stories
Antizionism is often discussed as an abstract theory—a matter of ideology, discourse, or debate—but for those who have lived under its racist, obsessive gaze, it is not abstract at all. It is a system of control that reaches into daily life, dictating who may speak, belong, and even exist without fear. The stories gathered here ground this reality in human experience. They trace the migration of antizionism across time and geography: from the prisons and labor camps of the Soviet Union, to the purges and expulsions that emptied the Middle East of its Jews, to the ideological campaigns of the Eastern Bloc, and finally to the universities and institutions of the democratic West. Each story, whether from Baghdad in 1941 or Cambridge in 2024, testifies to the same pattern—antizionism as a devastating, persecuting force. To confront antizionism, we must see it as a lived structure of harm, whose consequences unfold in the lives, choices, and silences of real people.
Soviet Antizionism
natan sharansky
Sharansky became the conscience of a generation—a man whose only crime was wanting to live openly as a Jew. In the Soviet Union, Jewish identity itself was treated as subversion: studying Hebrew, speaking of Israel, or even gathering to celebrate a holiday could bring interrogation and ruin. Sharansky’s demand for the right to emigrate was not an act of defiance against his country but a plea for the freedom to exist without fear. For that, the regime branded him a spy, imprisoned him for nine years, and tried to break his spirit in solitary confinement. His endurance turned the refusenik struggle into a moral mirror, exposing a state that crushed its Jews for daring to live as Jews.
operation wedding
In 1970, a small group of Jewish activists in Leningrad hatched a desperate plan: they would board a plane under false pretenses and fly it out of the Soviet Union—not to escape, but to be arrested, forcing the world to confront their plight. The regime had made every avenue of Jewish life—language, worship, learning—an offense, and emigration an impossibility. Their act, known as “Operation Wedding,” was not an attempt at hijacking in the ordinary sense but a cry for recognition: to show that Jews were prisoners in their own land. When they were captured and sentenced, global outrage finally pierced the silence. Their sacrifice revealed the brutality of a system that left Jews only two choices—erasure or imprisonment.
ida nudel
Nudel, a quiet economist turned dissident, lived under constant surveillance after demanding the right to emigrate. When officials refused, she hung a banner from her Moscow balcony reading “KGB, Give Me My Visa to Israel!”—a gesture of breathtaking courage in a society that punished thought itself. For this, she was exiled to Siberia, denied work, and branded an enemy of the state. Yet she refused to be broken. From exile, she became a lifeline for others, sending food and letters to imprisoned refuseniks across the Gulag. Nudel’s defiance laid bare the truth of Soviet antizionism: Jews did not flee the USSR because they longed for somewhere new—they fled because the regime made it impossible to remain human while Jewish.
yosef begun
Begun was arrested again and again for the simplest of acts: teaching Hebrew. In the Soviet Union, even the alphabet of Jewish life was criminalized—Hebrew was treated as the language of Zionist conspiracy, and teaching it an offense against the state. Begun’s quiet lessons in private apartments became an act of spiritual rebellion, proof that a people could not be erased by decree. He was fired from his engineering job, sent to labor camps, and branded an “enemy of the people,” yet he continued to teach, insisting that every Jew had the right to know who they were. Begun’s persecution revealed the true nature of Soviet antizionism: it was not opposition to a state abroad, but to Jewish self-knowledge itself.
Middle East & North Africa Antizionism
the farhud (baghdad, 1941)
On Shavuot in 1941, the Jewish community of Baghdad—one of the oldest in the world—was torn apart in a pogrom that foreshadowed the violence to come. For two days, mobs rampaged through Jewish neighborhoods, murdering more than 180 men, women, and children, and looting thousands of homes and shops. The Farhud was not a spontaneous riot but a convergence of Nazi propaganda and Arab nationalist incitement, a local rehearsal for the annihilations taking place in Europe. It shattered the illusion that Jews in the Arab world could remain safe as long as they stayed silent. From that point on, Jewish life in Iraq was marked by fear, surveillance, and the slow erasure of an ancient civilization.
shafiq ades (Basra, 1948)
Ades, one of Iraq’s most respected businessmen, had supported the monarchy and employed thousands. Yet in 1948, as Iraq joined the Arab war against Israel, he was dragged before a show trial on fabricated charges of “Zionist treason” and publicly hanged in Basra’s main square. The crowds celebrated; his body was left dangling for hours as a warning. Ades’s execution marked the turning point when Jewish existence in Iraq became untenable. It revealed the lie of “antizionism” as political critique—it was the pretext for ethnic cleansing, cloaked in the rhetoric of loyalty and purity.
the egyptian expulsions (1956)
In the wake of the Suez Crisis, President Nasser ordered the mass expulsion of Egypt’s Jews, declaring them “enemies of the state.” Over 25,000 Jews were forced to leave within months, their citizenship revoked, their property seized, and their passports stamped “exit—no return.” Many had been in Egypt since antiquity, yet were suddenly recast as Zionist infiltrators. Synagogues were shuttered, schools confiscated, and families scattered across Europe and Israel. The expulsions stripped Egypt of a cosmopolitan community that had shaped its modern culture—proof that antizionism functioned not to defend Arab sovereignty, but to purify it through Jewish removal.
habib elghanian (Tehran, 1979)
When Iran’s Islamic Revolution swept through Tehran, Habib Elghanian, an industrialist and community leader, was arrested within weeks. Accused of “spying for Israel” and “spreading corruption on earth,” he was executed by firing squad after a fifteen-minute trial. His death was the first political execution of the new regime and sent a clear message: Jewish loyalty itself was treasonous. Elghanian’s murder triggered the exodus of nearly all of Iran’s 80,000 Jews. Antizionism here revealed its true nature—not opposition to policy, but a totalizing ideology that branded Jewish existence as inherently criminal.
the damascus hangings (syria, 1960s)
In Syria, Jewish life was reduced to a state of invisible captivity. Jews were barred from travel, their phones tapped, their jobs surveilled. In 1969, the regime staged public hangings of nine young Jews in Damascus, accusing them of “Zionist espionage.” The condemned were tortured, paraded, and displayed for crowds to jeer at their bodies. These hangings were not about justice—they were theater, designed to prove the regime’s revolutionary purity by humiliating Jews in public view. For the few thousand Jews who remained trapped in Syria, it was a message written in terror: Jewish existence itself had become a standing crime.
antizionism in poland & the eastern bloc
The 1968 Purge in Poland
In 1968, the Polish Communist regime launched what it called an “anti-Zionist campaign,” a euphemism for a state-directed purge of Jews from public life. The trigger was Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War — celebrated quietly by Polish Jews but seen by the regime as treason. Jewish officers, professors, and journalists were fired, interrogated, and denounced in the press as a “fifth column.” Students who protested were beaten and expelled. Thousands of Jews, including lifelong communists who had fought fascism, were forced to renounce their citizenship and flee. Among them was Leszek Kołakowski’s protégé Zygmunt Bauman, a sociologist stripped of his position for being both “Jewish” and “cosmopolitan.” Airports filled with families carrying suitcases stamped “EXIT—NO RETURN.” The campaign’s cruelty lay in its pretense: it claimed to target Zionists abroad but succeeded in erasing Jews at home.
Czechoslovakia and Rudolf Slánský
In the early 1950s, Stalin’s paranoia took aim at his most loyal servants. In Prague, Rudolf Slánský, the Jewish General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, was arrested along with thirteen others, eleven of them Jews. They were accused of belonging to a “Zionist-Titoist-Trotskyite conspiracy,” charged with plotting to undermine socialism on behalf of “imperialist Israel.” Under torture, they confessed to absurd crimes, including “spreading Jewish nationalism.” Slánský was hanged in 1952, his ashes scattered to erase his memory. The show trial became a model for other purges across the Eastern Bloc, cementing “antizionism” as the moral disguise of Stalinist antisemitism. Behind the rhetoric of revolutionary vigilance lay an older impulse — the need to purify the body politic by expelling its Jews once again.
Threats and Harassment at the University of Pennsylvania
“During a unity rally held by Jewish students, we chanted, ‘Rape is not resistance,’ while the encampment chanted, ‘Resistance is justified.’ … They’re met with masked individuals screaming at them: ‘Go die. You are Hitler’s children and Nazis.’ … A student walking on his own campus was surrounded by four masked figures flashing strobe lights directly into his eyes. They proceeded to threaten him, saying, ‘If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get out of here. Hope you have a good doctor, and how’s your dental plan?’”
— Eyal Jacoby, University of Pennsylvania senior
Desecration of Symbols and Open Threats
“The encampment at Penn waved the flag of the PFLP while chanting ‘Al Qassam, make us proud.’ … They vandalized the Benjamin Franklin statue with Nazi and Hamas logos, as well as graffiti reading ‘Zios get f**ed.’* … Within 24 hours of installing two American flags at Harvard Divinity School, they were vandalized three separate times. The flagpole was ripped in half. The flags were tossed across the ground.”
— Eyal Jacoby (UPenn) and Shabbos Kestenbaum (Harvard)
intimidation and anti-jewish policing at harvard
“The protesters established their own rule of law on campus, creating self-appointed ‘safety marshals’ to patrol the campus. These safety marshals followed Jews like me on our way to class, monitoring our every move. They often recorded us and demanded that we leave their encampment, as if we did not have a right to exist at Harvard…a staff at Harvard threatened me with a machete… To this day, Harvard has yet… to discipline this staff member.”
— Shabbos Kestenbaum, Harvard University graduate student
Faculty Endorsement of anti-jewish Violence
“Some professors at Penn are also abetting hateful speech and conduct. One professor posted a cartoon mocking 9/11; another posted on October 7 ‘beautiful and timely’—while in class, a different professor remarked that not all Jews should be thrown into the sea, but only because, in his own words, ‘it was not practical.’”
— Eyal Jacoby, University of Pennsylvania
Emotional Toll and Institutional Silence
“We invited two months ago a popular Israeli musician to sing songs to Jewish students who’ve been experiencing anti-Semitism. There was such a vicious boycott and protest … that we had to hire outside security. When I asked Harvard DEI to condemn the fact that Jewish students needed security to sing songs, they said, ‘This does not fall under our purview.’”
— Shabbos Kestenbaum, Harvard University
Columbia Campus Declared Unsafe for Jews
“An Orthodox rabbi employed by Columbia University urged Jewish students to avoid campus, warning it was no longer safe to remain on university grounds amid ongoing protests.”
— Opening Statement, House Hearing on Antisemitism in Higher Education, 2025
UCLA: Punished for Identifying as a Zionist
“A UCLA student was asked if he was a ‘Zionist’ and, after answering yes, was prohibited from moving to another part of the campus building—simply for expressing his view. Unconscionable.”
— Opening Statement, House Hearing on Antisemitism in Higher Education, 2025
UNC & Yale: Defaced Graduation and Assault with a Flagpole
“At the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, protesters defaced a campus building hours before graduation, coating its steps in red paint. At Yale University, a Jewish student was surrounded by a mob and assaulted by a demonstrator who jabbed her in the eye with a Palestinian flag.”
— Opening Statement, House Hearing on Antisemitism in Higher Education, 2025
Antizionist Bullying and Harassment
The report documents that “Jewish and Israeli students reported being verbally harassed, shouted down, or targeted online for expressing pro-Israel views.” It cites examples of “flyers and social media posts naming Jewish students as supporters of genocide or Zionist violence,” and notes that “some faculty reportedly mocked or dismissed students who challenged anti-Israel narratives in class.” Jewish organizations also experienced vandalism and intimidation.
“Some students described hearing chants such as ‘From the river to the sea’ shouted at them on campus pathways.” (Stanford Task Force Report, 2024)
Institutional Exclusion
According to the task force, “Certain DEI frameworks at Stanford excluded Jewish and Israeli experiences by categorizing Jews as white and privileged.” The report highlights cases where “Jewish or Israeli speakers were removed from events for being perceived as Zionists,” and that “students were pressured to denounce Israel or sign anti-Zionist statements to be accepted in activist groups.”
“Several Jewish students told the task force they felt they had to conceal or renounce their connection to Israel in order to belong in progressive spaces.” (Stanford Task Force Report, 2024)
Social Ostracism and Fear of Speaking
The report finds that “many Jewish and Israeli students described a climate of fear and self-censorship.” Students said they “avoided wearing Jewish symbols, discussing family history, or expressing opinions about Israel” for fear of social or academic retaliation. Others reported “being told directly that Zionists are not welcome in student groups or dorm communities.”
“Jewish students described the need to self-censor in nearly every social and academic setting, fearing that their words could be used against them.” (Stanford Task Force Report, 2024)
Social Ostracism
The report found that Jewish and Israeli students experienced social exclusion so pervasive that “many described feeling isolated, unwelcome, and even unsafe in academic and social settings.” Several reported being shunned by peers, told to avoid collaboration with Israelis, or pressured to hide their background. One example cited an Israeli student who was “bullied by pro-Palestinian activists and told by classmates that speaking to them was not acceptable.”
“Jewish and Israeli students reported being ostracized by classmates and student organizations, sometimes to the point of social isolation.” (Harvard Task Force Report, 2025)
silencing and self-censorship
The task force documented that “many Jewish students reported self-censoring to avoid being labeled or attacked.” One student said they were discouraged from telling a story about their grandfather’s Holocaust-era rescue work in Palestine because it “might offend Palestinians.” Others “removed Stars of David from their profiles or avoided discussing family history related to Israel.”
“Students described self-silencing on campus, particularly around anything that might be perceived as supportive of Israel.” (Harvard Task Force Report, 2025)
Faculty Bias and Institutional Fear
The report noted a chilling effect among faculty, with “some professors stating that they would not hire or collaborate with Israeli or Zionist scholars.” It also documented classrooms where “anti-Israel rhetoric was introduced in unrelated courses,” creating an atmosphere where disagreement was unwelcome.
“Several faculty members reported fear of being labeled for expressing views sympathetic to Israel or for working with Israeli colleagues.” (Harvard Task Force Report, 2025)
Hostility and Harassment
The report documents widespread incidents of hostility toward Jewish and Israeli students, including harassment, intimidation, and classroom bias. Students described being shouted at, called “genociders,” and excluded from discussions for expressing even mild support for Israel. The task force noted that some students “experienced antisemitic slurs and hate speech” and that “the emotional toll of this hostility was profound.”
“Many Jewish and Israeli students reported feeling unsafe, unwelcome, and afraid to express their views on campus.” (Columbia Task Force on Antisemitism, 2024)
forced exile
The report found that DEI and social justice initiatives on campus “frequently failed to include Jewish or Israeli identities” and, in some cases, “recast them as privileged oppressors.” Jewish student organizations were sometimes denied recognition or funding, while antizionist speech was tolerated under the guise of political expression.
“Jewish and Israeli students reported that DEI spaces often excluded them, perceiving their identities as inconsistent with the framework of marginalization.” (Columbia Task Force on Antisemitism, 2024)
Faculty Bias and Institutional Fear
The task force reported a pervasive climate of fear. Students avoided displaying Jewish symbols or speaking openly about Israel to protect themselves socially and academically. Many described “walking on eggshells” and feeling that revealing their identity could result in ostracism or academic retaliation.
“Students said they routinely self-censored, refrained from wearing Jewish symbols, and avoided conversations about Israel for fear of backlash.” (Columbia Task Force on Antisemitism, 2024)
Hostility and Harassment
The UCLA report documents pervasive harassment and intimidation of Jewish and Israeli students, including verbal attacks, exclusion, and physical threats. Over one-third of respondents reported discriminatory treatment, and nearly half said their peers engaged in antisemitic behavior. The task force noted that “many Jewish and Israeli students reported being shouted at, called ‘genociders,’ or excluded from class discussions” following October 7. These experiences produced “a negative impact on mental health and overall well-being,” with over 40 percent of respondents considering leaving UCLA because of antisemitism or anti-Israeli bias.
“Faculty, staff, and students report avoiding campus due to fears of harassment… Respondents describe hiding their Jewish identity, when possible, to avoid harassment and discrimination.” (UCLA Task Force on Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias, 2024)
encampment and institutional failure
According to the report, the 2024 encampment “was largely viewed as a source of antisemitism and anti-Israeli bias,” with roughly 70 percent of respondents identifying it as such. Witnesses described antisemitic graffiti, swastikas, and verbal assaults such as “Die you f***ing Jew” and “Israel = Nazis.” The task force concluded that university leadership “repeatedly decided not to enforce federal law, state law, and University rules,” allowing antisemitic behavior to escalate unchecked.
“Was denied entry through [the encampment] because I’m a Jew… Walking by campus and seeing signs emblazoned with ‘Israelis are native to hell’ and swastikas was a sight I will never forget.” (UCLA Task Force on Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias, 2024)
Fear, Isolation, and Administrative Distrust
The survey found widespread fear and alienation among Jewish and Israeli affiliates. Three-quarters of respondents said antisemitism was treated “less seriously than other forms of hate,” and one-third had filed complaints they believed would lead to no action. Many concealed Jewish symbols or refrained from expressing their identity altogether. The report concludes that discrimination has “eroded trust in the institution and compromised the ability of Jewish and Israeli students, faculty, and staff to learn and work.”
“Jewish and Israeli survey respondents lack confidence in UCLA’s ability to effectively address reports of antisemitism… The environment on campus has led a significant portion of respondents to consider leaving UCLA.” (UCLA Task Force on Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias, 2024)
Hostility in everyday life
The report documents that antisemitism in Britain “rose within hours” of the October 7 Hamas massacre, reaching record levels and spreading across “education, workplaces, the arts, and healthcare.” Jewish citizens described feeling that “there is almost nowhere they can turn outside the community where antisemitism does not seem present in some form.” Ordinary interactions—on the street, at work, or online—became fraught with hostility, leaving many feeling “unable to fully participate in society.”
“The community feels unable to fully participate in society as it has been facing increased antisemitism online, increased community tensions and a failure to effectively respond by institutions across the United Kingdom.” (Board of Deputies Commission on Antisemitism, 2024)
Discrimination in the Workplace and Public Institutions
The Commission received extensive testimony from Jewish professionals who reported being sidelined, silenced, or forced to hide their identity. NHS staff described antisemitism being “swept under the carpet,” with some Jewish patients uneasy seeking care. Others spoke of being pressured in professional associations that “do not feel representative or respectful,” but which they cannot leave without losing employment or credentials. The report concluded that antisemitism in professional life “has not been given sufficient attention,” often because Jewish identity is not recognized as both ethnic and religious.
“Many Jewish employees within NHS organisations feel that antisemitism in their workplace is not being addressed; for example, that the issue has ‘simply been swept under the carpet.’”
— Board of Deputies Commission on Antisemitism, 2024, p.19
cultural and academic exclusion
Evidence from artists, educators, and students revealed how cultural spaces and universities became zones of exclusion for Jews after October 7. Jewish performers and academics reported cancelled events, blacklisting, and boycotts. “Artists who previously worked in the industry with ease found the door closed after October 7th,” the report states, adding that public institutions sometimes “opted out of hosting Jewish voices to avoid conflict.” The result was not just professional harm but the silencing of Jewish creativity and scholarship in public life.
“It is unacceptable that Jewish artists are being discriminated against on the basis of their ethnicity.” (Board of Deputies Commission on Antisemitism, 2024)
harassment and fear on campus
Nosanchuk’s testimony recounts that Jewish students “face discrimination ranging from social ostracism, verbal harassment and, more rarely, physical violence.” He described students being taunted or blocked from entering buildings while displaying Jewish symbols; mezuzot were torn from doorframes and swastikas scrawled on dorm doors. Many Jewish students “conceal their Jewish identity or have retreated from parts of campus life to avoid being targeted.”
“Too many students report that they conceal their Jewish identity or have retreated from parts of campus life to avoid being targeted for being Jewish.” (Testimony of Mathew S. Nosanchuk, Hearing on Antisemitism in Higher Education, 2025)
faculty misconduct and institutional failure
The report details multiple faculty incidents that “crossed the line from uncomfortable ideas into identity-based targeting.” At Stanford, a lecturer ordered Jewish students to stand in a corner, saying, “This is what Israel does to the Palestinians.” At the University of Vermont, a teaching assistant boasted online about deducting points from “Zionist” students and celebrated antisemitic vandalism. At the University of Florida, a law professor awarded first prize to a student paper promoting white-nationalist ideology, later defended by administrators.
“Professors have used instructional time to inappropriately promote advocacy or boycotts while others have created or permitted explicitly hostile environments for Jewish students.” (Testimony of Mathew S. Nosanchuk, 2025)
exclusion from student life
Beyond classrooms, Nosanchuk emphasized that “Jewish students at several universities report that an antisemitic hostile environment forced them to distance themselves from their Jewish identity or relationship with Israel in order to maintain friendships or participate in organizations.” This pattern, he warned, effectively “forces students to choose between their identity and their social acceptance.”
“No students, including Jewish students, should be forced to choose between their identity and their social acceptance.” (Testimony of Mathew S. Nosanchuk, 2025)
hostile learning environment
Epstein described how antisemitic incidents “became normalized” across campuses after October 7, with Jewish students “taunted, shouted down, and made to feel that their presence was a provocation.” She cited one case where a Jewish student wearing a Star of David was told, “Take that off—it’s a hate symbol.” Others reported graffiti equating Judaism with “white supremacy” or “colonialism.”
“Students told me they began avoiding class altogether because they did not feel safe walking through the quad when protests were happening. They did not feel that university leadership would protect them.” (Testimony of Shira Epstein, 2025)
silencing and administrative evasion
According to the testimony, university administrators often refused to intervene when antisemitic speech was framed as “political.” Epstein stated that Jewish students who reported harassment were “told to consider dialogue” or “avoid bringing up Israel in conversation.” This institutional reluctance, she argued, “turned prejudice into policy.”
“When Jewish students report harassment, they are told to ‘seek mediation’ with the very people targeting them. That is not inclusion; it is institutional abandonment.” (Testimony of Shira Epstein, 2025)
social and psychological impact
Epstein emphasized the deep emotional toll of sustained antizionist hostility. Students she interviewed described “losing lifelong friends overnight” and “hiding Jewish identity markers out of fear.” Many said the hostility was not episodic but “a background hum of exclusion that never stops.”
“One student told me, ‘I’ve stopped wearing my Star of David. I don’t post about my family anymore. I just try not to be noticed.’ That is not what belonging looks like on an American campus.” (Testimony of Shira Epstein, 2025)