Antisemitism has become a key but under-discussed aspect of EDI policies spread across Canadian universities. Finally, growing awareness of discrimination—particularly racial discrimination—is at an all-time high. Antisemitism tends to get dismissed and treated as any other “ism,” put in the same bucket as racism, sexism, and homophobia. This empty-headed framing floats above the vibrant Jewish reality of inclusion. It ignores the specific challenges that Jewish communities face. Experts push for a bigger definition of antisemitism and a bigger sense of Jewish identity. They want to ensure these important values are truly codified in institutional policies.
The issue is pressing: many Jewish students and faculty members report feelings of isolation, exclusion, and targeting on campus. Discussions about how we must understand and fight antisemitism have reached a fever pitch. Consequently, advocates for higher education must redefine how we think about EDI frameworks.
The Complexity of Jewish Identity
Fundamental to Jewish religion, life, and culture, Jewish identity is not only religious. It includes important ethnic and cultural aspects that traditional EDI metrics tend to exclude. Many university EDI policies ignore Jews, or even worse, eliminate Jews to their religious identity alone. This narrow perspective leads to a significant demographic data underrepresentation.
This narrow framing creates an erasure of the myriad experiences and the plurality of voices inside the Jewish community. Folks with a wide variety of identities, like Jews of Color, LGBTQ+ Jews, and those with Mizrahi or Sephardi traditions experience an even deeper lack of representation. Their unique perspectives are sorely needed in conversations around identity and inclusion.
“When is criticism of Israel antisemitic – a scholar of modern Jewish history explains” – theconversation.com
Acknowledging that Jewish identity is an intersectional experience is important for creating effective, holistic EDI policies. If they don’t, they’ll continue to enforce stereotypes. This will disenfranchise the voices that help us understand and appreciate the fullness of what it means to be Jewish.
Antisemitism as a Form of Racism
Antisemitism is more than just religious intolerance. It is the only form of racism that specifically affects white people. It does not affect people of color in various ways; it literally affects everyone. When antisemitism overlaps with other forms of discrimination, it dilutes its overall effect. This dilution further erases the experiences of those most harmed by antisemitism.
As it stands, most of the EDI policies at Canadian universities do not address antisemitism at all, or include antisemitism only as an afterthought. This exclusion sends a very dangerous signal. This implies that antisemitic experiences are more marginal, more valid, and less urgent than those of other forms of discrimination.
Intersecting antisemitism and Islamophobia in EDI conversations usually becomes an evasion tool instead of a solution. It reduces the most complicated issues to black and white, taking the focus away from the complicated day-to-day realities that Jews experience.
“Skin in the game: How antisemitism animates white nationalism” – politicalresearch.org
Without this depth of understanding, it is easy to enact policies that do not fully protect Jewish students and faculty from anti-Jewish discrimination. Many feel as though they are the only ones having these experiences, contributing to a widespread toxic culture of exclusion that pervades all aspects of academic life.
The Need for Inclusive Consultation Processes
To truly combat antisemitism in EDI policies, we need to proactively engage a more diverse set of Jewish voices. Going forward, their feedback will be essential in the forthcoming consultation processes. Inclusion cannot be token representation. It needs to actively engage and uplift Jews of color, LGBTQ+ Jews, and those with varied views on Zionism.
Zionism is an especially fraught topic under the rubric of EDI conversations. When the anti-racism discourse becomes a battleground, misconceptions about Jews as people who are not racialized can lead to harm. Opposition to the policies of the Israeli state must not be synonymous with antisemitism. So many of us are continually pushed out because of their actual or assumed ties to Zionism.
Discussions about the historical origins of Zionism and their political impact today are completely valid and ongoing. Singling out Jews for criticism violates the inclusion and respect EDI policies are designed to protect.