work together is by creating a technology platform that could manifest as an app, with one reporting portal connected to the Committee on Education and the Workforce or the Office of the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism. Such a platform can also serve as a resource for students, delineating federal and state rights, for instance where BDS is and isn’t legal, conduct that violates time, place, and manner restrictions, or how to file a Title VI complaint. 

Creating a road map with a clearly defined strategy will not be a seamless process. All Jewish organizations – like businesses – compete for donations and, thus, against each other. However, they can no longer compete in this way if they want to win the battle against global antisemitism and help protect the Jewish community. 

In the words of Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” What the road map and strategy look like is up for the collective of Jewish organizations to decide, but they must sharpen their tactics and develop a strategy. Sharpening their tactics means slimming down duplicate efforts and engaging in robust debates among each other and deciding which educational materials, conferences, and social media campaigns to platform in a strategic manner. 

In their book, Conflict, Andrew Roberts and David Petraeus emphasize the importance of implementing key leadership decision-making principles during a struggle. The first concept is getting the big picture correct. This road map represents that big picture, and for the sake of the Jewish future, Jewish organizations have the duty to get it right.

The writer is a senior at George Washington University.