Northwestern University’s Gaslighting on Antisemitism Zach Kessel
Northwestern University will face off against the University of Utah in its NCAA football bowl game on Saturday. During a commercial break, the Jewish advocacy group Alums for Campus Fairness (ACF) will air an advertisement calling out Northwestern University president Michael Schill for his lackadaisical approach to antisemitism on his campus.
On Wednesday, the university responded to the news of the ad campaign:
Northwestern University is aware of a planned advertising campaign by an outside, unaffiliated advocacy group alleging that the University and President Michael Schill are not taking a strong enough stand against antisemitism on campus.
These are outlandish claims not based on facts, including the claim that “student and faculty groups ‘resoundingly support’ Hamas Terrorism.”
Moreover, President Schill has been outspoken condemning antisemitism and the terrorist attack on Israel and has taken several proactive steps to address antisemitism on campus, including the establishment of the President’s Advisory Committee on Preventing Antisemitism and Hate.
Acts that violate our codes of conduct will continue to be immediately addressed and individuals will be held accountable under University policies and procedures.
Northwestern does not tolerate antisemitism or discriminatory acts against any members of its community. Northwestern will not stand idly by as outside groups push false narratives to harm the University and our community.
There are a few things wrong with this. First is the idea that members of the Northwestern community haven’t professed their support and enthusiasm for Hamas and the attacks of October 7. In fact, we have the receipts right here at National Review.
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Northwestern said in its statement immediately after October 7 that “the occupied and oppressed have the undeniable right to resist and seek their freedom without stigmatization as instigators and terrorists.”
Northwestern University Community for Human Rights said in its post–October 7 statement that it “stands in solidarity with Palestinian freedom fighters,” meaning Hamas. It also accused Jews of controlling the media through “Zionist propaganda.”
Northwestern’s Asian American Studies Program issued its own letter after October 7, defending Hamas as a “political group,” saying comparisons to ISIS are Islamophobic, and calling on the university to denounce anti-Hamas speech on campus and stand behind the purported victims (terrorist supporters, that is).
And, wouldn’t you know it, members of the Middle Eastern and North African Student Association at Northwestern said they “resoundingly support Palestinian resistance,” which is the claim the university says is “outlandish” and “not based on facts.”
Even Schill said in his first message after October 7 that “there are no doubt differences among our students and faculty on what Hamas did.” This first message was essentially an announcement that he wouldn’t make an institutional statement on the terrorist attacks. He professed his personal revulsion to the atrocities on October 7 but would not have the university take a position on whether the indiscriminate murder of civilians is bad (a strange thing indeed to have different opinions on).
He followed that initial message with an October 13 explanation of why he refused to offer a statement, seemingly accusing of bad faith the people who disliked his sudden turnaround on whether a university should discuss events outside its campus — this is a guy who, when he was president of the University of Oregon, issued statements on seemingly every political event under the sun. He finally did say that “the abhorrent and horrific actions of Hamas on Saturday are clearly antithetical to Northwestern’s values,” but that doesn’t erase his first communication in which he refused to clarify whether that was the case.
Then there was the rally in downtown Evanston, which, while not on Northwestern’s property, was referred to by university leadership as a forum where “members of our community come together to share space, to advocate for their beliefs and to raise awareness about the violence in the Middle East.” A masked protester at that event carried a Hamas flag with which other attendees posed for photos.
Schill did ultimately announce the formation of a “Committee on Preventing Antisemitism and Hate,” which was met with resistance from the university community. As National Review reported at the time, 65 student organizations signed a letter to the editor printed in the Daily Northwestern campus newspaper with the headline, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” They described concern over rising antisemitism as “mass hysteria and collective psychosis” and accused Schill of engaging in “the deliberate silencing and censorship of pro-Palestinian activism” by coming out against the hatred of Jews.
A hundred and sixty-three Northwestern faculty and staff members signed the letter, in which they wrote that they were “seriously dismayed and concerned by the email [Schill] sent on Nov. 13, ‘Announcing new committee on antisemitism and hate.’”
Some believe the committee Schill started won’t have much of an effect. One of those people — a fellow Northwestern alumnus — is Rich Goldberg, senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former GOP staff director of the Congressional Task Force on Antisemitism.
“The evidence is pretty clear that Northwestern is choosing not to enforce Title VI [of the Civil Rights Act] when it comes to antisemitism,” Goldberg told NR. “The antisemitic harassment and pro-Hamas incitement from students and faculty is well documented. They don’t need a task force to figure it out; they need to enforce their own rules and federal law.”
Guy Benson, a political commentator and 2007 Northwestern graduate, agreed with Goldberg’s assessment of the university’s leadership and the response to the ad campaign:
Those of us who’ve paid close attention to campus events since the October 7 massacre understand full well what an insulting and gaslighting statement this is from the NU administration. It is neither “outlandish” nor baseless to simply notice what has been said — in the open, even in official statements, in some cases — by various student and faculty groups. I’ve personally heard from numerous Jewish undergrads who’ve felt literally unsafe at times, all while the antisemitic, pro-Hamas bullies claim false victimhood. This has been appalling and very sad to watch unfold at a school I love.
One incident, also reported by NR, occurred in late October, when students arrived to class and found fake versions of the Daily Northwestern on their desks (and in dorms and around other locations on campus). The top of the imitation front page read: “According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israel has killed 5,087 Palestinians. Including 2,055 children, 1,119 women, and 187 elderly.” The Palestinian Ministry of Health, of course, is run by Hamas and should not be cited uncritically. The fake newspaper accused Northwestern of being complicit in a supposed genocide against Palestinians and repeated the lie — the blood libel, perhaps — that Israel bombed the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza.
“The university’s response has been uneven and tepid, to put it charitably,” said Benson, who has been keeping track of much of Northwestern’s milquetoast communications on his X account. “If additional congressional hearings are to be held on the current explosion of bigotry within academia, I’m afraid President Schill may be a good candidate to call as a witness.”
Given the university’s blatant dishonesty about the ad campaign running this weekend, I can’t disagree.
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