What You Need to Know About the Largest-Ever Commitment to Counter Antisemitism on College Campuses College campus in autumn This May brought a landmark announcement in American Jewish Committee’s long-term efforts to combat widespread Jew-hatred on college campuses—a result of our sustained work with university leaders. In collaboration with AJC, organizations representing more than 4,000 colleges, universities, and institutions of higher education have pledged reforms to fight campus antisemitism. AJC CEO Ted Deutch called this “a major step forward in our efforts to create and foster the college experience that all students deserve: one that is free from hate, bigotry, and harassment, ensuring that all students — including Jewish, Israeli, and Zionist students — have the opportunity to grow and thrive.” This breakthrough was announced in a joint statement released by AJC, the Association of American Universities (AAU), the American Council on Education (ACE), and other organizations, affirming the seriousness of antisemitism on campus and a pledge from these and other organizations, representing the full breadth of American higher educational institutions, to “continuing consequential reform and transparent action.” In Collaboration with AJC, Groups Representing Full Breadth of U.S. Colleges and Universities Pledge Reforms to Fight Campus Antisemitism While commending the administration for prioritizing the eradication of antisemitism on campus, the statement also notes that, “[i]n the name of combating antisemitism, the federal government has recently taken steps that endanger the research grants, academic freedom, and institutional autonomy of America’s higher education sector,” reiterating AJC’s concerns that overly-broad and arbitrary funding cuts could undermine such efforts. What’s at stake? AJC’s State of Antisemitism in America 2024 Report found that roughly one-third (35%) of current American Jewish college students and recent graduates report having personally experienced antisemitism at least once during their time on campus. Why does this matter? AAU, ACE, and the four other partner organizations represent more than 4,000 colleges, universities, and institutions of higher education. The statement from these organizations is a clear commitment from leadership at colleges and universities across the country and across the spectrum of higher education institutions to prioritize combating campus antisemitism. Listen A United Front: U.S. Colleges and AJC Commit to Fighting Campus Antisemitism What comes next? The joint statement is a continuation and reaffirmation of the vital work of AJC’s Center for Education Advocacy (CEA), the trusted resource for administrators and faculty at institutions of higher education and K-12 schools. The announcement signaled an expansion of AJC’s long-term work to provide comprehensive action plans, impactful programming, and meaningful guidance to universities across the country, as we have recently done for Brown, MIT, UPenn, Cornell, Michigan, and many others in the wake of October 7, 2023. Read and share AJC’s Action Plan for University Administrators here. AJC’s message to university leaders: Fighting antisemitism on campus requires a comprehensive approach that impacts all members of the campus community, including faculty, administrators, and students. A commitment to meaningful reform must involve better community-wide education about the unique manifestations of antisemitism, and a return to viewpoint diversity, fact-based inquiry, and courageous conversations in higher education. A pervasive atmosphere of Jew-hatred cannot become the new normal, and young Jews should not have to fear discrimination or harassment while getting an education. Find more from AJC’s Center for Education Advocacy (CEA)
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AntisemitismCanada In 2026, Tulsa And Panama Are Courting Canadian Jews As Antisemitism Redefines The Cost Of Staying As antisemitism reaches unprecedented levels across Canada, Jewish families and professionals are quietly reassessing their futures, and some are being actively courted elsewhere. Ron East By: Ron East December 31, 2025 SHARE A growing number of Canadian Jews are exploring relocation options A growing number of Canadian Jews are exploring relocation options as antisemitism intensifies and confidence in public protection erodes. (Image: Illustration.) TORONTO — For generations, Canada sold itself as a country where Jews could thrive without constantly looking over their shoulders. That assumption no longer holds for a growing number of Canadian Jews, particularly in the aftermath of October 7 and the months that followed. What has changed is not only the number of antisemitic incidents. It is the atmosphere. Public hostility has been normalized. Jewish schools, synagogues, and community centres operate under permanent security protocols. Anti-Jewish intimidation is increasingly framed as political expression. Enforcement is inconsistent. Accountability is rare. When Jewish life requires constant risk assessment, mobility stops being a luxury. It becomes a rational act of self-preservation. That reality helps explain why, in 2026, two very different destinations, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Panama, are appearing with growing frequency in serious conversations among Canadian Jews who have the means and flexibility to move. This is not a panic migration. It is a strategic recalculation. Canada’s new warning lights Jewish Canadians represent a small fraction of the population, yet account for a vastly disproportionate share of reported hate crimes. This is not a perception problem. It is a documented pattern. More troubling than the statistics themselves is the message many Jews hear in response: concern, sympathy, and context, but little deterrence. Protests that spill into harassment are tolerated. Jewish institutions are targeted repeatedly. Antisemitism disguised as antizionism is parsed endlessly rather than confronted directly. The result is a slow erosion of confidence in the state’s willingness or ability to enforce equal protection. When a community moves from assuming it belongs to hoping nothing happens today, the social contract has already been fractured. It is within this context that Tulsa and Panama are not merely attracting attention but actively courting. Lech Le’Tulsa and intentional Jewish welcome Tulsa is not presenting itself as a refuge city. It is presenting itself as a place that wants Jewish life to grow. In 2026, that effort has taken concrete form through Lech Le’Tulsa, a Jewish-focused relocation initiative designed to attract Jewish families, professionals, and entrepreneurs to the Tulsa area. The program combines relocation assistance with intentional community building and access to Jewish infrastructure. The name is deliberate. Lech Lecha, the biblical call to go forth and build a future, is not branding by accident. It speaks directly to a Jewish historical instinct that understands movement not as retreat, but as agency. Lech Le’Tulsa offers what many Canadian Jews increasingly feel is missing at home: A clear signal that Jewish presence is welcomed, not merely accommodated Immediate access to synagogues, schools, and Jewish communal life A civic environment where Jewish identity is not treated as a liability The financial incentives matter, but the social architecture matters more. Tulsa is offering a landing ramp. It is saying, we are prepared for you to arrive. That clarity stands in stark contrast to the ambiguity Canadian Jews experience when their safety concerns are acknowledged but endlessly deferred. Panama and the appeal of optionality Panama represents a different but equally rational response to insecurity. For Canadian Jews with international mobility, Panama offers residency pathways tied to investment, business activity, or long-term economic contribution. It also offers something increasingly valuable: optionality. Panama has an established Jewish community, a comparatively lower cost of living, and an immigration framework that openly courts skilled and capital-carrying residents. For some, it is a permanent relocation. For others, it is a second base, a contingency plan, or a future passport pathway. What matters is not the destination itself, but the logic behind the choice. When Jews seek second options, they are not rejecting diaspora life. They are applying historical lessons. Jewish continuity has always depended on redundancy, resilience, and the ability to move before crisis becomes catastrophe. The Zionist lens Canadians prefer to ignore Zionism does not deny the legitimacy of diaspora life. It insists that Jews must never be dependent on the goodwill of others for safety or equality. That lesson was written in blood long before the modern State of Israel existed. Israel institutionalized it at a national level. Individual Jews apply it on a personal level. When Canadian Jews explore Tulsa or Panama, they are not abandoning Canada in anger. They are responding rationally to warning signs. They are building leverage. They are ensuring their children have options. This is what Zionist consciousness looks like outside Israel. It is quiet, pragmatic, and unsentimental. An indictment Canada should take seriously Tulsa and Panama are not superior societies. They are intentional ones. Tulsa is saying, we want contributors, and we are prepared to integrate them. Panama is saying, we want residents and investment, and we have clear legal pathways. Canada, too often, is saying something else entirely: we are sorry you feel unsafe, but the politics are complicated. A serious country does not treat antisemitism as a public relations challenge. It treats it as a threat to civic order. That requires enforcement, deterrence, and moral clarity, including the willingness to name antisemitism even when it hides behind fashionable political language. Until that happens, Canada should not be surprised when Jews quietly explore exit ramps. The bottom line In 2026, the fact that Tulsa and Panama can plausibly court Canadian Jews is not an oddity. It is a warning. When antisemitism reaches levels that fundamentally alter how Jews calculate their futures, movement becomes strategy. History teaches Jews to act before apologies arrive too late. Canada still has time to reverse this trajectory. But time matters. And Jews, having learned this lesson repeatedly, are no longer inclined to wait.
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