In the wake of the October 7 terror attacks and the war in Israel, antisemitism — already on the rise in America — has been fully unleashed on campus, on the streets, and online.
And we’re taking action.
Antisemitic incidents have seen a
since October 7.
Last year had highest number of
in U.S. on record.
experienced antisemitism in the last year.
in New York City were anti-Jewish.
During this period of intense campus unrest, our Community Security Initiative (CSI) has been proactively working to ensure the safety of Jewish students. Even before these latest protests, we allocated emergency dollars to CSI to bolster security at 400 under-resourced Jewish communal institutions in the New York area.
With anti-Israel protests unleashed on campuses, we’ve been intently focused on the needs of Jewish students. We’ve significantly supplemented funding to 11 Hillels (serving over 20 campuses) to strengthen Jewish programming, support mental health, increase campus organizers, and provide legal counsel for students and academics facing harassment.
Campus in Crisis Update >We’re leading the charge here in New York to actualize the White House’s “National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism,” particularly in the area of K-12 public school education, offering trainings on Jewish issues and creating relevant content.
We’re providing training and material to DEI and HR professionals to help them understand the contemporary face of antisemitism. And we’re supporting Jewish employees in the workplace, ensuring that they know their rights and know where to go if they experience harassment.
We’re keeping in constant touch with the mayor’s and governor’s offices to encourage them to keep the fight against antisemitism among their very top priorities. We’ve helped lead and support several trips to Israel for city and state elected officials, including Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul.
We’re reaching out to allies, asking them to show up at rallies and marches. And we’re increasing the number of trips we fund to Israel for influencers, interfaith leaders, and elected officials.
We’re amplifying pro-Jewish and pro-Israel influencers online, and pushing media platforms like TikTok to reduce antisemitic content and misinformation on their platforms. We’ve been in direct contact with the NY Times editorial board, calling out biased and inaccurate reporting.
to enhance security at New York Jewish institutions
Since the start of the war, antisemitic incidents in the United States have spiked by 360%. Given the significantly increased threat to Jewish schools, synagogues, Hillels, Jewish community centers, and other Jewish institutions, we are allocating additional dollars to the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York for the Community Security Initiative (CSI) to support physical security upgrades, increased security guards and patrols, and expansion of overall CSI capacity.
GRANTEES: 92NY, JCRC-NY, CSI
to supporting community-based activities
We are working to promote pro-Israel voices in traditional and social media and funding Israel education groups to provide thoughtful content and facilitation about what is happening in Israel for Jewish community members.
to responding to antisemitism on campus
As anti-Zionist rhetoric soars on campus, Jewish students and Hillel professionals are facing unprecedented levels of challenge as well as emotional and physical insecurity. We believe that the single best way of combatting the incendiary campus climate is strengthening Jewish student life through our Hillels. UJA-Federation of New York currently provides 11 Hillels (serving over 20 campuses) with approximately $2 million in annual support. Now we are making further investments to:
Confront Harassment and Intimidation: $200,000 to support an attorney at the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Law focused on New York area campuses.
Strengthen Jewish Programming: $200,000 for new educational opportunities at the Hillels in UJA’s network to equip students with information and inspiration.
Support Mental Health and Wellbeing: $200,000 for mobile social workers to meet the mental health needs of students and Hillel staff.
Increase the capacity of the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC): $125,000 to support the rapid deployment of field organizers to help students on campuses respond in real time to activists and protests and to expand ICC’s social media presence with positive, unified, and clear pro-Israel messaging.
to respond to antisemitism in K-12 Public Schools
Post-October 7, the volume and severity of antisemitic incidents in New York City public school has drastically increased, raising alarm bells for the City and Department of Education (DOE). In response, the DOE is running a training program for NYC middle and high school principals focused on navigating difficult conversations and bridging divides through civil discourse.
GRANTEES: Facing History
to support smaller Jewish communities around the world that have little to no resources to address growing antisemitism.
to enhance security for the Jewish community of South Africa, which has experienced an alarming uptick in antisemitic incidents since October 7.
We’ve put together this resource page so you can be educated and prepared, understanding how to respond if you experience incidents of antisemitism.
Learn more >Our Community Security Initiative (CSI), a joint initiative of UJA and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC-NY), helps secure 2,400 Jewish organizations in the New York area.
Mitchell D. Silber, former NYPD director of intelligence analysis, leads CSI and oversees a team of six locally based security directors who are addressing the needs of organizations in the Bronx/Westchester, Brooklyn, Long Island, Manhattan/Staten Island, Queens, and Rockland County.
CSI now has a full-time dedicated security expert to help enhance security at summer camps in New York State, specifically north of Westchester and Rockland counties. [Camps in Rockland, Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk and New York City will be covered by the existing CSI Regional Security Directors].
Threat Intelligence Analysts based at the ADL's Center on Extremism monitor streams of online antisemitism for New York-based threats.
We’re supporting the Community Security Service (CSS) to help onboard volunteer security teams at local synagogues and other Jewish institutions.
Over the last year alone, CSI helped guide 264 organizations to secure $49 million in federal nonprofit security grants.
The team completed 138 terrorism vulnerability assessments in the first five months of 2022.
We’re providing loans to nonprofits that received security grants but can’t afford to pay for security enhancements while awaiting government reimbursement.
Our advocacy efforts this year yielded $340 million in nonprofit security grants from federal and state sources.
We’re strengthening community relations efforts, including building strategic partnerships and coalitions with non-Jewish groups, many of whom are also facing hatred.
We’re enhancing security and resilience. Through our international partners, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), we’re helping to enhance security at Jewish schools, community centers, and synagogues across Europe, as well as build resilience of local communities to withstand attacks.
In Halle, Germany, funds from the Jewish Agency’s Security Assistance Fund paid for the synagogue’s fortified door and security cameras, which thwarted a gunman’s attempt to enter the synagogue on Yom Kippur 2019, saving lives.
We’re training European student leaders. With our support, the European Union of Jewish Students is working to strengthen member unions from 35 countries across Europe, providing leadership training so students can address issues of antisemitism as they arise.
In 2022, UJA’s Community Security Initiative (CSI) played a critical role in thwarting a potentially deadly attack on the New York Jewish community. While monitoring the web, CSI’s threat intelligence analyst discovered a tweet threatening to “shoot up a synagogue.” CSI staff alerted the FBI and local law enforcement, who apprehended two suspects carrying a gun, ammunition, a large hunting knife, and a Nazi armband at Penn Station. What might have been a terrible tragedy was thankfully prevented.
Read an in-depth report on what happened that day in Vanity Fair.
Almost four years ago, on January 5, 2020, we mobilized 25,000 people — Jews and non-Jews — to march across the Brooklyn Bridge under the banner of "No Hate. No Fear." The historic march and the rally were conceived and funded by UJA, and planned along with JCRC-NY. A parallel rally took place in Jerusalem, and nearly 200 organizations participated nationwide — including our senior-most political leaders from the state, city, and Congress.
