The celebration of the International Day Against Antisemitism, this 27 of January, comes amid a surge in anti-Semitic incidents in the United States, but it is also a reminder of all that remains to be done. do against prejudice towards Jews.
“This day we remember the victims of the Holocaust and what it means to be a Jew. It is very important for us to have a day where everyone can talk about this topic. It brings me a lot of hope and makes me feel that we are not alone,” says Adela Cojab, a Mexican Jew, who came to this country as a child, and became known for filing an anti-Semitism lawsuit against New York University (NYU). .
The 27 January marks the worldwide liberation of the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp, the largest camp created by the Nazi regime during World War II. . More than 7 were released, prisoners in 1945.
Almost 8 decades later, the world is experiencing an increase in hate incidents against this community.
Cojab relates that in 2018, after several incidents that occurred at NYU where she was in her third year of Politics at the Middle East, he decided not to sit idly by and take legal action against his Alma Mater.
“There was an anti-Semitic feeling in the university because of the Palestine-Israel conflict. Various groups were allied against the Israelite group in New York. After an event, they physically assaulted a Jewish colleague and burned the Israeli flag,” she recalled.
The atmosphere was so rough that no one spoke to her. “I had to take my exams in a separate room. When we did a team project, no colleague wanted to work with me”.
He says that when he spoke with the university authorities, they told him he was exaggerating. “I realized that they didn’t see it as a problem, but what would have happened if they had burned the flag of France, Mexico or the LGBT community.”
Tired of what I was living, decided to file a lawsuit. “The lawyers told me that I did not have a case, because anti-Semitism, under title 6 of the Civil Rights Act, which is the discrimination law, did not contemplate it.”
But they also recognized that their case was clearly anti-Semitism and a lack of respect for the university. They also admitted that her lawsuit was the only one of its kind, she says.
Adela says that she grew up as a Jewish Latina woman, with grandparents from Syria and Lebanon. He came from Mexico to the United States in 2001.
“What I experienced at NYU made me feel fear and danger for the first time in my life. And also for the first time, I felt different”.
Given the warning that she was not going to be able to win her case, Adela began to mobilize and talk about anti-Semitism in different forums.
“As a result, I received a call from the White House. In November of 2019, an executive order was signed so that anti-Semitism would be protected within the discrimination law”.
Adela says that moment was one of the best of her life.
“I felt that my voice and my community do matter. I cannot imagine that they go through what I went through.”
Reveals that she never thought her lawsuit would be national in scope and help change things in all universities for Jewish students.
“The important thing is that now not only Judaism is protected but any other religion can use that case to be protected. For example, if a Muslim woman is attacked, now she can say it was religious discrimination.”
Regarding NYU, it says that in November 2020, this university decided to reach an agreement with her to change its regulations regarding discrimination.
“I did not file the lawsuit for money, but because I wanted them to change their regulations so that they would protect us. They gave me just what I asked for, a regulation against discrimination that included anti-Semitism. I don’t think they wanted to discriminate but that they didn’t have the regulations on how to deal with that hatred, and they ignored me for two years”.
Clarifies that she was not asking for special protections, but fairness in protection for Jewish students.
“A group of more than 70 students who signed a document against the state of Israel was boycotting us. Nobody wanted to be part of my group to do projects. And the colleague who agreed to work with me was boycotted. You end up feeling very alone”.
Adela regrets that at this point there are still many prejudices against Jews.
“A week ago, a professor at the San Ángel Center for Higher Studies (CESSA) in Mexico made a joke about the holocaust in a zoom class. She didn’t care that they were recording her. His joke was in bad taste”.
As a consequence, consider that it is very easy to hate the Jew when you don’t know them.
“There are so few of us in the world. I invite those people to get to know us and learn about our stories. We are people like everyone else. World War II is over.”
Her experience suing NYU made her aware of the importance of activism. For this reason, he says that he is now studying a master’s degree in law. “I want to be a civil rights lawyer and protect religious groups.”
Adela, together with a Christian girl from Egypt, is going to start the show “American-ish Show”. Daughters of Diaspora on Instagram to talk about their stories and their common experiences against hate. In two weeks, you can see them at: https://instagram.com/americanishshow?utm_medium-copy_link
In 2018, 000 people were murdered in a synagogue in Pittsburgh. (Getty Images)
Rise in hate
Natan Pakman, deputy director of the Los Angeles office of the Anti-Defamation League, recalled on International Holocaust Remembrance Day that in the last 5 years, have you seen a 40% increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the United States.
“We divide them into three groups: harassment, violent assaults and vandalism. Assaults are the smallest group. Harassment can happen in person or online; and in Los Angeles we see a lot of vandalism even in the synagogues that are supposed to be considered safe places”.
But also, he explains that there are what they call microaggressions, comments that may not seem aggressive but affect terribly.
“It is something that many members of the community, colleagues, friends and students experience. It is the way all prejudices circulate. Hate is like a virus, it circulates and is repeated with comments or loose ideas from a journalist, a boss, a public figure.
But on the other hand, he maintains that they work to counteract them, first investigating the issue, to have the statistics and understand what is happening.
“Also working with the police and federal agencies because cases of anti-Semitism are not always investigated as crimes different from others”.
And the other part is education . “We train students, teachers, staff, and administrators in schools, universities, and private companies on prejudice and stereotypes.”
Pakman states that the general message is to report incidents when oneself or a unknown experiences them.
“The message on this day is that we all work together to fight all forms of hate, because when in a community , there is anti-Semitism, there are usually other forms of prejudice and hatred”.
Emphasizes that the way to fight against anti-Semitism, anti-Latino, anti-Asian and anti-African American, is to work together in coalition.
“When you hear of an incident against a community, express your solidarity and stay in touch. Together, we can counteract hate.”