From the “schoolboy” joke to the hatred of Israel, anti-Semitism seems to die hard at university.
During their student life, 91% of young Jews have already been victims of an anti-Semitic act, reveals an Ifop study published Thursday September 28, commissioned by the Union of Jewish Students of France (UEJF). It ranges from anti-Semitic jokes to aggression. “Anti-Semitism is the daily life of Jewish students”alerts on X (ex-Twitter) the UEJF which denounces a “terrible observation”.
>> Anti-Semitism: “There are students who are afraid of going to university”, recognizes Olivier Véran
According to this survey, 7% of Jewish students have already been victims of a physical attack of an anti-Semitic nature, including 3% on several occasions. 43% say they have already suffered an attack relating to Israel (physical attack, verbal threats). A little less than half of Jewish students (45%) have been victims of an anti-Semitic insult at least once. Most often, Jewish students say they are victims of anti-Semitic jokes or remarks: a “schoolboy” joke about the Shoah or Jews (80%), a remark conveying stereotypes about Jews (89%). These anti-Semitic acts take place on the premises of the university or school (67%), on social networks (32%), as part of a course (27%) or even during a student evening (24%).
Stereotypes persist
Stereotypes seem to die hard at university. Thus, according to Ifop, 19% of students consider that Jewish students have it easier than others to pay their tuition fees. They would also have an easier time working in finance or the media, according to 18% of students.
More than half of Jewish students (53%) also say they are seeing an increase in violence from the extreme right within universities in France and 84% say they are witnessing an increase in violence from the extreme left in universities. universities. 83% of Jewish students believe that this violence from the extreme left represents a significant threat to Jewish students, compared to 63% regarding violence from the extreme right.
More than a third hide being Jewish
Faced with this observation, 36% of Jewish students surveyed say they have already hidden the fact of being Jewish for fear of anti-Semitism and 33% say they have changed their behavior after being confronted with anti-Semitism.
65% of Jewish students also believe they lack information regarding the means implemented in their university or school to combat racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination. 73% even consider that they do not have enough information on the disciplinary procedures opened in the event of racist or anti-Semitic aggression.
The UEJF expresses its concern about this drift. 77% of students of Jewish faith or culture believe that anti-Semitism is widespread in universities and major schools in France, 91% of Jewish students consider that hatred of Israel is also widespread on faculty benches, ahead of racism (67%), sexism (59%) and homophobia (54%). A feeling that is not shared by students as a whole. According to the survey, 28% of them consider anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel to be widespread phenomena in universities and colleges, behind in particular sexism (63%).
Methodology
Ifop carried out this survey among a sample of 237 students of Jewish faith or culture via a self-administered online questionnaire from June 14 to September 5, 2023. A survey was also conducted among a sample of 802 people representative of the French student population through a self-administered questionnaire from June 1 to 8, 2023.