University Of Illinois Campus Community Condemns ‘Jewish Privilege’ Fliers
Image by Facebook
Following the circulation on campus of posters claiming that “ending white privilege starts with ending Jewish privilege,” a wide range of faculty and student groups at the University of Illinois at Chicago denounced the fliers as hateful and potentially alienating.
“We condemn these anti-Semitic assaults as well as the divisive suggestion that Black and Muslim students are the source of this racism. We disavow any attempt to use the painful realities of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict or the Holocaust as fodder for anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Blackness,” the statement read. It was signed by actors including the university’s Jewish Studies Program, Social Justice Initiative and faculty association.
The fliers, distributed last week, were riddled with false statements, including the allegation that almost half of American Jews were in the top 1% of income earners which cited a Pew study that contradicted such a claim. The posters implied that Black Lives Matter or Muslims were their authors, with hashtags like #blacklivesmatter and #wearemuslims.
Since the election of President Trump last November, Jewish communities have seen a precipitous rise in hate crimes, as swastikas pop up all over major cities and bomb threats flood into Jewish institutions.
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
