One would assume that anti-Semitism today is limited to Europe. But according to Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice President of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, it is also on the rise in the United States.

"It's not Europe yet, but anti-Semitism is definitely on the rise," he said this week in Jerusalem where his organisation held its annual gathering.

"That's something we have a collective responsibility to address," he said.

Despite that, Hoenlein said ties between Jerusalem and Washington remain stable. "America has one reliable ally, one 'aircraft carrier' in this whole region that it can count on at any time, where it can preposition a billion dollar in equipment and it'll be there in six months," he said.

He mentioned in particular the fact that 75 % of American Jewish students say they have witnessed or experienced anti-Semitism on their college campuses.

In many cases, the reason behind the anti-Semitism is “ignorance” rather than hatred, explained Hoenlein. The Conference of Presidents represents 50 American Jewish organisations.

Hoenlein affirmed that Jewish leaders are working on the “security and safety of Jewish students, and we have lawyers who go onto campuses all over the country—many of them, by the way, non-Jews—to protect the interests and rights of Jewish students, to enlist faculty, to go after the administrations, to work with them. In many cases we find it’s ignorance, it’s the lack of understanding—it’s not hatred or anti-Semitism.”

In one of the latest incident on the campuses, the president of Brooklyn College strongly condemned the disruption of a faculty meeting this week by students shouting anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist epithets, according to The Algemeiner.

Referring to the interruption of the Faculty Council meeting by students chanting “Zionists off campus” while demanding the university divest from Israel, President Karen Gould said, “We find this disruptive behavior unacceptable and the hateful comments especially abhorrent.” She also called for an investigation into the students’ conduct and for appropriate actions to be taken based on the findings.

The Anti-Defamation League also denounced the students in a press release, and praised Gould for her strong response.

The event occurred on Tuesday, when 10 students entered the premises of the Faculty Council meeting, yelling anti-Israel slogans. When Faculty Council Chair Prof. Yedidya Langsam attempted to restore order, they reportedly called him a “Zionist pig.”

Langsam noted that in recent years there has been growing anti-Israel hostility on the Brooklyn College campus, including the rise of the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement (BDS). But, he added, “I have been at Brooklyn College since 1973, when I was a student. In all these years I have never before been personally targeted in this way.”

“Students are welcome to their views about Israel and Zionism, however misinformed they might be,” Langsam said. “But to my mind there is no difference today between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. Anti-Zionism is merely a more polite way to express anti-Semitism.”