A mass influx of anti-Semitism has infiltrated international communities since Oct. 7; the date that Hamas, a radical Islamic terrorist organization based in Gaza, staged an unprecedented invasion in Israel where militants attacked civilian communities – the catalyst for the current Israel-Hamas war, a conflict that has perpetuated the spread.

While the Jewish people have been persecuted, humiliated, ostracized and expelled as far back as Jewish history itself, the rates of attacks, threats and hate crimes that are happening now worldwide; however, are at an all-time high in recent history. According to the ADL (Anti-Defamation League), anti-Semitism has increased by 400 percent. From Europe to Asia to North America, anti-Semitism has exponentially increased, causing many Jews to attempt to assimilate themselves and hide their true identity under fear of persecution.

“My parents told me to stop wearing my Star of David in public as they fear for my safety,” senior Joanna Benhamu said. “With everything that’s going on, I understand why, and the situation is really upsetting. I should be able to express my religion no matter what, not have to hide out of fear.”

College campuses have been some of the main breeding grounds for anti-Semitic hate speech and crimes; in the months after Oct.7, 73 percent of Jewish students report having experienced anti-Semitism on campus, and only 46 percent say they feel safe on campus, according to NBC news. Incidents include Jewish students being forced to hide inside a library at Cooper Union while a mob of students from a pro-Palestine rally banged on the doors and threatened them, a Jewish student’s head being bashed with the pole of a Palestinian flag at Tulane, swastikas being painted on doors of Jewish students at the University of Florida, widespread threats of rape and murder to “eliminate Jewish living from the Cornell campus,” physical assault of an Israeli student at Columbia University, and many, many more incidents. 

“All the anti-Semitism at colleges and universities honestly terrifies me,” junior Simcha Haretz said. “It has fully impacted my decision-making process when it comes to narrowing down colleges I want to apply to, I want to study somewhere where I feel safe to express my Judaism.” 

According to a survey done at Inside Higher Ed, Jewish students feel most unsafe in universities such as Boston University, NYU, Columbia University, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UPenn, UMich, and more. When it comes to Florida schools, however, UF, FSU, UCF, and UM all scored within the lowest range – in terms of anti-Semitism seen on campus.

 In response to the uproar of anti-Semitism, Congress held a hearing in early December and asked if calling for the international genocide of Jewish people, as many pro-Palestine rallies include students chanting for such, went against the universities code of conduct, to the presidents of Harvard, UPenn, and MIT, all of whom refused to recognize it as harassment or hate speech. As of writing both UPenn president Elizabeth Magill and Harvard president Claudine Gay have resigned, a notion attributed to anti-Semitism controversies, and plagiarism allegations for the latter. 

Outside of colleges and universities, synagogues have increased security as they have been the source of numerous attacks since Oct. 7. Molotov cocktails were thrown at synagogues in Berlin, and an attempt at doing the same was made in Montreal. Rabbis have been attacked in Italy, France and other countries while countless bombing and shooting threats have appeared across social media platforms.

According to an Institute for Strategic Dialogue study, anti-Semitic comments made on social media platforms have increased 50-fold, including posts calling for the extermination of the international Jewish community and praising the murder, rape, and kidnapping that took place on Oct. 7, 2023. According to USA Today, on TikTok – an app whose user base consists of mainly Gen Z’ers (high school and college age) – extremist groups frequently use the app to foment dangerous messages and recruit members, and that, dog whistles, Holocaust deniers and other anti-semetic tropes are commonly found on the app. According to CBC news, anti-semitic content has increased on both TikTok and X, with the latter suffering a 919 percent increase in anti-semitic content since Oct. 7. 

Marches in support of Israel and to spread awareness about the rise in anti-Semitism have taken place worldwide, with 60,000 marching in London, 180,000 in Paris, over 300,000 in Washington.