Conspiracies in Our Campus Marketplace
Leading up to graduation, I am pessimistic about GW's capacity to address antisemitism
This article was originally published in the Jerusalem Post on April 2, 2025.
Traces of the 1903 Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which libeled Jews as being tied to a “Zionist Occupation Government” controlling the world, have made their way into the campus marketplace of ideas.
Some of my so-called “progressive” peers have bought into such anti-Zionist propaganda that resulted in the expulsion of 900,000 Jews from Arab lands and their coercion out of the Soviet Union in the late 20th century. A spin-off of Hitlerism is what self-proclaimed “liberal” fellow students and revered university professors have been selling and consuming.
As a college senior who has faced antisemitism and has actively worked to confront it during my time at university, I approach graduation this May with little hope that the George Washington University administration is genuinely committed to making the university a more civil place and a safer one – not only for its Jewish and Israeli community but for all students.
The violent face of hatred never begins with conduct but with ideas and radical, polarizing frameworks. GW should have learned this lesson following the outrageous festivals of anti-Jewish hate on campus last year. However, it continues to let those students promote antisemitic ideas and break the rules with no personal accountability. Rule-breaking students thus remain undeterred, and the virus of hate continues to mutate.
Consider the sign that the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at GW propped up on campus recently displaying the word “Zionism” connected to “every struggle” – including but not limited to “Black oppression,” “exploiting LGBTQ,” “exploiting women,” “animal cruelty,” “reproductive violence,” and “global warming.”
The irony is staggering. Israel hosts the world’s largest annual pride parade in the Middle East, pioneers sustainable climate technologies through its dominant start-up culture, provides easy access to abortions, and uses AI to determine animal pain and emotions.
Meanwhile, Hamas and its counterparts execute LGBTQ individuals, oppress and sexually abuse women, and shot innocent dogs on October 7. The billions in aid given to the Palestinians, including from the UN Relief and Works Agency and the US Agency for International Development, have not been used to build bomb shelters or advance the lives of its citizens but to build terror tunnels that stretch longer than the London Underground, where Hamas is starving, torturing, and holding Israeli hostages.
But let’s set aside these ironies for a moment and look at the greatest irony of all: In our academic institutions, where knowledge and truth are the intended pursuits, these dangerous lies fester and grow. The history of these falsities and their impact must be addressed.
The notion that Zionism is responsible for global ills can be traced to far-right extremists who claim that Zionists manipulate Western governments to destabilize the global economy, limit free speech, confiscate land, and control military and police forces.
SJP GW’s sign reminded me of the time when my father and a Muslim friend in California were discussing upcoming travels to Israel and were confronted by a member of the far-right antisemitic group the Goyim Defense League, who accused them of controlling and collapsing the financial system and taking over the world with their “Talmudic inversion” and “ethnostate.”
This demonization of Zionism has been embraced by American white supremacist circles and the Russian Pamyat party, described as “antisemitic” and “chauvinist.” They emerged when the Soviet Union aligned itself with Arab nations in the 1970s and 80s, framing Zionism as a form of imperialism and racism, reinforcing this narrative against the United States and, more broadly, the West during the Cold War.
Those promoting these far-right conspiracies are also often the same individuals spreading radical Islamist propaganda from groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda, which harm Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. These organizations have used antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric to radicalize disenfranchised Muslims in mosques and early education, presenting the idea of fighting a sinister Jewish or Zionist global conspiracy as a powerful tool for recruitment for jihad.
Do my “progressive peers” truly believe in these ideas? If so, where are they getting these notions? Who is allowing them to open their own markets to resell these ideas?
First, there is a direct connection between the classroom and the public square. Professors who promote the idea that a ‘white supremacist’ or ‘Zionist supremacist’ system is to blame for all the world’s problems are emboldening and legitimizing groups like SJP while misleading students with lies about the Jewish people, the West, and the Middle East.
Second, representatives from organizations like the Palestine Youth Movement and Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) - linked to the Popular Liberation Front for Palestine and Hamas, respectively - are speaking to anti-Israel campus groups, teaching students to "know [their] rights" and encouraging them to continue their 'resistance.'
When rights such as free speech are nonexistent in Gaza under Hamas rule, how can one exploit Western freedoms to advocate for a cause brimming with the suppression of those very freedoms?
As the Department of Justice launches its investigation into GW, they may find that last April, SJP GW’s ringleader’s charges were dropped, likely under pressure from Palestine Legal, an organization connected to CAIR that helps anti-Israel rule-breakers escape accountability.
Hence, it is disconcerting but unsurprising that Palestine Legal frames the recent Department of Education Office of Civil Rights resolution agreement with GW as a victory, claiming that rule-breaking, anti-Zionist behavior is protected under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
The GW administration has continued to “suspend” SJP without adequately disciplining individual students for their conduct violations. This policy only emboldens the anti-Israel disruptors on campus.
One prime example is found in SJP GW’s targeting of Prof. Joseph Pelzman, the architect behind Trump’s Gaza plan, by flooding his office doorstep with “eviction notices” branding him a “pernicious symptom of the bloodthirsty Zionism permeating campus” and demanding his removal, warning, “every sector of this community will be mobilized against you.” Another is in SJP GW’s subsequent Palestinian Liberation Week events with unruly protests on campus. The university has not responded with a single public condemnation.
The spread of antisemitism is not just an ideological issue; it is a dangerous revival of historical hate that threatens democracy, decency, and civilizational order. Groups like SJP and their affiliates embody the antithesis of the freedoms they are privileged to exercise in their advocacy. Their actions contradict the cherished values of healthy debate, rigorous scholarship, and respect for the institutions that academia upholds.
To restore these values and protect them, GW should adhere to federal guidelines similar to those recently adopted by Columbia University. This should include a stalwart enforcement of the university codes of conduct, the implementation of a mask ban, and the delegation of law enforcement authority, including the power to arrest and remove unlawful agitators should they appear, to public safety officers.
Another important piece is the review of academic departments for professionalism and scholarly integrity by independent experts. Those appointed to review Middle East Studies and other curricula for anti-Israel and pro-terror content should also focus on viewpoint diversity across the university and assess how professors are mobilizing students toward antisemitic disruptions.
Should I hope to reverse my dismal outlook on GW’s addressing of campus antisemitism in the months leading up to my graduation, the GW administration must begin ushering in a culture of accountability by holding those who break the rules personally accountable while confronting these libelous narratives stemming from a historical hatred. If not, the institutional damage could exacerbate – not only losing valuable assets in federal funds and further reputational harm but a reduction in our vibrant Jewish student body.
The writer works with the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism & Policy (ISGAP) and is graduating from George Washington University this spring.
What the white robes were to the Klan are what the mask is to today’s anarchists of all stripes.
You always see these conspiracy wall movie tropes with Zionism at the center, but why can't it ever be positive conspiracies like sunshine, rainbows, unicorns, and candy? It's a little one-sided.