SEC Coach EXPOSES Growing Threat of Antisemitism on College Campuses

American universities and colleges have long been thought of as places of open-mindedness, free thinking, and tolerance. But these days, they’ve become hateful and dangerous if you happen to be Jewish, as antisemitism is festering all over our taxpayer-funded colleges.

Need proof? Remember just a week ago when we reported on the venomous, antisemitic commencement speech delivered at CUNY School of Law, where a Muslim student called for the fall of capitalism and Zionism and expressed a desire for antisemitic rage all the way down to our elementary schools? And that was just the tip of the iceberg. The antisemitic, anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement is spreading hateful, racist antisemitism across college campuses, including CUNY, where the ACLJ has taken direct action to shut it down.

Antisemitism on our college campuses has escalated so far out of control the head coach of Auburn University’s men’s basketball team, Bruce Pearl, has made the courageous decision to stand up and speak out against the hateful antisemitism he sees running rampant on American university campuses.

Coach Pearl, who happens to be Jewish himself, joined us on Sekulow today to share what he observes happening on college campuses across the country and why he thinks this dangerous antisemitism is rising through twisting and weaponizing young people’s desire to help the oppressed:

One of the things that I think is creating the growth in antisemitism is there aren’t enough Jewish folks in temple, and there are not people going to church and reading their Bible and understanding the history of the Middle East, and the history of Judea and Samaria, and the history of Israel. Because the things that are being taught and or being said are just not completely accurate, and they’re spinning a tale.

And understand, young people, they want to make a difference. When they hear about apartheid, or they hear about discrimination, and when they hear about a people being oppressed, young people want to do something about it. And I admire them for it. I think it’s great. The problem is they’re listening to lies. They’re listening to complete falsehoods.

Coach Pearl also pointed out the hypocrisy of the antisemitic BDS movement, as it actually hurts Arab and Muslim communities.

[T]he BDS movement is a terrible, terrible movement in Israel because, quite frankly, it hurts the Palestinian and the Arab population more than it hurts anybody else. The whole concept of saying, “Okay, we’re going to boycott products from Israel,” . . . in Israel, there are nine million people. Six million Jews and three million Arabs. [Of] these three million Arabs, most of them are employed. More than half of the medical profession, doctors and nurses, in the State of Israel are Arab. That doesn’t get published. . . . You’re going to go ahead and boycott and cancel these businesses? Those businesses may close down, they [may] move, and what’s going to happen is their employees are going to be out of work. The way to get to peace is peace through prosperity.

Coach Pearl proposed the radical idea that the way to combat racism and have peace is racial intermingling and diversity – like he has actually seen in Israel. But it’s our own leaders and bad actors within our universities that are trying to keep that from happening. People who want to spread anti-Israel, antisemitic messaging use lies like “We’re not against Jews. We’re against the apartheid State of Israel.” As the coach stated, where would these people like Jews to live? Where can the Jewish people have their permission to live? The answer, according to the work of the BDS movement, certainly seems to be nowhere.

Our taxes enable these universities and campuses to exist. We rarely tell them what to teach or how to operate. But when they’re allowing anti-Jewish hate to spread across campus, creating a dangerous environment for Jewish students, and planting seeds of hate into the minds of graduates who are about to step out into the world, everyone – regardless of race or religion – has an obligation to step up, as Coach Pearl is doing, and say, “Knock it off right now.” And as we have many times, if there is legal action that must be taken against these antisemitic activities on college campuses, the ACLJ will pursue them.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast includes more conversation with Coach Bruce Pearl about antisemitism on college campuses and how we can combat it. We’re also joined by ACLJ Senior Advisor Ric Grenell to discuss some dangerous moves we’ve seen from China. And former Congresswoman and presidential candidate – and the newest member of the Sekulow broadcast team – Tulsi Gabbard joins us to discuss the latest news in the 2024 presidential race.

Watch the full broadcast below: