On the University of Rhode Island campus, Jewish students are navigating a climate marked by historical divisions and the heightened pressures of current events.
The ongoing debates over Israel and Jewish identity echo longstanding disagreements within the Jewish community and are shaping the way young people experience college life, according to URI students and experts alike.
Historically, opinions on Zionism among Jewish people have been far from uniform, according to first-year graduate student Ethan Major. He said there have always been those who actively support a Jewish state, those who are indifferent and those who object to the concept altogether.
“For me, I would consider myself not just a non-Zionist Jew, but an anti-Zionist Jew,” Major said.
Major underscored the personal significance such categorizations can hold. This variety of perspectives can create deep disappointment or even feelings of alienation for some.
“That usually gets brought up as a way to refute anti-Zionism … But I think really what they’re doing there is saying, the majority of Jewish people support a genocidal ideology in a genocidal state,” Major said. “I think that says that’s a much greater indictment of the modern state of the global Jewish community than it is an indictment of criticism of Israel.”
These ideological and political divides have concrete effects on student well-being, according to Warren Schwartz, a psychologist with URI’s counseling services; Jewish students often perform a difficult balancing act.
Enduring antisemitism from outside the community while also sometimes feeling unwelcome within it, particularly if their views deviate from communal norms, according to Schwartz.
This exclusion creates these sentiments that have significant mental health implications, and reinforces the need for support networks and inclusive opportunities, according to Schwartz.
The day-to-day tensions many students navigate given these preconceived notions, according to Schwartz.
“We feel like we have to hide parts of ourselves in order to belong… sometimes we feel like we have to hold back parts of ourselves,” Schwartz said.
Propaganda, rhetoric and emotionally charged campus messaging about Israel and Palestinian rights further complicate this environment, according to second-year student Ethan Shtifman.
Young Jewish children who are taught in Hebrew school and are active in Jewish youth groups tend to hold the notion of Zionism due to underlying themes taught to them by their leaders, which Shtifman sees as indoctrination.
“Every day I see my fellow Jewish people cheering on, advocating for genocide, while I’m out here trying to push against and say, no, not all Jewish people are like that,” Shtifman said. “Some, if not many, Jewish people are against this and are for justice.”
Highly charged slogans and social pressures can leave students ashamed or unwelcome in their own Jewish communities, just for having doubts or different views, according to Shtifman.
“I just hope all Jewish students here and at other universities ask themselves… what do they want to be in the place of history?” Shtifman said. “Do you want to be on the side of the oppressors or the side of the oppressed?”
