{"id":2272631,"date":"2024-06-20T14:06:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T18:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-semester-at-sea-failed-to-navigate-college-anti-semitism-on-this-years-cruise\/"},"modified":"2024-06-20T14:14:30","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T18:14:30","slug":"how-semester-at-sea-failed-to-navigate-college-anti-semitism-on-this-years-cruise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-semester-at-sea-failed-to-navigate-college-anti-semitism-on-this-years-cruise\/","title":{"rendered":"How Semester at Sea Struggled with College Anti-Semitism on This Year&#8217;s Voyage"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-semester-at-sea-failed-to-navigate-college-anti-semitism-on-this-years-cruise%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2272631&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>During the Semester at\u2064 Sea\u200d voyage, Jewish students \u200dfaced significant anti-Semitic experiences. This occurred amidst \u2063the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, which seemed to fuel anti-Semitic sentiments and actions among the students on\u2062 the ship.\u2064 The hostility included students displaying keffiyehs and anti-Israel slogans, a lecturer denouncing Israel, and performers \u2064making inflammatory remarks about Israelis. Jewish students were singled out and felt threatened, as \u2063evidenced by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jewish-students-sue-nyu-alleging-egregious-anti-semitism-on-campus\/\" title=\"Jewish students sue NYU, claim severe anti-Semitism.\">hateful slogans<\/a> and imagery\u200d placed\u2063 even on their \u2062doors. They \u2063reported feeling stuck and unsafe\u2062 due to the confined \u2062nature of being on a\u200d ship, limiting their ability to avoid the hostility.<\/p>\n<p>The situation was exacerbated by the ship&#8217;s\u2062 administration&#8217;s responses, with the dean initially downplaying the severity of the anti-Semitism\u2062 and \u2063making insensitive comments \u2063about\u200c the ability to\u200b hide Jewish identity. Although the dean \u2064later retracted \u200bher \u2063statement and apologized after parental complaints, the hurt and insensitivity initially displayed added to \u200bthe distress experienced\u2064 by the students.<\/p>\n<p>The issue became \u200cso concerning that \u200bthe director of\u2063 Hillel of Colorado was flown in to provide support, although logistical issues prevented direct engagement \u2062with the Jewish students \u2063during his visit. This incident highlights the broader challenges of ensuring \u200dsafety and respecting\u2064 diversity in isolated \u200band inherently bounded environments like Semester at Sea.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p>Jewish students were \u201cliterally confined and stuck\u201d on a cruise ship as anti-Semitism took over this year\u2019s Semester at Sea trip. With anti-Israel genocidal slogans plastered on doors, and on-ship performers saying Israelis were \u201cthirsty for blood,\u201d the dean comforted students by telling them they were fortunate it was easy to hide being Jewish, according to interviews and materials reviewed by The Daily Wire.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s Semester at Sea voyage, in which college students spend a semester aboard a cruise ship traveling to different study abroad locations, took place amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza that has sparked anti-Semitic college protests around the world. Just weeks into the trip, the anti-Semitism arrived on the ship, with swaths of students wearing keffiyehs and posting anti-Israel materials throughout the ship, including on the doors of Jewish students.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know this is happening all over the world on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-china-threat-is-real-and-upon-us\/\" title=\"The China Threat is Real and Upon Us\">college campuses<\/a>, but the difference here\u2026 is our students are on a ship,\u201d said Leora Azoulay Short, whose daughter Emily was aboard the ship. \u201cThey are literally confined and stuck on a small ship where they are feeling attacked, unsafe, and in an unfriendly environment by many of the other students.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">A mother says her daughter and other Jewish students were \u201cliterally confined and stuck\u201d on a cruise ship as anti-Semitism took over this year\u2019s Semester at Sea trip.<\/p>\n<p>Reporter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KassyDillon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@KassyDillon<\/a> spoke with her, and reviewed the evidence: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/P7CXbJUKbw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/P7CXbJUKbw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDailyWire\/status\/1803834555733774778?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">June 20, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Short said the anti-Semitism of the trip became apparent after a stop in Malaysia, a majority-Muslim country in Southeast Asia that has openly backed Palestinians against Israel. Students returned to the ship wearing keffiyehs and t-shirts with anti-Israel slogans.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after, a lecturer boarded the ship to speak about South Africa and went on a tirade about Israel, according to Short.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore the port of South Africa, they had a lecturer come on board\u2026 and at the end of her lecture, she made a statement to the students that many years ago South Africa had dealt with apartheid and once again, this is happening in the world with Israel,\u201d Short said.<\/p>\n<p>The next day, students reportedly woke up to anti-Israel posters around the ship, including on some Jewish students\u2019 doors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were saying, \u2018from the river to the sea,\u2019 \u2018stop the genocide.\u2019 Just all kinds of offensive and often untrue \u2026 anti-Israel propaganda that they had probably seen in Malaysia and then heard from the South African lecturer.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_752869\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-752869\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students\u2019 doors that had anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian posters, including one with the genocidal anti-Israel slogan \u201cfrom the river to the sea.\u201d (Photo: Courtesy)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>A few Jewish students retaliated by ripping down the posters and scheduling a meeting with the ship\u2019s dean, Marti Fessenden. According to Short, Fessenden told students not only that the slogans on the posters were not offensive, but also that they should be grateful they can hide their Jewish identity, unlike other minorities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe proceeded to tell them that they should, in fact, find themselves to be lucky and grateful that they can hide their Jewish identity and that black people do not have that opportunity,\u201d Short said, adding that the dean eventually took back the statement after complaints from parents.<\/p>\n<p>The next day, one of the Jewish students \u2014 who scheduled the meeting with Fessenden\u00a0\u2014 found a letter in her mailbox with the genocidal anti-Israel slogan \u201cfrom the river to the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A world map, which is a central symbol to SaS, was also vandalized with the words \u201cterrorist\u201d and \u201cNazi\u201d written next to Israel with the Jewish state\u2019s name crossed out and replaced with \u201cPalestine.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_752853\" style=\"width: 442px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-752853\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Semester at Sea map vandalized with the words \u201cterrorist\u201d and \u201cNazi\u201d written next to Israel. (Photo: Courtesy)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>This was just the beginning of on-ship rhetoric targeting Jewish students. During a rap performance held on the ship, the spouse of a \u201clife-long learner\u201d who serves as a mentor on the trip accused Israel of terrorism, genocide, being \u201cthirsty for blood,\u201d and being \u201cabout the money,\u201d video of the event shows.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Ukraine, Putin is a criminal, but Netanyahu is getting a pass like he is invisible. We picking and choosing exactly who we call a terrorist\u2026 it\u2019s f***** up that we can\u2019t agree what is the human side, if it ain\u2019t white kids dying then we just let it slide,\u201d the man rapped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLook at Joe Biden, he don\u2019t even hide it. Israel is thirsty for blood and he just get behind it. Complicit in genocide America is very quiet\u2026 the point is to gentrify through occupation,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s about the money, it\u2019s always about the money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He then broke into song encouraging the enthusiastic crowd to chant \u201cf*** that\u201d after he shouted \u201capartheid\u201d or \u201cgenocide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Semester at Sea posted a video on Instagram of the performer dancing with a dean on stage during his act \u2014 the video didn\u2019t include his comments about Israel.<\/p>\n<p>While in South Africa, students visited the Desmond Tutu Foundation and had photos of them featured in the Dean\u2019s Memo with some holding a Palestinian flag, donning keffiyehs, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/georgia-thousands-protest-rigged-election-after-pro-putin-party-wins\/\" title=\"Georgia: Thousands Protest 'Rigged' Election After Pro-Putin Party Wins\">holding signs calling<\/a> to \u201cstop the genocide\u201d and stating that \u201cZionism is racism.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_752859\" style=\"width: 293px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-752859\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photos included in the Dean\u2019s Memo with students holding a Palestinian flag, donning keffiyehs, and holding signs calling to \u201cstop the genocide\u201d and stating \u201cZionism is racism.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cSince we had two extra days at port due to our diversion, we were asked to visit two places that highlighted South Africa\u2019s rich history of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/saudi-court-jails-womens-rights-activist-posing-challenge-for-biden\/\" title=\"Saudi court jails women\u2019s rights activist, posing challenge for Biden\">human rights activism<\/a>,\u201d the memo read, adding a quote from a student who went to the Desmond Tutu Foundation and met with with the head of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, Usuf Chikte. \u201cThanks Kam for sending in your submissions and for sharing your reflections.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CAMERAorgUK\/status\/1733764231076471058\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a December interview<\/a>, Chikte called Hamas \u201cliberator fighters\u201d and denied the atrocities Hamas committed during its October 7 massacre of Israeli civilians in a December interview.<\/p>\n<p>In a March 26 email to Jewish students, Fessenden said she made a \u201ccorrection\u201d to the Dean\u2019s Memo and that the photos were \u201cmistakenly included.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs I trust you are well aware, we mistakenly included a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nj-high-school-yearbook-erases-photo-of-jewish-student-group-replaces-with-photo-of-muslim-students\/\" title=\"New Jersey High School Yearbook Replaces Jewish Student Group Photo with Muslim Students\">student group photo<\/a> that included antisemitic signage in the memo yesterday,\u201d Fessenden wrote. \u201cAs soon as it was pointed out, we removed the photo. We feel awful that the language on the signage was not noticed prior to it making into the memo [sic].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In her public correction, Fessenden apologized for \u201cthis error and any harmful impact it may have caused.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Short said she believes Semester at Sea\u2019s relationship with the Desmond &#038; Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation is problematic in itself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn spite of all the good that Desmond Tutu has done, he is also known to be one of the biggest anti-Semites of our time,\u201d Short said, referring to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/bishop-tutu-was-the-most-influential-anti-semite-of-our-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">label given<\/a> by Alan Dershowitz. \u201cHe has continuously supported anti-Israel movements and has been really offensive to the Jewish and Israel community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tutu, who died in 2021, was an anti-apartheid human rights activist, Nobel Peace Prize recipient and Anglican bishop. He also was a pro-Palestinian activist, who spoke about the \u201cinfluence\u201d of the \u201cJewish lobby\u201d and who made a speech at Yad Vashem, Israel\u2019s Holocaust Museum, urging forgiveness for the Nazis.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_752871\" style=\"width: 874px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-752871\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">ST PAUL, MN \u2013 JULY 20: Archbishop Desmond Tutu takes the stage during the 2014 Starkey Hearing Foundation So The World May Hear Gala at the St. Paul RiverCentre on July 20, 2014 in St. Paul, Minnesota.(Photo by Adam Bettcher\/Getty Images for Starkey Hearing Foundation)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>With no signs that anti-Semitism was subsiding on the trip and at the demand of parents, Semester at Sea flew the director of Hillel of Colorado, Daniel Bennett, onto the ship to provide support.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the past six weeks I\u2019ve spoken, Zoomed, and texted daily with SAS parents (helpless and furious doesn\u2019t do justice to how they feel, and I can only assure them I will do all I can when I get to Portugal \u2013 and after),\u201d Bennett wrote in <a href=\"https:\/\/hillelcolorado.org\/hillel-of-colorado-on-the-high-seas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a blog post<\/a> before he boarded the ship in Portugal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdministrators at Colorado State University and in the SAS office in Ft. Collins now understand that what Jewish students onboard have faced is far more than garden-variety antisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His blog claims the lecturer prior to South Africa said \u201cIsrael is a worse example of Apartheid than South Africa ever was\u201d and that students wore t-shirts depicting the leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, on the ship.<\/p>\n<p>Bennet also said he spoke several times with \u201can onboard academic dean\u201d who \u201ccannot or will not check student behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Short, Jewish students were unable to meet with Bennett because his brief visit to the ship came while students were exploring a port.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know if it was planned or not, but they had him fly on when the students were actually at port,\u201d Short said. \u201cThey were aware of him being on the ship, and they were offered the opportunity to come back to the ship and meet with him but as you can imagine, most of these students already had plans and were on tours and could not make it back to meet with him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett did not respond to a request for comment on his trip.<\/p>\n<p>Semester at Sea\u2019s Vice President of Marketing and Recruitment Jason Hughes, condemned anti-Semitism in an email to The Daily Wire. He declined to speak to the specific incidents alleged by students, and instead shared <a href=\"https:\/\/www.semesteratsea.org\/each-voyage-is-life-changing-and-challenging-including-this-one\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a blog post<\/a> calling the past voyage \u201cchallenging\u201d and not immune to \u201cglobal happenings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike many people around the world, members of our shipboard community are impacted by the Middle East conflict,\u201d the blog by Hughes states. \u201cSadness, fear, and anger over this conflict have sparked conversations and resulted in public displays of stances and beliefs. Visceral reactions to discourses and signs of support or disapproval have created discomfort for some and trepidation for others.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though the blog states that the program does not tolerate intolerance, it also includes a quote from Semester at Sea\u2019s CEO stating that he welcomes last semester\u2019s conditions on the ship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile we might wish that there were no challenging conditions on our ship, I don\u2019t wish for that. I welcome it, as difficult as it may sometimes prove to be,\u201d Scott Marshall, the president and CEO said.<\/p>\n<p>While the voyage is over Short said she wants Semester at Sea to take responsibility for what students went through, and ensure its staff is better prepared for future semesters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m speaking out now because I don\u2019t want future students to have to deal with what these students dealt with on this journey,\u201d she said. \u201cWe know that this is going to happen again\u2014unfortunately, this is the world we live in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jewish students felt trapped on a Semester at Sea cruise amid rampant anti-Semitism. Anti-Israel slogans and hostile remarks by performers marred the voyage. The dean&#8217;s attempt to comfort them, suggesting they were lucky to easily conceal their Jewish identity, only highlighted the severity of their situation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3030,"featured_media":2272632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/06\/Cover-images-11.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2272631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/06\/Cover-images-11.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3030"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2272631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2272632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2272631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2272631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2272631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}