US-Israeli group warns colleges about anti-Israel protests on third anniversary of October 7 attack

The Israeli-American Council, an organization that works to promote the community of Israelis in the US, is urging more than 100 US universities, including every Ivy League school, to prepare for anti-Israel events ahead of the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre.

The IAC says it contacted university presidents and administrators, asking them to plan for demonstrations and consistently enforce policies against harassment and disruption.

The appeal follows reports of pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel rallies being promoted on several campuses for October 7, some near memorial ceremonies organized by Jewish and Israeli communities, IAC says.

“For the Jewish and Israeli community, October 7 is, first and foremost, a day of mourning, remembrance, and trauma,” says Sagit Sade Attia, the IAC’s national senior director of academic initiatives.

The letters cite a September 28 report by the US Commission on Civil Rights that described campus antisemitism as a serious civil rights concern, documenting harassment, threats, and exclusion affecting Jewish students.

The IAC calls on schools to engage Jewish and Israeli students and incorporate multiple perspectives into academic programming, stressing that it is not asking universities to choose sides in the conflict.

The IAC is also encouraging students to hold memorial events, and has distributed a commemoration guide to campuses nationwide, it says.

Yesterday, Israel’s Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry warned that 262 pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protests and events have been identified in 37 countries over the coming weeks, more than 80 of which were identified as high- or medium- risk.