Since October 7^th, things have been different. Though there is a war taking place in the Middle East, it is having a major impact on many right here in the greater Princeton area. Over the past month+, there have been local gatherings of grief and solidarity with Israel, Pro-Palestinian rallies, teach-ins, and vigils to bring home the hostages. Very little has been covered by our local media, so we felt compelled to do so.

In this issue, Understanding & Supporting Others During This Trying Time, Princeton Perspectives aims to take a closer look at why a war in Israel and Gaza is affecting people so closely here.

Though our local media is covering little, mainstream media is covering this issue non-stop. From national online publications to cable news channels, network news and social media, people are learning about the area for the first time and getting updates on what is happening in live time. Where are you getting your knowledge? We asked Princeton University students to share how they stay in-the-know in this month’s Pulse of Princeton, and you may be interested to hear what they have to say.

If you’re paying attention, you have either seen first-hand or heard about the rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia this past month. Both are forms of hate, brewing from a war between mostly Jews and Muslims. But the hate is coming from people of all religions, races and nations. Antisemitism, in particular, is seeing the highest rise around the world of our lifetimes, reminiscent of that felt in the 1930s and ‘40s. It’s building fear in the Jewish people that the world is on the brink of another Holocaust. The Rise in Jew-Hatred is Felt Near and Far examines what antisemitism is, how it has grown and what is happening locally to fuel it and counter it.

One of the ways to eliminate hate is to learn about history, about people and the lives they’ve lived. But how does one learn this? In the article A Mix of Local Education and Transglobal Information Feed Today’s Youth we examine what NJ content students learn in school, at home and on social media and whether or not it prepares them to engage in global conversations like this.

For many, the emotional and mental toll of the Israel-Hamas War is having a major psychological impact. Use an Open Heart to Get Through Today’s Tragedies, is a local psychologist’s vantage point, insight that might allow you to see things a little differently and to feel a little bit better.

Finding compassion, as is recommended in the article above, is one way to engage in conversation and to move forward while the war is going on and after. It can be a difficult thing to find, especially with someone who comes from a different social identity group than you do. But that also might be the key. In Allyship: A Way to Advocate and Commiserate with Others, we learn from experiences locals have engaged in to open our eyes and heart, to move forward.

We are also looking back, providing updates on stories we have covered in the past. This month’s Perspectives Revisited touches on municipal and school information that you will want to stay up on.

We aimed to bring you lots of information in this issue, some which is harder to read and some which can give you hope. Until next month, keep leaning on those you love.

Lisa Jacknow

Lisa Jacknow spent years working in national and local news in and around New York City before moving to Princeton. Working as both a TV producer and news reporter, Lisa came to this area to focus on the local news of Mercer County at WZBN-TV. In recent years, she got immersed in the Princeton community by serving leadership roles at local schools in addition to volunteering for other local non-profits. In her free time, Lisa loves to spend time with her family, play tennis, sing and play the piano. A graduate of the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Lisa was raised just north of Boston, Massachusetts but has lived in the tri-state area since college. She is excited to be Editor and head writer for Princeton Perspectives!

Antisemitism has long been the most-reported religious hate crime. Since the October 7^th Israeli massacre by Hamas it has skyrocketed, with downtowns, college campuses and other areas being site to some of the most blatant and overt acts of our time, creating a fear of another Holocaust to come.

In October, the FBI released its 2022 Hate Crimes Statistics Report, which showed more than half of all religion-based crimes in the U.S. are anti-Jewish. Additionally for 2022, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) tabulated a 36% increase in antisemitic acts over what it had found in 2021, which at that point was the highest number recorded since the organization began tracking incidents in 1979. After California, New Jersey had the most reported antisemitic incidents across the U.S. in 2019, the most in 2020 & 2021 and the 2^nd most in 2022. Since the October 7^th attacks, the spike has been monumental, surpassing all reports in recent decades.

“This is the most heightened antisemitism, unprecedented in our lifetimes,” states Brandi Katz Rubin, ADL Senior Associate Regional Director for NY/NJ. “We’re seeing Jew hate, not just anti-Israel hate at this point, which has shifted in the past weeks. Protests or vandalism is not just death to Israel but death to Jews, it’s F&%* Jews. At Rutgers University, someone recently posted on the school’s YikYak channel a murderous threat to an Israeli fraternity member. Police were able to track them down and there was an arrest.”

WHAT EXACTLY IS ANTISEMITISM?

The working definition of antisemitism from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, widely accepted internationally, is “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

At just 2% of the U.S. population, Jews have become an increased target in the United States. From Oct. 7^th– Nov. 7^th there were 832 incidents of assault, vandalism and harassment that have been vetted and confirmed by the ADL, a 316% increase as compared to this period last year (when there was already heightened antisemitism due to comments made by Ye). Over the weekend, a grenade (later found to be inert) was spotted at Holocaust Memorial Park in Brooklyn, and what turned out to be a phony 9-1-1 call claiming pipe bombs were left inside one of New York City’s biggest synagogues had many on edge. New York and New Jersey officials are on alert.

“The New Jersey Attorney General has spoken very strongly, and Governor Murphy has spoken very strongly and unequivocally in support of Israel’s right to defend itself and condemning terrorism,” Rubin states. They have also spoken out against hate and antisemitism. And while that helps, she says other things are fueling the fire. “Reporting on unverified information in the media we are seeing has real consequences in the real world. It is leading to antisemitic hatred and violence.”

LOCAL INCIDENTS REPORTED

Anti-Jewish crimes in New York City have tripled since Oct. 7^th. Overall, in the NY/NJ region, as of Nov. 1^st there was more than a 100% increase in incidents reported to the ADL compared to this time last year, a number that is expected to have grown even larger by now. For 2023, the ADL heatmap (which has not been updated with all recent reports) shows antisemitic acts and white supremacist events have been reported nearby in Princeton, Hamilton, Plainsboro, Ewing and New Brunswick. An additional map from the ADL shows East Windsor was the site of recent antisemitic harassment as well. Princeton Police Department says there has not been anything of this nature filed directly to them recently. Reported means that someone either filed a police report or submitted the details to the ADL directly, incidents which are then vetted. Many acts of Jew hatred are not even reported, do not rise to the level of a crime or do not qualify as a registered incident. Therefore, the numbers are said to be only a portion of what is taking place.

Though not a rampant hotbed, Princeton has had its share of strong antisemitic acts over the years. For example, in 2016, Princeton High School students were found to be playing “Jews vs. Nazis” beer pong. In 2017, a swastika was put into a document shared across all 8^th graders and staff at the Princeton Middle School. 2021 saw a Pro-Palestinian rally turn into a march down Nassau Street with people holding signs that included words like “Hitler Should Have Finished the Job.” And earlier this year, a Princeton Middle School student shouted plans to shoot up a Bar Mitzvah, in addition a white supremacist group marched through town. Antisemitic acts are sometimes very intentional and other times done out of a lack of understanding. A new study, released this week by the ADL, finds that 71% of Americans feel Jew-hatred is a major problem in the U.S. American Jewish Committee (AJC) did a survey last year and found 31% of Americans were not even familiar with the term antisemitism.

“It is a hatred of Jews and a hatred of Zionism, I believe they go hand in hand. The expressions thereof, in word and deed, in ways that are either aggressive or passive. There are subtle forms of antisemitism that usually come out in someone’s language that they use,” notes Rabbi Andi Merow, of The Jewish Center. “The quiet words, antisemitic comments, contribute to people feeling not safe and othered, meaning your group is not mainstream and there’s something wrong with you.”

Locally, there has been some escalation this past month, but it doesn’t appear to be as heightened as seen elsewhere. On Route 18, near the Rutgers campus, a mix of Nazi ideology and Israeli hatred was drawn on the ground – a Nazi flag with a swastika in the middle coupled with graffiti that said F&%* Israel and death to the IDF. A local synagogue in Monroe was spraypainted with antisemitic graffiti last week. Local high school students have also seen an uptick in hurtful and harmful comments and actions. One area student was repeatedly asked by another what their number was, while the student rolled up their sleeve and pointed to the forearm – a reference to the numbers branded into the arms of those at concentration camps during the Holocaust. Another local student has had “dog whistle” shouted repeatedly, a term that appears to mean nothing but in fact is a way to communicate a noxious view some recognize without outright saying it for all to hear.

On October 28^th and November 4^th, Pro-Palestinian rallies were held along areas of Nassau Street in Princeton. The rallies themselves were not considered antisemitic. However, when antisemitic terms or tropes were displayed on signs or shouted from the crowd, messages of Jew hatred were spread. AJC has recently explained “when protesters chant ‘From the River to the Sea,’ they are rejecting Israel’s right to exist, by indicating that the entire land of Israel should be freed from Jews.” The ADL also considers this chant to be antisemitic, stating on its website “it is fundamentally a call for a Palestinian state extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, territory that includes the State of Israel, which would mean the dismantling of the Jewish state. It is an antisemitic charge denying the Jewish right to self-determination, including through the removal of Jews from their ancestral homeland.” Additionally, signs supporting the Hamas attack and people screaming directly at locals that they have “blood on their hands” caused concern and fear to some witnessing the rally.

COLLEGES FACING THE FIGHT NEARBY

Similar chants and signage have also been seen over the past month across the campus of Princeton University (PU), one of many institutions of higher education that has been noted in national media for antisemitic incidents on campus. Rutgers University has also been the site of several targeted and covert attacks. Since Oct. 7^th, at least 200 of the 653 anti-Israel rallies held nationwide have included support for Hamas and/or violence against Jews in Israel – 124 of those took place on college campuses. Concerned about threats and danger to the students, staff and faculty on these campuses, on November 2^nd the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution “condemning the support of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations at institutions of higher education, which may lead to the creation of a hostile environment for Jewish students, faculty, and staff.” Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, who represents Princeton, voted against this bill.

PU has faced heat in the past, including at the start of this school year for a book on a course reading list strongly criticized as antisemitic, and officials recognize things have gotten even more heated this past month.

“The University takes antisemitism and other forms of bias seriously. As on many campuses, Princeton has seen a heightened number of concerning incidents, interpersonal conflicts, and demonstrations since October 7. The University is working to respond to these painful, problematic situations and support the wellbeing of the campus community while maintaining the right of individuals to engage in protected speech,” shares Michael Hotchkiss, Princeton University Assistant VP for Communications. He further spoke of the issue many are discussing, which is where the line is drawn between free speech and hate speech. A recent PU walkout organized by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a group with chapters on over 200 campuses that has explicitly expressed support for Hamas or terrorism, included chants of “Long live the Intifada (a reference to the days of suicide bombers and mass shootings on the streets of Israel). “As President Eisgruber has written, ‘The freedom of speech allows not only for genteel conversation but also for harsh language, impassioned argument, and provocative rhetoric. Of course, it also permits all of us to criticize statements that we find offensive or irresponsible, even if that speech is fully protected from punishment or discipline.’”

Around the country, many Jewish students are reporting they do not feel safe amidst the changing climates on college campuses. Despite what is happening at PU, the Rabbi for the on-campus Jewish organization, Hillel, says the students are getting through this.

“There have, indeed, been pro-Palestinian events on Campus, and at one event, participants chanted ‘From the River to the Sea’ and ‘Intifada’. Many in the Jewish community hear these chants not as a call for peaceful Palestinian resistance to oppression or support for a Palestinian state, but as an antisemitic wish for the obliteration of the Jewish State, and as a call to violence and worse against Jews,” explains Rabbi Gil Steinlauf, Executive Director and Jewish Chaplain Center for Jewish Life – Princeton Hillel. “In the face of these challenges, however, our Jewish students are, across the board, undaunted and unafraid on campus. They are surrounded by love and support not just at the Center for Jewish Life, Princeton Hillel, but by so many among their non-Jewish peers and in the university leadership who have expressed their care, compassion, and support for the Jewish people on campus. Our students walk around campus proudly as Jews, and many are more than willing to engage their peers in talking about Israel, and to help them to understand the complexities of the situation, many of which are lost in the news reports and in social media these days.”

COMMUNITIES COMING TOGETHER

There is also a sense of comfort and safety for other Jews in the community when people speak out against hate. In a statement at their October 23^rd meeting, Princeton Council and Mayor made a statement about the Israel-Hamas war which included “we reaffirm our unwavering commitment to stand against antisemitism…” This statement was not made in a vacuum, according to Rabbi Merow, who says the mayor’s office, the Princeton Police department, local Presbyterian pastors and local Black ministers have reached out. Two other local ministers joined The Jewish Center congregation for services this past weekend.

“The antidote of antisemitism is the love and care the Jewish community has received from the police dept and the mayor’s office. I have felt they have gone out of their way to try and support us,” Merow shares.

By standing up to hate, you too, can show your support. If you have been the victim of or witnessed an antisemitic incident, you can report it through the ADL Incident Portal at adl.org/report. They should also be reported to the Princeton Police Department.

Lisa Jacknow

Lisa Jacknow spent years working in national and local news in and around New York City before moving to Princeton. Working as both a TV producer and news reporter, Lisa came to this area to focus on the local news of Mercer County at WZBN-TV. In recent years, she got immersed in the Princeton community by serving leadership roles at local schools in addition to volunteering for other local non-profits. In her free time, Lisa loves to spend time with her family, play tennis, sing and play the piano. A graduate of the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Lisa was raised just north of Boston, Massachusetts but has lived in the tri-state area since college. She is excited to be Editor and head writer for Princeton Perspectives!

Princeton Public Schools has a mission “to prepare all of our students to lead lives of joy and purpose as knowledgeable, creative and compassionate citizens of a global society.” The Hun School of Princeton “empowers each student to thrive in a diverse and ever-changing world…” and Princeton Day School’s philosophy is to “seek diversity of cultures, views and talents to promote the intellectual growth and moral development of our students.” As the Israel-Hamas War wages on, do teenagers and young adults find their educations have prepared them for the global conversations and situations they now find themselves in?

“I think my school does a decent job in preparing us for global conversations, but it also depends on the topic,” shares Princeton High School Senior, Maiyin H. “The Israel-Hamas War is one of those topics where teachers are treading very lightly because of how polarizing and contentious different views can be. I, for one, do not feel comfortable expressing a different view or asking a question that may not be ‘PC.’ As someone who is not Jewish or of Middle Eastern descent, I often feel like I don’t have the right to express an opinion because I ‘don’t have any skin in the game.’ Talking about the war, which is complicated and goes back thousands of years, is difficult and I understand that, but oversimplifying the history is not the answer either.”

What does NJ do to prepare today’s teens and young adults to engage in conversations about global situations? The NJ Department of Education’s mission states “Social studies education provides learners with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and perspectives needed to become active, informed, and contributing members of local, state, national, and global communities.” To do so, there are requirements to learn world history/global studies in both middle and high school. To graduate, 15 credits of social studies are required, including 5 credits of World History.

“I’ve taken history classes that I feel have prepared me and given me confidence to engage in discussions. Wars over land and religion have been going on in our world for centuries,” says PHS Senior Charlie Ross.

New Jersey education law also stipulates that “every board of education shall include instruction on the Holocaust and genocides in an appropriate place in the curriculum of all elementary and secondary school pupils.”

Over the past several years, Princeton Public Schools has added mandatory racial literacy education to the curriculum which the website states “has a foundation in pedagogies developed to advance social justice, cultural responsiveness, and multiculturalism.” Though included, teaching about antisemitism and Islamophobia have not been a major focus of this curriculum to date. Overall, at schools in Princeton and elsewhere, the goal of all of this education remains to develop informed citizens about the world, its history, and its citizens.

“As for curriculum, the history of Israel is not something really focused on in most NJ state educations. World History is mostly history of the western world – the Romans, Greeks, Renaissance. And most of high school education is U.S. history,” explains Sara Fernandez, who recently retired as a Social Studies teacher at Cranbury School after 26 years of teaching. “Israel and the Palestinians is maybe taught in detail in elective classes, but probably not in regular mainstream classes.”

In recent weeks, some teachers have chosen to speak in their classrooms about what is happening across the world (at varying degrees of success), while others have not. Some independent schools, like Princeton Day School, have taken the initiative to bring in an expert on the Middle East in an effort to respond to questions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. When it comes to Holocaust and genocide, though the requirement is fulfilled differently at each district and independent schools are not bound to such state requirements, the curriculums aim to help students learn about some of history’s mistakes. With the Israel-Hamas War leading some around the world to include mentions of genocide and reignite Nazi propaganda, that education can be relevant and important. In Princeton, this education had fallen out of the middle school curriculum for several years but is said to be back through 7^th grade English and 8^th grade Civics classes. In the high school, it mainly comes through the sophomore English course and is included in various U.S. and World History curriculums. There has been a year-long audit underway to determine what and how the information is being relayed.

“We read Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl in school and had a Holocaust survivor give a talk to students. We learned about antisemitism. But we mostly learned it as a historical event tied to WWII and the Nazis. I was shocked to see this genocidal hatred openly displayed in broad daylight,” expresses Sarah Chen, a PHS sophomore.

It might be unreasonable to expect that schools can fully educate students on all they need to know about this specific issue, since Israelis and the Palestinians have a complicated past. Conversations about the Israel-Hamas war and the ensuing reactions around the world are encumbered by the nuances of the history of the region and the fact that religion is involved. For many, the war is not just something 5,700 miles away. Locally, it has ignited academia, led to rallies, vigils, and taken over news channels and social media feeds. College students are confronted with what is happening on a regular basis. There are also courses, more directly aimed at public policy, global affairs, the Middle East and more where the topic is a natural part of the discussion there. If not in these particular classes, what kind of background do students get to prepare them for such conversations?

“Patience, empathy, understanding and listening skills are built every day in our class so when we get to these conversations you have a community that is patient and understanding,” Fernandez shares. “You have to talk to people you don’t always agree with.”

Beyond the classrooms and campuses, teens and young adults today have at their fingertips access to information that feeds their minds and opinions. Depending who you follow on social media, what you read and watch on the internet, can have a large impact on the knowledge you hold and on how you engage on this issue. When it comes to using it as a tool for education, that is where some additional education might be needed.

“Social media can be positive and negative. When the Ukranian war broke out, my students learned so much. That part of the world was something they hadn’t been exposed to much. Some Tik Tok videos were of reporters posting and they were right and good. So, that’s a medium children love,” Fernandez notes. “But at the same time, social media is also filled with the worst of the worse students are finding too. When they hear the word Israel, it’s just a tiny country in the middle of nowhere, and unless you’re Jewish or Arabic or have origins from that part of the world, most kids don’t care. They have no context and are being bombarded with images.”

Recognizing the significant role it has on them, in July, NJ Governor Phil Murphy established a commission to study the effects of social media on adolescents. The results will come out long after the impacts are made regarding today’s war and possibly even tomorrow’s troubles.

“I get most of my education on these issues through social media,” Ross admits. Maiyin H. acknowledges the same. “I definitely get most of my education from social media. On the one hand, this has afforded me so many different views and perspectives. On the other hand, social media is strife with fake news and people who lean strongly one way or the other, which can influence how I think.”

Education, therefore, must include a learning of historical realities and deciphering fact from fiction. Beyond the classroom and social media, families impact a young person’s perspective as well. Experts suggest when confronted with questions, to lean on empathy. If a child pushes further, lay out the facts and let them devise their conclusion.

Lisa Jacknow

Lisa Jacknow spent years working in national and local news in and around New York City before moving to Princeton. Working as both a TV producer and news reporter, Lisa came to this area to focus on the local news of Mercer County at WZBN-TV. In recent years, she got immersed in the Princeton community by serving leadership roles at local schools in addition to volunteering for other local non-profits. In her free time, Lisa loves to spend time with her family, play tennis, sing and play the piano. A graduate of the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Lisa was raised just north of Boston, Massachusetts but has lived in the tri-state area since college. She is excited to be Editor and head writer for Princeton Perspectives!