Jewish students find themselves in fear and facing sadness on their college campuses ever since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, according to a recent survey by Jewish campus organization Hillel International.
Adam Lehman
The online survey – conducted by market research firm Benenson Strategy Group for Hillel International from Nov. 14-15 – included 300 Jewish college students.
The survey found that 51% of U.S. respondents reported feeling less safe on campus than they did prior to the Oct. 7 attacks, according to Adam Lehman, president and CEO of Hillel International.
Oct. 7, 2023, marked the day terrorist group Hamas’s suddenly attacked a music festival that was occurring in Israel, with more than 1,400 Israelis killed and more than 240 taken hostage, according to Israeli officials. Since the attack, Israel has struck back and has been at war with the group in Gaza, the dedicated assault resulting in more than 10,000 Palestinians dead, according to Palestinian officials.
The ongoing conflict has polarized many in the U.S., including on college campuses, where student walkouts and demonstrations have arisen in support for both sides. There have also been calls to protect free speech for faculty amid these rising tensions.
According to the survey, 84% of Jewish students said the situation in Israel and Gaza is affecting them, with 68% reporting feeling sadness and 54% scared. What the students were asked was broad.
"The survey question that they were responding to is as follows: 'How is the news in Israel and Gaza making you feel?' So, it was not specific to any one aspect of what's happening with the war,” Lehman said. “But I think that also is relevant because the students surveyed not only expressed, in [the] vast majority of cases, feeling sad but also frustrated, angry, scared, and helpless."
