Special Reports

Swastikas at Stanford University: Anti-Semitism Incidences Did Not Just Happen This Year

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A slew of swastikas at Stanford University has been discovered once again in the campus - less than a month before the first incident happened. The graffiti was found in Escondido Village where the graduate housing is located. However, this is not the first time anti-Semitic messages and incidences occurred in the campus. Here's a brief timeline based on the data from AMCHA, a California-based non-profit which tracks anti-Semitism at colleges and campuses in the United States.

2015

At the beginning of 2015 a group of students urged Stanford University to boycott and divest from corporations that they believe commit human rights crimes against people in the Palestinian territories. The protest was led by the group Stanford Out of Occupied Palestine (SOOP). However, Stanford stayed true to its words that it won't support anti-Semitic activities.

When the administration did not listen to their initial calls, the group started asking support from fellow students to help them endorse their anti-Israel campaigns. On January 30, 2015, the Student for Justice in Palestine (SJP) signed a divestment petition against Israel and on February 10, Stanford faculty signed their own petition supporting the boycott against Israel.

In March, the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) tried to cut the budget of the Jewish Student Association (JSA) by two-thirds, a move that is larger than what is required for groups similar to the JSA. Although the Appropriations Committee admitted that the proposed cut was a mistake, it still proceeded to cut the JSA's budget by one-third.

When it comes to vandalization, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house was painted with swastikas on April 26, 2015.

2016

On April 5th 2016, Gabriel Knight, a Stanford senator who is seeking reelection, argued during an ASSU meeting that it is not anti-Semitic to say that Jews control the media, economy, the government, and other institutions. He further said that not questioning these views is irresponsible. His speech was met with a lot of approvals from the students.

Throughout 2016, the SJP actively tried to discredit and discriminate Israel in the campus. On May 12, 2016, they disrupted the assembly of the Stanford Israel Association.

Despite these anti-Semitic incidences, Stanford University does not tolerate such acts of hate, such as the ones that have happened recently. The Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) has been encouraging students to report hate crimes around the campus.

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