Dr. Charles Asher Small
Dr. Charles Asher SmallYoni Kempinski

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is gaining strength at university campuses and is placing Jewish students at the battlefront, according to Dr. Charles Asher Small.

Dr. Small, who heads the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy, spoke to Arutz Sheva at the 4th conference of the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism which was held in Jerusalem. He took part in a session at the conference which explored the issue of anti-Semitism on campuses.

The mission, according to Dr. Small, “has to be two-fold.” The first one is to deal with what is happening within the corridors of the university.

“I think it’s very important that leaders of the university and leaders of the Jewish community become aware of the issues and confront them. There should be no space for bigotry on campus,” he said.

The second front is “the battle of ideas,” according to Dr. Small.

“We need to battle and expose the ideas of how orientalism and post-modernity didn’t perceive what the Arab Spring is really about, because we’re not allowed to critique Arab societies,” he said.

The students, as the “soldiers” in the battlefront against anti-Semitism, are “on their own,” said Dr. Small.

“By creating awareness in the community we have to back up people who are fighting for the end of hatred, the promotion of true human rights and democracy and to stop these reactionary forces, either in the corridors of the campus or even in the classrooms of the finest universities,” he said.